BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has ordered the closure of a culinary school and its related businesses for allegedly recruiting chefs and cooks for jobs in Australia without the required license.
DMW Migrant Workers Protection Bureau chief Rommel Abbang said the agency on Friday enforced a final closure order against Ausphin International Institute of Culinary Arts and Business Management along Marcos Highway in Baguio City.
Abbang said the company allegedly offered jobs in Australia with monthly salaries ranging from Php 200,000 to Php 250,000.
Applicants without work experience were allegedly required to pay about Php 420,000, while those with experience were asked to pay around Php 95,000.
The DMW conducted three surveillance operations and found that the company’s culinary school, consultancy and recruitment operations did not have a valid recruitment license, Abbang said.
The agency said it would recommend the cancellation of the company’s business permit by the Baguio City government and seek the revocation of its corporate registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to an SEC certification displayed at the facility, Ausphin International Institute-Culinary Arts and Business Management Inc. was incorporated on Nov. 16, 2017.
“This is a final closure order and they will not open again,” Abbang said.
The DMW is also preparing criminal complaints for alleged illegal recruitment against the company’s incorporators, officers and other individuals directly involved in its operations.
Ausphin operates a culinary school, recruitment agency and consultancy in Baguio and also maintains offices in Pasig City and Mandaluyong City. The DMW said all five offices were shut down simultaneously on Friday.
“We have zero tolerance, so if you are conducting recruitment activities, please be mindful that you have to secure a license from DMW,” Abbang said.
DMW-Cordillera Regional Director Cheryl Daytec Yangot urged students who paid fees after being promised jobs in Australia to file complaints with the agency.
Yangot said the reported Php 420,000 payment included about Php 270,000 in tuition for a 12-month culinary program, with additional charges for assistance in securing jobs in Australia.
“We are urging them to complain and we are assisting them to the fullest,” Yangot said, adding that DMW lawyers and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines would help complainants pursue their cases.
She also said the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in the Cordillera had offered culinary training scholarships for prospective overseas Filipino workers.
Yangot advised jobseekers to verify whether recruitment agencies are licensed and to carefully assess overseas employment offers before making payments.
