Vice President Noli De Castro has noted that the surge of complaints to the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (TFAIR) is a positive development showing that victims trust the government's fight against illegal recruitment.

De Castro pointed out that the intensified anti-illegal recruitment drive, with the cooperation of the victims, has yielded the arrest of three suspects during recent separate entrapment operations.

"We have already arrested a lot of suspected illegal recruiters since the task force started operating, TFAIR will continue to go after these culprits who victimized our poor and unwary job seekers," De Castro, who is the TFAIR chairman, said.

"Aside from this, the cooperation of the victims has played a crucial role in the capture and prosecution of the suspects. So I'm encouraging them to come out and help the government win the fight against this crime," he added.

Recent reports showed that on June 25, members of TFAIR arrested Romulo Ilano Rempillo for illegal recruitment after his victims filed cases against him before the TFAIR office in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Victim Salvador Sales and six others said Rempillo promised them jobs in Qatar and Saudi Arabia as housekeepers, drivers, laborers, painters and car washers in exchange for sums ranging from P1,000 to P18,000 as processing fee.

Sales said the promise did not materialize but Rempillo continued to extract money from them. Authorities found out that Rempillo is not authorized by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to recruit Filipino workers for overseas jobs.

A day earlier, another suspected illegal recruiter fell into the hands of the TFAIR for sending OFWs to Singapore without the proper authority from the POEA. Turned over by airport police at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to the task force was Arnel Estojero.