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THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), in coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation, shut down a church and arrested its pastor in Baras, Rizal, on Monday afternoon, due to alleged illegal recruitment activities.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac ordered the closure of Faithful Promise Foundation Philippines Inc. at Santo Niño Compound, Sitio Paenaan, Baras, Rizal, for allegedly recruiting workers to countries like Japan, South Korea and Papua New Guinea without proper documentations.
The church is also called the Faithful Promise of Jesus Christ the Greatest Master Phil. Inc. and Faithful Promise Church in the Philippines.
DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said the closure was carried out after a series of surveillance operations which led to the arrest of pastor Esclarmonde Estrada Basalio, who was accused of recruiting workers without a license from the DMW.
NBI Cavite North District Office chief Czar Eric Nuqui said that Basalio charged victims P50,000 for processing fees and other documents under the guise of community work.
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"Their first victims were their fellow church members — it was the members themselves who reported them, and of course, we validated it. Some were offloaded because there were complaints, and they were collecting payments without proper authority, based on confirmations from the complainants," Olalia said in Filipino.
"Also, those who had already left and those who were about to leave were recruited by them, which is why we had no other option but to take action. If they leave without proper documentation or with incorrect documentation, it could cost them their lives if something goes wrong. That's what we took into consideration — the family and the life of the OFW," he added.
DMW Assistant Secretary Jerome Alcantara said most of the victims were heading to Japan as construction workers.
He said the preacher-recruiter also promised jobs as factory workers, tea pickers, clerks, accountants and mechanical engineers in Japan, South Korea and Papua New Guinea with salaries ranging from P36,000 to P120,000.
"Under the guise of missionary work, victims were issued tourist visas and instructed to tell immigration they were missionaries. Some victims were offloaded, others were deployed and some are still awaiting deployment," the DMW said.
