Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada has put to task the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to look into reports that some recruitment agencies are owned by foreign nationals.

Estrada pointed out foreign ownership of placement agencies is a matter prohibited in the licensing and regulation rules of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and under the country’s Labor Code.

The senator bared the information he received on Wednesday’s Senate hearing on the case of Jullebee Ranara and the cancellation of the recruitment license of her local recruitment agency.

In its initial investigation, the DMW said Ranara’s local and foreign recruitment agencies failed to comply with the mandatory monitoring requirements to ensure the well-being of their deployed workers.

But according to Estrada, there are alleged Filipino owners of placement agencies who serve as “dummy” by foreign-owned placement firms and have been recruiting land-based OFWs.

“It might be tedious for this committee to summon all the incorporators or the board of directors of the recruitment agencies,” Estrada said on Thursday, February 9.

“Let’s just request the DMW to scrutinize the recruitment agencies, whether the proprietors of these recruitment agencies have the financial capability to run its operations,” said the senator, chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources.

According to Estrada, it’s common knowledge in the industry that some Filipinos are posing as “dummy” incorporators of some recruitment or placement agencies deploying OFWs.

Under the Labor Code, the lawmaker said only Filipinos citizens, as sole proprietors, are allowed to secure licenses to operate placement agencies with a minimum capitalization of P5-million.