Domestic workers have been warned by the Philippine government about fake employment agencies in Macau attempting to lure Filipinos to work in mainland China.
Earlier this month, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) issued a warning to tourists and workers in Macau to be cautious of job offers from mainland China. They highlighting cases in which people went to the mainland to work, only to be denied their salaries because they entered on a tourist visa, Macau News Agency reported.
Earlier this year, special envoy from the Philippines to China William J Lima announced that a deal would be signed with the Chinese government that would allow 300,000 Filipinos to work in China.
The news attracted great interest among Filipinos working overseas and some social media platforms such as Facebook listed jobs offering salaries as high as 8,000 to 10,000 Chinese yuan (US$1,251 to 1,564) per month, Nedie Taberdo, the chairperson of the Greens Philippines Migrant Workers Union, said.
However, Taberdo pointed out that the deal between the governments would not be signed until the end of the year. Some Filipinos now go to China on visitor visas and overstay to take illegal jobs.
Jassy Santos, chairwoman of the Progressive Labor Union Domestic Workers, said there has been some illegal activity by a recruiting agency around the Red Market area, although she added that another agency operating in Barra has been closed a few months ago.
Read: Filipinos warned about offers of illegal work in China