REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Resolution No. 748

Introduced by Kabataan Party-List Representative Raymond V. Palatino

1 A RESOLUTION
2 URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT TO REVOKE THE
3 LICENSE OF ADMAN HUMAN RESOURCE PLACEMENT AND PROMOTIONS AND
4 TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT FINANCIAL AND LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO THE
5 “ADMAN 11” AND DIRECTING FURTHER THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON
6 OVERSEAS WORKERS AFFAIRS TO INVESTIGATE THE CASE OF THE “ADMAN
7 11” IN ORDER TO CRAFT LEGISLATIVE MEASURES THAT WILL ADDRESS THE
8 ISSUE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE COUNTRY

9 WHEREAS, it has been reported, and recently been the subject of a privilege speech by
10 Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III, that 11 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW’s), collectively known as
11 the “ADMAN 11”, have fallen victim to illegal trafficking and are currently facing dire situations in
12 the United States as they continue to pursue appropriate legal actions against their employers and
13 other responsible parties;
14 WHEREAS, The “ADMAN 11”—Rufino de Guzman of Bulacan, Norman Paul Yaranon
15 of Pangasinan, Ronilo Cruz of Nueva Ecija, Ricardo Jabagat of Negros Oriental, Vuenas Ian de la
16 Puerta of Iloilo, Mario Abaday of Batangas, Manuel Jusayan of Samar, Imelda Nosa of Cavite,
17 Arlene Dorotan of Ilocos Norte, and Eutropia Velasco and Khalid Anthony Velasco, both of Quezon
18 province—were recruited by ADMAN Human Resource Placement and Promotions in Manila for a
19 seasonal work program in Virginia and Colorado in the United States, under a company called
20 Aramark;
21 WHEREAS, instead of being employed in Virginia and Colorado, they were instead herded
22 to Mississippi where they were compelled to work for almost half the salary they were promised
23 under unfair working conditions that are too difficult to bear;
24 WHEREAS, the “ADMAN 11” escaped from their employers, most of them on September
25 2010, and proceeded to Los Angeles, California to seek the help of the Philippine Consulate;
26 WHEREAS, since their arrival in Los Angeles, they have been assisted voluntarily by
27 generous and patriotic private individuals from the Filipino community in the city;
28 WHEREAS, upon arrival in Los Angeles, they have also instituted human trafficking cases
29 against their employers that, according to United States government agencies, would take many
30 months to prosper;
31 WHEREAS, despite claims by the Department of Labor and Employment that assistance is
32 being given to the “ADMAN 11”, the group claims that they have not been given the assistance that
33 they have requested more than two months ago from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency
34 (POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Assistance (OWWA) Office;
35 WHEREAS, it is alleged that the Philippines’ Labor Attaché in the United States,
36 Luzviminda Padilla, denied requests for financial and legal assistance for the “ADMAN 11” because
37 according to her, there are “better ways of spending OWWA funds”;
38 WHEREAS, the “ADMAN 11”, more than seeking financial damages and similar
39 compensation from their ordeal, seek to attain justice from the exploitation that they have
40 experienced by pursuing legal action against the parties that should be liable for their suffering, and
41 hence disapprove of the proposal of the Department of Labor that they simply be repatriated back to
42 the Philippines;
43 WHEREAS, the pursuit of legal action against their recruiters and employers entail costs,
44 both financial and emotional, that makes it imperative for the government to provide support to the
45 “ADMAN 11” and their families in the Philippines in the form of legal assistance and financial
46 support for the long-term shelter and subsistence of the group under terms agreed upon by the
47 workers and their lawyers;
48 WHEREAS, it is important to note that ADMAN Human Resource Placement and
49 Promotions, the recruiters of the “ADMAN 11”, is a government-registered and authorized
50 recruitment agency, and it is alarming that despite the said recruitment agency being registered,
51 authorized and under regulation by the proper government agencies, it is involved in a case of human
52 trafficking, and thus invokes the strong possibility that there are other agencies that are conducting
53 the same kind of swindling and exploitation of Filipinos under the noses of government regulators;
54 WHEREAS, it is imperative to revoke the license of ADMAN Human Resource Placement
55 and Promotions, and its alleged sub-altern agencies such as YeLuFa 168, more than imposing
56 preventive suspension upon them, in order to prevent the said agency from further committing
57 similar and other forms of exploitation of fellow Filipinos, and to show that the government is
58 serious in protecting the welfare of Filipinos forced by need to seek employment overseas and in
59 holding responsible human traffickers exploiting such need;
60 WHEREAS, the case of the “ADMAN 11” is simply a manifestation of a more rampant
61 system of human trafficking happening among Filipinos where hundreds to thousands of our
62 countrymen are lead to believe and hope in a brighter future overseas and pay thousands of pesos to
63 scrupulous recruiters only to be faced with harsh realities of poor working conditions and
64 exploitation in other countries and a government that is unable to adequately assist them in their
65 distress;
66 WHEREAS, it is further imperative for the House of Representatives, aside from urging the
67 Department of Labor to take the appropriate measures, to investigate further, through the Committee
68 on Overseas Workers Affairs, the case of “ADMAN 11” and craft proposals in the form of legislative
69 measures that would effectively address the issue of human trafficking in the Philippines;

70 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the

71 House of Representatives urge the Department of Labor and Employment to revoke the license of
72 ADMAN Human Resource Placement and Promotions and to urge the Department to provide
73 sufficient financial and legal assistance to the “ADMAN 11” and their families; further directing the
74 House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs to investigate the “ADMAN 11” and craft legislative
75 proposals to address the issue of human trafficking in the country.

Adopted,

HON. RAYMOND V. PALATINO

Representative, Kabataan Party-list