Migrant workers duped by ‘wine factory’ promise

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has shut down an employment agency that illegally hired over 100 people who applied to work at a “wine factory” in Japan.

Reported by Kyodo News earlier this month, a bogus firm called Jomhadz International Corp, based in Antipolo in Rizal province had charged over 100 would-be migrant workers 150,000 Philippine pesos (US$3,400) each to work in Japan.

POEA investigated Jomhadz after applicants complained that after paying they were still waiting to leave.

The POEA discovered that Jomhadz has no valid licence to recruit workers for overseas employment and has since shut it down.

Filipinos and Indonesians constitute the largest migrant worker populations across Asia, not least in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japanese cities.