The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) announced the immediate closure of a recruitment agency and its affiliated travel consultancy firm in Manila for allegedly engaging in illegal recruitment activities targeting Filipino workers for Poland. This decisive action is in direct fulfillment of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to safeguard Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from unscrupulous recruiters and syndicates.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac ordered the shutdown of REIVEN AIR TRAVEL TOURS & CONSULTANCY in Malate, Manila, and its tie-up licensed agency, RELIABLE RECRUITMENT CORPORATION in Ermita.
Reiven Air Travel Tours & Consultancy was found to be operating without a license from the DMW, making it unauthorized to recruit and deploy Filipino workers. While Reliable Recruitment Corporation is a DMW-licensed agency, it had no approved job orders for the positions it was offering in Poland.
“The modus operandi here was a ‘kabit system’ where the travel consultancy partnered with a licensed agency to offer jobs,” stated Undersecretary Bernard P. Olalia, who led the closure operations. “This is illegal recruitment because the travel consultancy is not licensed, and the licensed agency did not have approved job orders for the offered jobs.”
In this deceptive tie-up scheme, unauthorized recruiters exploit the services of a licensed agency to create a false impression of legitimacy.
The closure operations, conducted by the DMW’s Migrant Workers Protection Bureau (MWPB) in coordination with the Manila Police District, also led to the arrest of suspected illegal recruiters.
The two firms were allegedly offering various jobs in Poland, including fruit pickers, factory workers, truck drivers, and welders, with an attractive estimated salary of Php 90,000. Applicants were required to pay a non-refundable and non-transferable one-time fee of Php 70,000 for the processing of a working permit.
Investigations revealed that Reiven Air was primarily responsible for offering the jobs, accepting and assessing applicants, and collecting fees, while using Reliable as a front due to its licensed status. Furthermore, employees of Reiven Air declared themselves as employees of World Bridge Recruitment Spolka Z.O.O. (World Bridge), a foreign placement agency in Poland, which also lacks any authority to recruit Filipino workers.
The individuals involved in Reiven Air and Reliable will be included in the DMW’s “List of Persons with Derogatory Record,” which will permanently bar them from participating in the government’s overseas recruitment program. They will also face charges of illegal recruitment. Reliable Recruitment Corporation’s license will be cancelled due to its recruitment violations.
This action brings the total number of establishments closed by the DMW in 2025 to 16, as the department intensifies its efforts to protect Filipino workers from illegal recruitment activities.
