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Saturday, April 29, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Seventy-seven males from Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental allegedly recruited to work for a fishing company in Zamboanga were intercepted at the Dumaguete City port.
On board two buses, they were scheduled to depart to Zamboanga via a shuttle ferry on Thursday when port police stopped them, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.
Carlito Bejo, a Hinoba-an native who brought the males with him, had no authority to hire workers for the fishing company he was working for, said Sandra Delfin, senior labor and employment officer for DOLE-Dumaguete.
Bejo was booked at the Dumaguete City police station on Thursday night. There was “probable cause” for illegal recruitment, the DOLE said.
The males were held for questioning. Dumaguete’s Interagency Council for Anti-Trafficking, Visayan Forum, Inc. and social workers responded and talked to the males, who included a 17-year-old, the DOLE said.
A boat captain of YL Fishing, Bejo recently returned to his hometown to attend a fiesta, initial investigation showed.
Some of the “recruits” said they asked Bejo if there were jobs available in their company.
On Thursday they traveled from Hinoba-an to Dumaguete City on board two passenger buses, leaving at 9 a.m. and arriving at the Negros Oriental capital around 2 p.m.
The men defended Bejo. They insisted the latter did not recruit them but they volunteered to go with him to seek employment in Zamboanga.
They said they bought with them vital documents like birth certificates. They also stressed they paid for the bus fare and the boat fare totaling almost P400.
Some said they were all from Hinoba-an, but a couple said they were from Iloilo.
The 17-year-old was taken to a hospital in Dumaguete City for a medical exam. He temporarily stayed at Casa Esperanza of the City Social Welfare and Development Office until arrangements were made for his return to Hinoba-an.
There could be another minor in the group, authorities said after one of the males presented a tampered birth certificate.
Bejo and the males remained in the Dumaguete City police station as of Friday.
Some said they wanted to go home, while others said they wanted to leave for Zamboanga.
Still others said they would wait what will happen to Bejo before they make a decision.
Delfin said the DOLE-Dumaguete was just waiting for a heads-up from law enforcement authorities to issue a certification of probable cause for illegal recruitment. (Philippine News Agency/PN)
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