Senator Raffy Tulfo raised an alarm about the increasing number of Filipinos falling victim to illegal recruitment, human trafficking, and various scams.

Tulfo made the statement during a joint hearing of the Senate Committee on Labor and Employment and Human Resources Development and the Committee on Migrant Workers—both of which he chairs.

Tulfo highlighted that the ongoing crisis in the Middle East has led to significant job losses for many Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Many OFWs have returned to the Philippines and are currently without stable sources of income.

Tulfo mentioned that as businesses continue to recover or close down, more Filipinos are seeking online employment.

However, this shift has allowed illegal recruiters to expand their operations, targeting job seekers in vulnerable positions.

Tulfo cited the case of three former female OFWs in Malaysia who sought help from his office.

According to their accounts, the individuals were hired as massage therapists, but the spa served as a front for forced sex work.

The victims reported that they were unaware that they would be forced to do these and claimed they were sometimes drugged with unidentified powder or ecstasy before being exploited.

The senator from Davao and Isabela has described the recent incident as "unacceptable" and is calling for stricter oversight from government agencies to curb illegal online recruitment.

The senator specifically urged the following departments to take action:

• Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)

• Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

• Bureau of Immigration (BI)

• Department of Migrant Workers (DMW)

• Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT)

Tulfo has urged the DMW to require OFWs applying for roles as singers, dancers, or entertainers to obtain certification from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The goal of this requirement is to verify qualifications and ensure the legitimacy of overseas deployments, thereby reducing the risk of abuse.

He noted that many distressed workers remain undetected and he called on concerned agencies, particularly the DMW and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to file cases against the bogus and fly-by-night recruiters that he has reported.

He stressed the urgent need to hold these offenders accountable in order to end illegal recruitment and human trafficking operations.

-Paraluman News