The alleged victims trooped to Zyongya Hotel here to air their sad
experiences to Governor Emmanuel Piñol and Provincial Board members who
attended the 4-day World Food China Expo at the Shanghai International Expo
Center in Pudong China.
The group’s spokesperson Joselito Purpura, a native of Pikit North Cotabato,
claimed they were recruited by Susan Tejas and promised jobs with a monthly
salary of P30, 000.
According to Purpura, Tejas, a retired teacher in Kidapawan City, and her
children Roxanne and Charm were here to facilitate their recruits.
He said Tejas collected from him P65, 000 in placement fees and for the
roundtrip plane ticket and visa application.
“I want to seek greener pasture in China for me to improve the lives of my
family in the Philippines. That’s the very reason I pawned our residential
house in Pikit,” he told the governor.
Purpura arrived in Shanghai on April 16, 2006 and worked as waiter in
Morroca restaurant for just two months instead of one year as promised by
Tejas.
He also claimed that instead of receiving P30,000 in monthly salary, his
employer only gave him 550 Yuan which is only equivalent to P4372.50.
“Ang pait pa dyud ani kay gipalayas ko sa anak ni maam Tejas sa among gipuy-
an nga apartment kay gi-bikil nako siya tungod sa akong nasinati dinhi sa
China (Worse, Tejas’ child drove me away from the apartment where we lived
because I confronted her for what happened to us here in China),” a teary-
eyed Purpura narrated.
He said a fellow Filipino from Midsayap, Cotabato took him in for one month
and helped him renew his visa.
On June 27, he found job as a waiter in a hotel in Shanghai with the help of
a friend who adopted him for two months.
The remaining OFW’s who were illegally recruited by Susan Tejas have
remained in China hoping to find a good job there. But some of them sought
Piñol’s help for their return to the Philippines.
A regular public school teacher in Pikit who asked not to be identified told
this reporter that she also had to go into hiding before finding German
employers in China.
“We want that Ma’am Tejas’ activities of recruiting workers from North
Cotabato for China be stopped. That’s the very reason we sought assistance
from our local officials for immediate action,” she said.
Tejas admitted that she facilitated the recruitment of North Cotabateños who
wanted to work in China.
She also admitted that she collected P65,000 from each of the recruits for
their airfare, visa and accommodation in Shanghai.
Asked if her recruitment activities were legal, she replied, “We just want
to help them because my two daughters were in China to look for the
employers for our recruits.”
Piñol has asked the Provincial Board to set an investigation of Tejas on
September 19 to shed light on the complaints against her.
