THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has ordered the shutdown of a travel consultancy firm based in San Fernando, Pampanga after it was found offering bogus jobs in Poland.
Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople yesterday said she has ordered the closure of IDPLumen Travel Consultancy Services, including its headquarters in San Fernando, Pampanga and its offices in Santiago City, Isabela and Tabuk City, Kalinga.
“The order was carried out yesterday, 07 December 2022, by the Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch (AIRB) of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in simultaneous closure operations,” said Ople.
“Please do not transact with travel consultancy firms offering jobs abroad. They are engaged in illegal recruitment,” she added.
The order came after surveillance operations revealed that IDPLumen has been offering jobs in Poland for truck drivers, welders, and factory workers with monthly salaries ranging from P35,000 to P124,000.
The company collects processing fees as high as P122,000 from prospective job applicants, either by upfront payments or a “fly now, pay later” scheme.
“IDPLumen Travel Consultancy Services does not have a license from the POEA to operate as a recruitment agency nor does it have any validated overseas job orders,” Ople said.
She added the firm and its staff will be included in the DMW’s “List of Persons and Establishments with Derogatory Record,” which bars the company and its personnel from participating in the government’s overseas recruitment program.
Ople also ordered the filing of illegal recruitment charges against IDPLumen, while urging victims of the agency to contact the DMW for assistance in the filing of cases against the agency.
“There is a one-way ticket to prison awaiting those behind this operation,” Ople said.
