00:00Workers from Visayas and Menderao were shocked by the promise of their recruiter that their work is legit in a factory or construction site.
00:07But when it comes to Pangasinan, their work is different and far from what they have talked about.
00:13Their dream is a better tomorrow. But why did they fall behind the bars?
00:20November 28, 2023, a raid was carried out by the operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of CIDG Pangasinan.
00:29In a factory of Peking Cigarillos.
00:33Arrested are the foreign owners and more than 100 workers of this factory.
00:38What's more shocking is that this is not the work of the arrested employees.
00:44They were immediately brought to the custodial facility of Balunggao District Jail in Pangasinan.
00:48Forty-one of the workers from Masbate were allowed to enter the factory when they were recruited by a man.
00:59But wait, there was no job offer for almost half a year in jail, Mr. Recruiter.
01:06My brother was recruited to work in construction.
01:10The recruiter told him that the factory is made of plastic and that there is no problem with their income because everything is free, including food.
01:21530.
01:22The workers who were arrested for construction and construction of plastic were allowed to work.
01:28But when it comes to the place,
01:31Cigarillos is going to build their new workplace.
01:36When we arrived here in Pangasinan, we were shocked that we were not allowed to leave.
01:41The factory is made of plastic and cigarettes.
01:45I thought that it's okay because the salary is high.
01:50When they arrived at the factory, they were surprised to find out about the job they were assigned.
01:55And to experience the tight walking inside.
02:00It's tight inside.
02:02If you're going to work, you can just eat there.
02:08We don't have to go outside.
02:12Workers from various provinces were given the appealing offer by the recruiters in their respective areas.
02:20When they were able to send the workers to Pangasinan,
02:24they were forced to work in an illegal factory.
02:29More than 800 workers were arrested in a raid by the police last November.
02:38On May 23, 2024, the family of some of the imprisoned workers fell into a recidivism.
02:45I would like to complain to the recruiters.
02:48The recruiters were talking about construction.
02:52When they arrived in Pangasinan, they were forced to make cigarettes.
02:56The family of the imprisoned workers shouted that they hope that their loved ones will be safe and sound.
03:04Of the more than 100 workers who were imprisoned since November last year,
03:08only six were paid by the owner of the factory.
03:13I also interviewed some of the prisoners from the prison.
03:17We were sent out one by one.
03:19When we were already outside, we told our colleagues that we were already rescued.
03:23The only thing that really hurts is that we were not accepted.
03:27Why did they lock us up?
03:30Brother Alvin is not a real name to those who were not allowed to leave the prison.
03:36He even had to borrow money to go to Manila and visit his brother.
03:41I made a loan first.
03:43I already had 15,000 pesos in my account and I was released.
03:46But when I went to Manila, I only had 41,000 pesos left because I already paid 61,000 pesos.
03:52The prisoners were even locked up.
03:56The recruiters were locked up and our family members were released from the prison.
04:02In February this year, the company paid the majority of the prisoners.
04:06And this May, they will be paid again.
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