Macau's Fake Jobs

Filipinos warned against seeking jobs in Macau

Inquirer News Service

LABOR Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas warned Filipinos planning to go to Macau as tourists with the intention of looking for jobs not to be enticed by disreputable recruiters or agencies. They could end up as sex workers, she said.

Sto. Tomas cited a report by Macau-based labor attaché Carlos Sta. Ana, who said more Filipinos were arriving there as tourists and were finding it difficult to find jobs in the Chinese peninsula.

According to Sta. Ana's report, tourists are allowed to stay in Macau for 30 days. During this time, they become vulnerable to people offering to look for jobs for them in exchange for money. But the jobs seldom materialize.

Sta. Ana said those who run out of money are forced to sell their passports and unused return tickets to overstaying Filipinos.

Some resort to theft or the sex trade, while others go to mainland China to get a 37-day visa extension and look for jobs there, he said.

Sto. Tomas explained that despite the booming economy of Macau, Filipinos would have a hard time finding jobs there because the Chinese prefer to hire workers from the mainland.

"It is very risky for tourists to look for employment in Macau since they can easily be eased out by mainlanders," she said in a statement.

Filipinos who want to work in Macau should also verify the existence of the job offers with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, she said.

Macau is a former Portuguese colony that became the Macau Special Administrative Region of China in 1999. China's socialist economic system is not practiced there, but the "one country, two systems" policy is observed. It is an open economy and is enjoying rapid growth with the expansion of its tourism industry.