More complainants vs fake lawyer come forward

At least 15 applicants for jobs overseas trooped to the Manila Police District (MPD) headquarters yesterday after hearing news that their recruiter was arrested by the police for illegal recruitment activities.

The angry complainants, mostly women, almost lynched suspect Roberto Bustillo, 38, who passed himself off as Attoney Jose Ordoñez, if police officers hadn’t intervened.

"He should rot behind bars. We got into debt on the promise that we had jobs waiting for us abroad. He’s a con artist," one of the women said.

Bustillo, who is also a sectarian pastor, was arrested by the police in an entrapment operation in Malate, Manila last Friday.

Senior Inspector Baltazar Beran, chief of the MPD’s District Police Intelligence Unit, said about 30 passports from job applicants were seized from Bustillo when he was arrested in his office.

According to Beran, one Wallie Garcia, 40, of Sta. Ana, Manila, came to his office to report on the illegal operations of the PAGCI recruitment agency, located on the third floor of Tandem Building along Quirino Avenue in Malate.

Garcia told Beran that he was recruited by one Leticia Cunanan to work as a roomboy in a hotel in Malaysia, and was told to deal with one Attorney Jose Ordoñez.

At the PAGCI office, Bustillo demanded P45,000 from Garcia as placement fee and was able to leave for Malaysia last Jan. 16 where he met the alleged contact person identified as Amera Dabajeh. However, Garcia was told by the woman that she was not hiring anyone for work in Malaysia. He was also told to wait for any job vacancy in her home and to pay P1,000 for his food allowance.

On Jan. 22 Dabajeh and her household, including Garcia, were driven out from her home because of unpaid rent. Garcia said he was able to return to the Philippines by selling his cellular phone to pay for the revocation of his return trip ticket.

When he arrived in Manila, Garcia said he confronted Bustillo, but again the suspect promised to send him either to Dubai or to Canada. Garcia said the suspect again demanded P3,000 for medical fees. This time, Garcia went to the authorities.

Beran formed a team of police officers to conduct an entrapment operation and Bustillo was arrested after the payoff was made.

Bustillo, a pastor of the Community Christian Church, told The STAR he was compelled to introduce himself as a lawyer to be a more effective job recruiter. However, he pointed to Dabajeh as the mastermind.

The complainants said they gave money to Bustillo ranging from P45,000 to P80,000 with a promise of jobs abroad. Some were scheduled to leave for Malaysia and Dubai yesterday but were warned by Beran that they were victims of illegal recruitment and that no jobs are waiting for them at their destination.

Charges of robbery extortion, large-scale illegal recruitment, large-scale estafa, usurpation of authority and illegal use of fictitious name were filed against the arrested suspect. Police are now conducting a manhunt for Bustillo’s accomplices.