Batangas – Acting on complaints, elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group rescued eight young workers who were allegedly subjected to labor malpractice by their employers in an operation conducted in the towns of Laurel and Talisay here yesterday morning, officials said.
Senior Superintendent Christopher Laxa, CIDG Region 4-A chief identified the victims as Danilo Sabiate, 18; Joseph Coronel, 23; Joseph Abugais, 23; Edmundo Paculanang, 22; Glenn Pantallano, 18; Marlon Gaco, 18; Marlon Rimullo, 21; Gerry Paculanang, 28; all of Barangay Maigang, Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte.
Also rescued were Joseph Coronel 23, of Barangay Fatima, Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte and Joseph Mangubat of Poblacion, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.
According to reports, the CIDG Region 4 office received numerous letters from the parents of the victims informing them of the inhumane condition of their children in the hands of their employers.
Laxa said the workers were employed at a fish pond operation owned by a certain Vicente Encarnacion of Barangay Leviste in Laurel, Batangas.
With that, combined elements of the CIDG-Office of Business Concern (OBS) in Camp Crame and Batangas CIDG swooped down at the fish cages and warehouse of Encarnacion in Barangay Leviste and Barangay Balantoc in Talisay town around 5 a.m.
Led by its team leader Senior Inspector Benjie Calapiz, authorities were able to rescue three of the workers in Laurel and subsequently five more others in Talisay while they were forced to work at the said fish cages.
Encarnacion, however, denied the accusation of the complainants. “In fact, I acted like a father to them,” he said. “I decided to recruit them because most of my kababayan,” have no jobs in our province in Sibuyan, Zamboanga,” he said.