The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Saturday said it will probe 66 persons linked to the illegal recruitment of Filipinos seeking temporary employment in South Korea after the agency received 150 complaints of abuse and non-payment of salaries from their employers.
DMW Officer-in-charge Hen Leo Cacdac said the seasonal workers’ program was rolled out back in 2022 through agreements signed between local governments.
However, Cacdac said that several individuals were taking advantage of the seasonal workers program (SWP), where Filipinos are hired in South Korea for at least two months to augment the number of farmworkers during the East Asian country’s peak harvest season.
The DMW chief revealed that some individuals were asking P20,000, P30,000, or P40,000 in exchange for deployment as workers jobs to South Korea.
The department said the deployment can only be made possible after the OFWs undergo the mandatory Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS).
The DMW will also issue the OFWs with Special Exit Clearance for their deployment to South Korea.
The seasonal workers program allows short-term employment for agricultural workers in a bid to address labor shortages during the peak planting and harvesting season in South Korea.
“There are reports that South Korean counterparts are involved in the scheme,” he said when asked about the modus of hiring.
Some Filipinos fell victim to these illegal brokers as they can earn around P80,000 a month as a temporary farmhand in South Korea, Cacdac said.
He said they would file illegal recruitment and estafa cases against individuals who are part of the modus.
Meanwhile, the government, through the (DMW, is eyeing to forge a binding legal agreement with South Korea concerning the seasonal deployment of Filipino farm workers to the Asian country.
The DMW is in talks with the South Korean government to establish a “national government-to-national government approach” in relation to Seoul’s seasonal workers program (SWP).
“What I meant is we would have a binding legal agreement between the two nations, the Philippines and South Korea,” Cacdac said.
Cacdac said the agency is in talks with the South Korean government to establish a “national government-to national government approach” in relation to Seoul’s seasonal workers program (SWP).