Immigration authorities arrested Wednesday a German national who attempted to spirit out of the country four Filipinas hired to work as caregivers in Germany.
The German, 72-year-old Herbert Joseph Vogt, was intercepted, along with four Filipino women, at the Clark International Airport in Angeles City, Pampanga.
Vogt and the four women, whose names were withheld, attempted to board a Qatar Airways flight bound for Doha en route to their final destination in Germany.
OIC Deputy Commissioner and concurrent BI-Port Operations Division chief Mark Mariñas said the four victims aroused the suspicion of the immigration officer when they initially claimed to be traveling in sets of two and denied knowing each other.
“The victims later admitted during questioning that they were hired to work as caregivers at a nursing home in Germany. They were made to lie about the circumstances of their travel,” Mariñas said.
He said the victims studied the German language at a popular university in Manila, and they confessed that Vogt helped them process their application for said work.
The victims also admitted that Vogt was their German language professor at the unidentified university.
Vogt was turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation where he is detained pending the filing of illegal recruitment and human trafficking charges before the court.
The four victims were immediately referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance and further investigation.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente instructed BI personnel in the different international airports to be on the lookout for victims who might attempt to leave the country using a similar scheme.
“We have been receiving reports from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration that many caregivers were recruited for deployment to Germany without securing the proper work permits, guided as trainees,” the BI chief said.
He warned that aspiring overseas Filipino workers “must only trust accredited recruitment agencies, and must ensure that they have the proper documentation from the POEA”.
The Department of Labor and Employment said Germany needed at least 35,000 caregivers to care for its growing population of the elderly and the sick throughout the country.