Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 22) — Incoming Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople is considering working with social media platforms to intensify the government’s fight against online illegal recruitment and human trafficking.
In a roundtable discussion with Business Mirror on Wednesday, Ople said that the social media is now the most common tool for illegal recruiters.
“We will put together a task force, may kinakausap ako to head it (I am talking to someone to head it), we will also be working closely with the Inter-Agency Council against Human Trafficking. We will pursue the laws in other countries to pursue foreign employers and foreign recruitment agencies who may be exploiting our OFWs, that is a priority area,” Ople said.
The former Labor Undersecretary added she wants to have a dialogue with social media giant Facebook in order to take down pages illegally recruiting Filipinos.
“Mas mabilis na take down ng Facebook pages na pugad ng illegal recruitment. We will work with Facebook Philippines with that,” she said.
[Translation: We will fast-track taking down Facebook pages that are ‘hot beds’ of illegal recruitment.]
The OFW advocate also plans to raise awareness on defining what online illegal recruitment is.
“Akala kasi ng isang Pilipino nakakatulong siya (kung) mag post siya ng mga trabaho dahil may kilalang agent, halimbawa sa Dubai. Hindi niya alam nag-cross na siya ng line, illegal recruitment na iyon pero sa tingin niya tumutulong lang ako,” she said.
[Translation: Some Filipinos think they are only helping other Filipinos when they post jobs from recruiters or agents. They are not aware they are crossing the line of illegal recruitment]
The Bureau of Immigration previously reported that some 688 potential victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment were rescued in 2021.
Blacklisting of abusive employers
The incoming migrant workers chief said she also hopes to improve the blacklisting of abusive foreign employers and problematic recruiters.
Ople was behind the campaign to rescue Filipino workers from the hands of an abusive Saudi general last year.
“Very lax ang blacklisting natin ng abusive foreign employers (Our blacklisting of foreign employers is very lax). Certainly we will address those gaps. We are also looking at country specific contracts, not the ‘one size fits all’ anymore. We will also be speaking with the private recruitment industry and OFWs to make sure contracts will be more reflective of the laws in the host government and situation of our OFWs,” Ople said.
Ople added there is a need for a clear definition of “forced labor trafficking” and establishing a better database management for OFWs and their employers.
