LOS ANGELES – There is more than meets the eye to the ‘L.A.-Eleven’ human trafficking case that has threatened to blow up a Pandora’s Box in the high places inside the Philippine Overseas Employment Authority (POEA) and beyond.
The case, which stemmed from the plight of 11 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were recruited in Manila by Adman Human Resources Placement Promotions, Inc. to work for a hotel in Virginia, USA, is turning out to be a be a knotty trans-national problem with an intriguing storyline. It has all the elements of a gripping made-for-Hollywood movie script with the eleven unsuspecting Filipino workers tangled in a web of corruption, greed, deceit, mistrust and conspiracy.
The 11 Filipino hotel workers escaped from their employer in Biloxi, Mississippi. They thought they were recruited by Aramark, a Fortune 500 company, but ended up working for another firm and were paid under the federal minimum wage. Photo: Benny Uy/Balita Media.Rep. Walden Bello, Chair of the Committee on Overseas Workers’ Affairs (COWA), in his Congressional probe, has confirmed that the “L.A.-Eleven” is a clear-cut case of trafficking by a Philippine-based labor recruitment agency, Adman, with the “possible connivance” of a large Philadelphia-based corporation specializing in labor placement called Aramark.
It appeared that Aramark sponsored the working visas of the eleven OFWs. However, the official story from Aramark is that it was not involved in the scam, and that “somebody is using Aramark” in a fraudulent way.
The story of the fraud surfaced in late August and early September, when eleven OFWs arrived in Los Angeles and sought assistance from the Consulate General. The OFWs were Rufino DeGuzman, Ronilo Cruz, Imelda Nosa, Eutropia Velasco, Arlene Dorotan, Ricardo Jabagat, Manuel Jusayan, Khalid Velasco, Vuenas Dela Puerta, Mario Abaday, and Norman Yaranon.
These eleven OFWs, who each paid to Adman over $7,000 in processing fees, arrived earlier in Virginia but were told that the original jobs intended for them were no longer available, and were instead asked to proceed to Biloxi, Mississippi to work at a hotel called Royal Hospitality. And there the abuse took form. They were told to do onerous jobs and were paid a measly $4.75 for every room they are able clean.
That is when they realized that they were victims by some unscrupulous illegal recruiters. And although they were warned by hotel management that any attempt to escape would subject them to a lawsuit and deportation, OFW DeGuzman took his chance and found himself in the care of LA-based OWWA Officer Donn Duero. The other ten soon followed DeGuzman’s lead to Los Angeles.
Duero, in his effort to help the victims, pushed the buttons of the high and mighty in Manila and Washington, but his appeal for support did not create any traction at all. Instead of being credited to exposing a cause célèbre in what he calls a “possible trafficking and corruption at the POEA,” Duero found himself holding the short end of the stick, creating enemies all over and receiving seven death threats in the process.
Bello said that Duero’s handling of the case was “admirable,” but he was troubled by the rift that developed between him and his superiors in Washington, DC. Part of Duero’s alienation stemmed from the differences he had with Washington-based Labor Attaché Luzviminda Padilla, who Duero felt had turned her attention away from a very pressing labor problem. Earlier, Duero’s request for a $30,000 funding was rejected by Padilla, who thought “that perhaps OWWA need not spend that much if the victims were in Mississippi or if they were repatriated back to the Philippines.”
Meanwhile, in Manila, on August 31, 2010, the license of Adman was cancelled, prohibiting its officers and directors from engaging in the business and recruitment of overseas workers. In addition, the agency was ordered to return to the workers the amounts it collected illegally. Until now, the agency is yet to return any amount to victims.
Duero was not satisfied with the “weak” POEA action and called for the filing of graft charges versus five high executives of the POEA in early January. He pointed out the fact that Adman’s operations were merely transferred to an agency called 168 Ye Lu Fa International Man-Power Promotions Services, Inc., with Rebecca Majilum who owns Adman, sitting as one of its board of directors, which is a clear violation of the Anti-Graft and Corruption Practices Act.
Bello’s findings follow:
The “LA-Eleven” case has brought to light the possible abetting of trafficking and corruption at the POEA, which is involved in all phases of the deployment of OFWs. This should be the subject of thorough investigation and prosecution, not only to root out corruption but also to prevent the Philippines from falling into the “Tier 3” in the U.S. State Department’s classification of countries from which people are trafficked – a status that would deny the country some foreign assistance programs.
The involvement in transnational trafficking of Aramark and other US corporations and of personnel within the consular division of the US Embassy is a very real possibility and should be the subject of thorough investigation by the US government.
The “LA-Eleven” case shows that trafficking is a big business. Given the continuing attraction of the U.S. as an employment site, despite the current recession, trafficking to the U.S. has become especially attractive to unscrupulous elements. The enormous amounts charged by Adman from the 11 OFWs show the great profits that can be reaped by illegal traffickers working the U.S. market. The death threats received by Welfare Officer Duero underline the extent to which traffickers would go to preserve a lucrative business dealing in human labor.
Bello’s report concluded with a set of recommended measures directed at both the Philippines and U.S. governments which, in his view, would bring justice to the “LA-Eleven” as well as address the broader problems of trans-Pacific trafficking.
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