Press Release - Committee on Migrant Workers Chairperson Sen. Raffy Tulfo's Privilege Speech on Illegal Recruitment

Good afternoon Mr. President, distinguished Colleagues.

This week has been very frustrating for most of us. Matapos natin mahuli at maibalik ang naka-alis, hindi pa din tayo makakuha ng maayos na sagot sa ating mga tanong. Sa kwento nila Alice at Shiela Guo, isa sa mga mahalagang detalye sana para sa akin, bilang Chairperson ng Committee on Public Services, ay ang paraan ng paglabas ng Pilipinas nila Alice at Shiela. Ang mga impormasyong ito ay makakatulong sana upang ma-ayos ang seguridad ng ating mga ports, at ma-regulate ang mga entry at exit points ng ating bansa. Because, Mr. President, while transportation is a means to move people and things, and is a crucial tool in commerce, it is also utilized by criminals, to execute their deeds, to smuggle goods, to escape the hands of justice, and for human trafficking.

In the midst studying this problem on port security, a group of OFWs approached my office, just a few days ago, and told us their story of how they were illegally recruited and lured into this human trafficking scheme through a backdoor pass from the Philippines, to Malaysia, to Thailand, and eventually to Europe.

My dear colleagues, ang impormasyon tungkol sa backdoor exit, na hirap tayong ma-hugot kila Alice at Shiela Guo, ay kusang dinetalye sa akin ng mga OFW na ito. It was painful to hear their story knowing that they were fooled into paying a big amount to fulfill their dreams of working in Europe, only to end up almost losing their lives, getting sexually harassed, and drowning in debt without any source of income.

Mr. President, the DMW and some of our law enforcers are currently working on this case, so I will be leaving out the names of the people involved, for now.

Their story began last October 2023, when these aspiring OFWs found an advertisement on Facebook, where they were promised employment in Europe with a 3 to 4 months processing. They were asked to pay for various fees and expenses which in amounted to about four hundred thousand pesos (P400,000.00). There were times when the group of OFWs inquired about some irregularities in the processing of their papers, but the recruiters kept on saying they knew people in the DMW. The