Philippines: Govt. closes R. T. M. Maritime Consultancy Services for posing as recruitment agency & charging high recruitment fees
Summary
Date Reported: 7 Sep 2023
Location: Philippines
Companies
R. T. M. Maritime Consultancy Services - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Philippines , Shipping, ship-building & ship-scrapping , Gender not reported )Issues
Recruitment FeesResponse
Response sought: No
Action taken: The company was shut down by the Department of Migrant Workers which it did not have a valid license or accreditation but received and processed applications and referred these to its partner manning agency.
Source type: News outlet
“DMW shuts down maritime firm posing as recruitment agency”
THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Thursday closed down a shipping company posing as a recruitment agency.
The DMW said the R. T. M. Maritime Consultancy Services Corp. that RTM does not have a valid license or accreditation from the department but received and processed applications and referred these to its partner manning agency.
RTM collected "consultation" fees ranging from P105,000 to as much as P140,000 from applicants who were promised fake jobs as seafarers in Dubai.
"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," Migrant Workers Officer-in-Charge Hans Cacdac said…