The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said that the government has formed composite teams to fight against illegal recruiters involved in the deployment of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Iraq.

The teams were composed of representatives from different agencies such as National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Immigration and airport police.

The composite team will be dispatched by next month and they plan to send them to provinces, specifically in Pangasinan, Pampanga, Ilocos, and Mindanao, where illegal recruitment are rampant.

The composite team was formed after receiving information that a big syndicate is behind the deployment of OFWs in Iraq despite the deployment ban according to Baldoz.

According to Baldoz, undocumented OFWs who are previously recruited by the syndicated used tourist visas in going to Dubai, Kuwait, Jordan and other Middle East countries which they used as their jump off point in going to Iraq.

Recently, there are reports that a US company recruited police and military personnel to fight against Iraq and were recruited as mercenaries. The recruits are being offered with US$1,700 per month with other fringe benefits.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLe) implemented deployment ban in Iraq in July 2004 because of Angelo dela Cruz, a truck driver who has been abducted by Iraqi militants. It caused the Philippine military contingent to pull out in exchange of his freedom.