Overseas recruitment agencies who fail to follow the rules and regulations in hiring overseas workers face the risk of having their licenses canceled. However, even with cancelled licenses, some recruitment agencies continue to hire applicants for overseas deployment.

Such is the case with Northwest Placement Inc. and Reajent Manpower Services Inc. To make sure that these agencies will not be able to continue their illegal operations, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief, Hans Leo J. Cacdac and Vice-President Jejomar Binay, which is the head of the Presidential Task Force on Anti-Illegal Recruitment (PTFAIR), closed the offices of Northwest Placement Inc. and Reajent Manpower Services Inc.

Cacdac said, “This enforcement effort of the POEA and the Office of the Vice-President underscores the importance of punishing recruitment violators and upholding the rule of law.  And we will not rest.”

The order for immediate closure was issued by POEA after discovering that Northwest Placement Inc. continue to hire housekeepers for the United States of America even after its license was cancelled on April 25, 2012 because of the excessive fees it charged to applicants.

The office of Reajent Manpower Services Inc. was also closed by the POEA because they continue to accept applications for the position of fruit pickers for Australia that was found out to be non-existent.  Reajent was under preventive suspension since February 28, 2012.

Reminder to Applicants:

Be a wise jobseeker by knowing the legal process of overseas job application and your right as an applicant. Keep in mind the tips below:

• You are not supposed to pay any application fee. Application forms and other application documents should be for free. An agency would only be allowed to request 50% of the placement fee amount once you have been selected by an employer and signed an employment contract

• A medical examination is done only after an applicant is hired. It only has a validity of 3 months so it should not be required at the star tof the application process.

• Do not submit original documents to the agency. You will present the original documents but only the photocopies of the original documents should be given to the agency. Your documents such as passport, birth certificate etc, are personal property so you should be allowed to keep it.

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According to POEA Administrator Jennifer Jardin-Manalili, all recruitment activities of manning agencies in Rizal Park area near the National Library are deemed illegal. The government agency issued the new law because of reports of unfair hiring practices in the area. Likewise the POEA has not issued any Special Recruitment Authority (SRA) to manning agencies conducting recruitment activities in the said areas since May 2009. Read more.