30 jobseekers file raps vs 3 'park' recruiters

MANILA, Philippines - About 30 of nearly 200 would-be overseas workers yesterday filed criminal charges against three persons who gathered their victims at a Quezon City park and promised them non-existent jobs.

A cohort of the suspects, identified only as a certain Francisco “Boy” Bongco, remains at large. Bongco, The STAR gathered, owned a security agency on 15th Avenue in Cubao and reportedly worked for a retired general as a security aide.

The victims, led by Gemma Mahinay of Compostela, Davao, trooped to the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) District Police Intelligence Operations Unit (DPIOU) to formally file charges of syndicated estafa and large scale illegal recruitment against Reynaldo Arcega Jr., 51; his live-in partner, Rosita Tesado, 39; and Jemer Almoneda, 47.

Mahinay said some 60 victims from different provinces, but mostly from Isabela in Cagayan Valley are coming to the city today to file charges against the suspects.

She also appealed for help through The STAR, saying they “do not know what to do next” and are afraid the suspects might go scot-free because they have no lawyers to help them.

Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo, QCPD-DPIOU chief, said the suspects were arrested at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center Thursday after one of the complainants tipped off Pedrozo’s men about the suspects’ modus operandi.

Mahinay told The STAR her group did not know of the police operation but she became suspicious when she was made to fill up a fake overseas Filipino worker information sheet.

She told The STAR the suspects have collected an average of P15,000 to P20,000 from them as processing fee. They were already given immigrant visas and fake passports even before they were interviewed.

Mahinay said as far as she knew, four of them were to be sent to Italy, 60 to New Zealand, 15 to Australia, and 60 to Canada as caregivers, pig farm workers and dairy farm workers.

Among those who fell for the deception were a university professor, several nurses, government workers, retired soldiers, and police officers.

One police officer told The STAR he resigned from the service and has been out of work for a year because he was told he would be deployed soon.

At their cell, Arcega claimed they were also victims themselves and pointed to Bongco as the mastermind. Arcega also named a certain “JR Jacob” as Bongco’s partner and principal recruiter.

He said Bongco’s address is 197 Chuatoco street, Quezon City while Jacob, allegedly a former United States embassy employee, lives in Pembo, Makati.