Placement Agency Faces Suspension for Overcharging of Placement Fees

A placement agency faces suspension after an overseas Filipino worker it deployed to Hong Kong suffered several abuses at the hands of her employer.

The Department of Labor and Employment said this as its agencies reassured the OFW, Rowena Uychiat, of assistance to her and her family in the Philippines.

DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz assured Uychiat's family the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Hong Kong will help her file a complaint against NAR Training and Management Service for making Uychiat pay P45,000 in placement fee.

Baldoz also directed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to file a case against a certain Joy of NAR Training and Management Service for deducting P5,000 from the loan proceeds allegedly as processing fee.

On the other hand, the DOLE is also eyeing actions against Nittan Capital Finance Inc., where Uychiat contracted a P50,000 loan to pay the placement fee.

Earlier, Philippine Labor Attache to Hong Kong Manuel Roldan said the POLO has blacklisted Uychiat's employer, Yui Anna Hoi Yin.

"This means Yui Anna Hoi Yin cannot hire another worker unless police investigation shows otherwise. The POLO will not process any contract document which the employer will present as a pre-requisite to visa issuance," Roldan said.

Uychiat, a widow, has a 19-year old daughter Justine, who is taking up criminology at Bago City College. She also has a 13-year old son, Ryan

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Holders of Passports Bearing Fake Immigration Stamps Liable to Prosecution in Hong Kong

The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region today called on Filipino tourists planning to visit Hong Kong not to be duped by unscrupulous individuals or companies in the Philippines who promise ease of entry into countries abroad through the use of forged entry/exit immigration stamps.

The warning comes after a Filipino tourist was arrested by immigration authorities at Hong Kong International Airport on 28 October for having in her passport fake entry and exit stamps to falsely show that she had previously traveled to Hong Kong. The Filipino, who is from Batangas province and was visiting Hong Kong for the first time, was on her way back to the Philippines with her family at the time of her arrest. She was brought to Shatin Magistrates’ Court on 30 October and pleaded guilty to the offense of possession of a false instrument. The judge handling the case sentenced her to four (4) months’ imprisonment.

The immigration entry/exit stamps were allegedly forged by a company that peddles the service as a way of bolstering a visa applicant’s chances at getting a visa from certain embassies in Manila.

Filipinos should be aware that these embassies also report fraudulent visa application documents to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). The Consulate has made a recommendation to authorities in Manila for the investigation of the case.

Mere possession of a false instrument is an offence under Section 75 of Hong Kong’s Crimes
Ordinance and carries with it a maximum penalty of 3 years’ imprisonment.