Free Legal Assistance For Illegal Recruitment Victims

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Quezon City chapter assured the victims of illegal recruitment a free legal assistance to help them get the justice that they needed.

The free legal help was created after the IBP and Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (TFAIR) under the Office of the Vice President jointly signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to fight illegal recruitment and help the victims with their court battle.

“This is indeed good news to all victims of illegal recruitment. Now we have a partner, the IBP-QC chapter, in our campaign against illegal recruitment,” said TFAIR chairman and Vice President Noli De Castro in a statement.

Under the MOA IBP-QC will provide legal assistance for free.

“No acceptance and appearance fees shall be charged to the OFW victims and no fee shall be charged for drafting pleadings,” De Castro said.

To stop illegal recruiters from victimizing more aspiring OFWs, government agencies and non-government organizations suggested to:

• Conduct pre-employment seminars to prevent OFWs from falling prey to illegal recruiters.

• Verify the status of the agency first with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

• Seek help from proper authorities.

• Post photographs of top illegal recruiters in government offices and other strategic places, similar to the police’s “most wanted” posters.

“The TFAIR will also evaluate and refer to IBP-QC “high priority” large scale and illegal recruitment cases,” said De Castro who also act as presidential adviser of OFWs.

He added that the IBP-QC will assist OFW victims in the prosecution of their individual or collective administrative, civil or criminal claims and actions against illegal recruiters.

De Castro appealed to other IBP chapters to work follow the IBP-QC’s move.

“(They should) join in the fight against illegal recruitment by giving free legal aid services as mandated by the Supreme Court’s rule requiring all practicing lawyers to render a minimum of sixty (60) hours of free legal aid services to indigent litigants in a year,” he said.