A travel agency in Quezon City was shut down by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) for illegally recruiting Filipino workers for bogus jobs in Poland.
Through its Migrant Workers Protection Bureau (MWPB) in coordination with the Quezon City police, the DMW padlocked the office of Tranvia Travel Agency located in P. Tuazon Boulevard, Cubao, Quezon City.
“We would like to recognize the efforts of our Filipino Community in Poland which called the attention of our Migrant Workers Office in Prague (MWO-Prague) to investigate these illegal recruitment activities. Without their help we would not have thwarted Tranvia Travel’s illegal activities,” DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo J. Cacdac said.
He said that the MWO-Prague which exercises jurisdiction over Poland discovered that Tranvia Travel was using social media platforms, such as Facebook and WhatsApp to prey on prospective applicants.
The agency, he said, was operating without the necessary license or authority from the DMW and had been promising jobs for warehousemen, factory workers, and nurses in Poland with prospective monthly salaries ranging from P80,000 to P100,000.
Further surveillance operations conducted by the MWPB revealed that the agency was charging processing fees from prospective applicants that range from P200,000 to P350,000 which can be paid with the option of a one-time payment or on a staggered basis, payable in three installments, and is non-refundable.
The DMW said the officers and personnel of Tranvia Travel Agency will face serious charges of illegal recruitment and will be included in the DMW “List of Persons and Establishments with Derogatory Record” and shall be blacklisted from participating in the government’s overseas recruitment program.
Said closure of the travel agency is the fourth such operation conducted by the DMW to crack down on illegal recruiters preying on OFWs and applicants who wish to work abroad.
Meanwhile, the DMW urges other applicants who fell victim to the illegal recruitment activities of Tranvia Travel Agency to contact the MWPB for the filing of cases against the said travel agency.
