QUEZON CITY, (PIA) --The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Thursday (Sept. 7) closed down the offices of R. T. M. Maritime Consultancy Services Corp (RTM, for short) for alleged illegal recruitment activities and unauthorized collection of fees.

The closure operation was led by DMW Officer-in-Charge Undersecretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac along with Undersecretary Bernard P. Olalia, head of the DMW’s Licensing and Adjudication Services cluster, Assistant Secretary Francis de Guzman, and Atty. Geraldine Mendez, Chief of the department’s Migrant Workers Protection Bureau (MWPB).

With the assistance of personnel from the Parañaque City police and Barangay Sto. Niño officials, Cacdac padlocked RTM’s offices located at the 2nd floor of the J & P Building along Ninoy Aquino Avenue in Santo Nino, Paranaque City.

“We cannot allow these unlicensed agencies posing as ‘consultancy firms’ to continue offering supposedly lucrative job postings to our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and goading them to pay excessive amounts of money. This is criminal and unconscionable,” Cacdac said.

The closure comes in the wake of email complaints sent separately by “Ernesto” and “Dindo” (not their real names) to the DMW earlier this year.

Ernesto stated that he was promised by RTM a job as Chief Cook onboard a container vessel in Dubai with a monthly salary of US$900, or the equivalent of P51,300. In exchange, Ernesto was asked to pay a total of P105,000 at RTM’s office representing alleged “consultancy” fees for finding him the overseas job.

Dino, meanwhile, applied for the position of Engine Cadet with a promised salary of US$350, or approximately P20,000, per month. He was asked by RTM to cough up P140,000 as consultation fee for the job placement.

Both Ernesto and Dino applied for their alleged jobs in the first quarter of 2023. After waiting several months for their deployment, they decided to file their complaints with the DMW.

The department conducted initial surveillance operations of RTM’s activities in March while a follow-up surveillance operation was undertaken in June to bolster the DMW’s case against RTM.

The DMW find out RTM does not have a valid license or accreditation from the department; it received and processed applications and referred these to its partner manning agency; and it collected “consultation” fees ranging from P105,000 to as much as P140,000 from their applicants who were promised fake jobs as seafarers in Dubai – this despite a no placement fee policy for seafarers.

Charges of illegal recruitment are being readied against the officers and personnel of RTM Maritime Consultancy Corp.

The DMW is also urging other victims of RTM Maritime Consultancy Corp to visit the Migrant Workers Protection Bureau (MWPB) so they may be assisted in filing their complaints and cases against the illegal recruitment agency. They may also be contacted through their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/airbranch or email at mwpb@dmw.gov.ph and also through their hotline number 8721-0619. (dmw/pia-ncr)