Camille P. Balagtas
People's TONIGHT
September 7, 2002
LABOR OFFICIALS URGED TO INVESTIGATE 11 RECRUITMENT FIRMS IN
KOREAN FLESH TRADE
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Senator Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today formally
asked labor authorities to investigate 11-job recruitment firms
allegedly involved in sending Filipino women to South Korea where
they are forced into prostitution.
Pimentel made the request in a letter to Labor Secretary Patricia
Sto. Tomas and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)
officer-in-charge Delmer R. Cruz.
He told Secretary Sto. Tomas and Mr. Cruz to spare no effort in
uncovering the reported illegal activities of the recruitment
firms and their officials/personnel so that they can be
prosecuted and punished as warranted by circumstances.
"By doing so, we will surely minimize, if not prevent, the
continued exploitation in South Korea of our young women by
unscrupulous persons who take advantage of the hospitality of our
country and credulity of the victims who range from 17 to 31
years of age," he said.
Pimentel came to know about the trafficking of Filipinas to South
Korea and how they are lured into the flesh trade when he visited
Seoul last week.
He said the hapless Filipinos are supposedly contracted as
entertainers, waitresses, and bartenders. But upon being brought
to nightclubs and bars near the United States military bases,
they end up as nude dancers and prostitutes.
Pimentel identified the recruitment firms and persons allegedly
involved in sex trafficking of Filipino women to South Korea as
the following:
FMB Promotion in Angono, Rizal; MegaStar Agency in Pasay City;
MJB Recruitment Agency in Makati City; TOKOPHIL in Malate, Manila
and in Quezon City; An Sung Ho of Korea Special Tourist
Association; Alex Banag and Carol Banag of Golden Land in
Mabalacat, Pampanga; Alex Jeremias of Jordan Plains in
Novaliches, Quezon City; Yo Bong Ki living in Angeles, Pampanga;
Armando "Boy" Alquero, Jorphil Placement Agency, and
Allen Torres.
Pimentel requested the labor officials to look into the illegal
acts reportedly committed by the employers in connivance with the
recruiters like payment of wages to the recruits lower than had
been agreed upon or outright non-payment of salaries.
Recently, he said 11 Filipinas were rescued from the prostitution
dens through the efforts of the Philippine embassy in Seoul
headed by Ambassador Juanito Jarasa.
According to Pimentel, the victims complained that they were
coerced to dance in the nude a part of the entertainment of
customers when their contracts stated that they were being hired
as waitresses or industrial workers.
He said other illegal acts reportedly committed by the Korean
employers and nightclub/bar owners were:
Coercing the recruits to date club customers for sex; forcing the
recruits into a life of prostitution; housing them in unsanitary
premises; failure to cover the recruits with insurance against
diseases or death; subjecting the recruits with physical harm
when they are unable to meet their quota of drinks; compelling
them to work for long hours without just compensation; and
locking up the recruits in their rooms against their will.
///camille p. balagtas