Authorities shut down Manila office of Dubai-based travel firm

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 23) — A Manila office of a Dubai-based firm has been shut down and charged for illegally recruiting Filipinos to work abroad, offering them fake jobs in Italy and Malta, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said on Tuesday.

The agency said DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac ordered the closure of Legal Connect Travel Consultancy located in Barangay Veterans in Quezon City on Tuesday.

“Walang legal na ginagawa ang LEGAL CONNECT TRAVEL CONSULTANCY na kilala rin bilang LEGAL CONNECT TRAVEL SERVICES. Sa katotohan ay illigal lahat ang aktibidad nila — illegal recruitment, illegal collection ng fees, lahat illegal,” Cacdac said in a statement.

[Translation: They are illegal, all of the business transactions of the Legal Connect Travel Consultancy also known as Legal Connect Travel Services. In fact, every activity is illegal, from recruitment to collection of fees, everything.]

The agency said they acted in coordination with the Migrant Workers Protection Bureau which had three complainants who said their applications to the travel agency were delayed or ignored after it collected fees from them.

“Legal Connect offered monthly salaries from ₱60,000 to ₱100,000 but imposed “processing” fees ranging from ₱250,000 to ₱380,000. They would collect an initial “placement” fee from ₱80,000 to ₱100,000 with the balance to be paid in installments. Processing times were deceptively long, with applicants waiting for 6 to 8 months for jobs that never materialized,” the agency said.

Jobs that were promised by the firm were agricultural jobs such as fruit and vegetable pickers, farmers, and caregivers in Italy or hotel staff in Malta.

In response, Legal Connect Travel Services Attorney Joe Vincent Aguila said that the accusations were not true. Adding that the job contract for the aspiring OFWs was not facilitated by them but by the prospective country of employment.

“That is a lie because we never asked them for a placement fee. Meron kaukulang pambayad pero hindi ganun kalaki. The contract is entered into in a different country the proper forum is not in the Philippines, but in that country. And hindi po kasama yung Legal Connect na nagrerecruit dun sa mga taong ito,” Aguila told reported on Tuesday.

[Translation: …Yes there is an initial fee but it’s not that big like what they are claiming… Legal Connect is not recruiting these people.]

Aguila added that the DMW had given them a wrong closure order document, adding “Nilagay nyo po agad nang wala naman po yung physical copy…May opportunity para sa lahat ng tao para mag explain and due process dictates that.”

[Translation: You immediately put that [closure order] out without the physical copy…When we should have had the opportunity to explain and undergo due process.]

Meanwhile, DMW Director 3 Eric Dollete said that the closure was based on the investigation they have conducted.

“So based on that po we can order yun pong pagsasara po ng isang establisyimento na nakitaan po ng illegal recruitment so there's no violation po of due process po doon,” Dollete told reporters.

[Translation: So based on that we can order that closure of the establishment because we have seen illegal recruitment, so there’s no violation in the due process.]

Cited under Section 6 of Republic Act No. 10022 or the "Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995", Section 7 of Republic Act No. 8042 states that any person found guilty of illegal recruitment may suffer imprisonment for 12 years to life imprisonment with fines ranging from ₱500,000 to ₱5 million.

Authorities said they will coordinate with United Arab Emirates officials to probe Legal Connect’s other activities in Dubai.

CNN Philippines correspondent Eireene Jairee Gomez contributed to this story.