ShareThisMANILA — The recruitment license of the Manila-based Adman Human Resources Placement, Inc. has been cancelled, following claims it trafficked 11 Filipinos to the U.S. midwest State of Mississipi.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported that the 11 Filipinos, however, cried foul and insisted in a widely-circulated campaign letter that the cancellation by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) does not mean authorities have given them enough help.
”We want action, not just words,” they cried.
The DFA did not name the Filipinos, but the group identified themselves to Baldoz as: Norman Paul Yaranon, Ronilo Cruz, Ricardo Jabagat, Vuenas Ian De La Puerta, Khalid Anthony Velasco, Mario Abaday, Manuel Jusayan, Imelda Nosa, Arlene Dorotan, Eutropia Velasco, and Rufino De Guzman.
The Filipinos claimed they were recruited in the Philippines by Adman and originally brought to Biloxi, Mississippi, where they were forced to sign different contracts. In Biloxi, they were reportedly made to endure subhuman and substandard working conditions.
They have since fled Mississippi and are cared for in Los Angeles, California, by a Filipino-American pastor.
Following their complaints, the DFA said it has authorized the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs to release funds for their repatriation.
But the group insisted they are staying put in the U.S. and will fight for justice, particularly since they are legitimate members of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), together with the OWWA and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Washington D.C. have also provided assistance pending the filing of formal charges against the alleged human traffickers.
”We decided to leave Mississippi when we experienced the terrible exploitation in our workplace where we were brought after we were forced to sign a new contract different from the one we signed in the Philippines,” they wrote Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.
In the November 14 widely circulated letter, they claimed that, since August, they have been given the run-around and cold treatment by Philippine officers and a designated lawyer.
”We never wanted to go back to the Philippines, like you have been repeatedly saying. None of us requested to be repatriated….We will not stop fighting, we will not go home….” they said.