In spite of the rampant campaign of the government to stop illegal recruitment activities, illegitimate recruiters continue to proliferate and come up with schemes that victimize innocent Filipino workers robbing them of their money and dreams 

One of the reasons for this is the lack of initiative by the victims themselves to file a case against the persons/agencies that abuse them. To address this problem, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) hopes to encourage victims of illegal recruitment to pursue their complaints in courts by launching an incentive program for them.

The POEA Administrator said that majority of illegal recruitment cases are just filed in court then would end up dismissed because of the complainants’ lack of interest to follow the case or their incapacity to pay the required docket fees. Instead of taking part in court proceedings, complainants’ would rather accept a meager amount of settlement money.

Under the incentive program of POEA, complainants’ as well as witnesses will be supported and given financial given assistance by paying for their expenses in court such as the docket fee.

Baldoz said, “As a bonus, victims and witnesses availing of the program shall be given priority for overseas employment at no cost. It is very disappointing to see illegal recruitment cases we have helped build up being dismissed and archived because the complainants lost interest or accepted settlement money to drop the case.”