Mt. Carmel agency ceased operations in November 2014, he says
(Eagle News) — The lawyer of a high-ranking official of the agency that recruited Joanna Demafelis said on Friday that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration should have assumed the responsibility of monitoring the Overseas Filipino Worker in Kuwait.
In a press conference in the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters, Jude Marfil said the license to operate of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Global E-Human Resources Inc. was, after all, revoked by the POEA in November 2014.
He said this meant that the agency should cease operations completely.
Demafelis was deployed to Kuwait under a two-year contract on May 18, 2014.
“If you open an agency na wala ka nang license, you run the risk of committing illegal recruitment..The moment na wala nang license, ano gagawin ng isang agency. Magkakaabsurd situation. Let’s say, from 2014 to 2016, ibig sabihin, monitoring nalang kami?” Marfil, who represents the Mt. Carmel assistant general manager at that time, Mary Gay Abrasina, asked.
He said the POEA had the power to monitor since it had a system containing the information about all the OFWs deployed abroad.
“Ang sistema nila ay pagprocess online… Di naman nila nirequire agency na iturn over documents..Dapat alam na nila yun..dahil asa online system nila,” Marfil said.
No negotiations with Tuballes, Asanji
Marfil also denied Mt. Carmel negotiated in any way with Agnes Tuballes and Mariz Asanji, who both said on Thursday that they looked for individuals who could be deployed abroad for the agency.
Marfil said that Abrasina denied knowing Tuballes, while Asanji is a “former trainee” at Mt. Carmel.
“(My client) has no personal knowledge of the transaction with Mariz and Agnes,” Marfil said when told about Tuballes’ claim she had been paid P13,000 for referring Demafelis to the agency for deployment.
He added that while Demafelis’ deployment to Kuwait was legal, she “did not pay a cent” for the processing of her papers.
“Di ko alam kung ano ginawa ng agency..,” he said.
Sold stocks in 2012
Adrian Briones, who became president of Mt. Carmel, said for his part that he was no longer connected with the agency since 2012.
He said he sold his stocks in Mt. Carmel after the United States stopped giving out special visas for foreign nurses who could be deployed there.
“By then I thought there was no reason to engage in this business anymore,” Briones said.
Both Briones and Adrasina were invited by the NBI, which is investigating the death of Demafelis.
Demafelis was found in a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.
Her death and reports of OFW abuse prompted the Department of Labor and Employment to impose a total ban on the deployment of OFWs to the Middle Eastern country.