1 month ago
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THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Thursday shut down a learning center's branches for illegally offering employment to Japan.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac ordered the closure of the main office of Hikari Japanese Learning Center, which is a language and learning center based in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, to "safeguard would-be overseas Filipino workers from exploitative illegal recruiters who are preying on the vulnerability of the Filipino job seekers."
The agency and its Migrant Workers Protection Bureau (MWPB), in coordination with the local government and local police, padlocked the Panabo City office and its four branches in Manila, Rosario (Cavite), Davao City and General Santos City.
"The closure of this learning center is a product of our intensified campaign to combat illegal recruitment as among the directives of the president," said Cacdac in a statement.
"We reiterate this warning to our kababayan, especially those who aspire to work abroad, please, do not deal with recruiting entities that do not have license or authorization from the DMW to recruit and deploy workers for overseas jobs," added Cacdac.
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According to the DMW, the Hikari Japanese Learning Center offered "various jobs" to Japan, which included "work in the sectors of hotel and restaurant service, food processing, caregiving, farming, and food and beverage manufacturing under the Technical Internship Training Program (TITP) and later transitioning to the Specified Skilled Worker Program (SSWP)" and was operating without the necessary license and authority from the agency.
"Based on the series of surveillances conducted by the MWPB, Hikari entices its applicants to enroll in their four-month language training in consideration of P33,710 language training fees, which may be paid by installment," the DMW revealed.
"Hikari then refers the applicants who are passers of JFT/JLPT (Japan Foundation Test or Japanese-Language Proficiency Test) N4 and Prometric Specified Skilled Worker Tests allegedly for screening of its tie-up agencies for deployment," the DMW added.
The agency said the learning center's management will face charges of illegal recruitment and all their officers will be included in the DMW List of Persons and Establishments with Derogatory Record and will be denied participation in the overseas recruitment program of the government.
Victims of the Hikari learning center can contact the DMW's MWPB through their Facebook page, emailing them at [email protected] or through their hotline number +63 2 8721-0619 for legal assistance in filing cases against the school.
Among Hikari's most recent Facebook posts was offering a face-to-face special review course for the Japan Foundation Test-Basic Exam and was supposed to start on Feb. 10.
The Manila Times contacted the learning center's Manila office but was told they do not have a comment as of press time.
