The head of the Public Employment Service Office of Lapu-lapu City in Cebu province has denied the allegations against her in relation to the perceived illegal language skills training held for overseas jobs applicants from Negros Oriental.
Instead, Grace Jameo, Lapu-lapu City PESO chief, has turned the tables on her PESO-Negros Oriental counterpart, Ramon Benedicto, disclosed Dr. Jess Cañete, special investigator of the Commission on Human Rights in the Province.
According to Dr. Cañete, his office had received early this week the counter-affidavit of Jameo although he only read it on Thursday as he was out-of-town.
While not disclosing the specific contents of Jameo’s counter affidavit, which was just in a letter form but administered by a lawyer, Jameo said that Benedicto must be made to answer instead the accusations and other charges hurled against her.
Jameo also questioned the authority of the CHR in the investigation, pointing out that the Department of Labor & Employment instead should be the government agency investigating the allegations.
These allegations stem from complaints by about 500 overseas job applicants who last year took the Korean language skills training in two separate batches after they were told allegedly by Jameo during an orientation that this was a pre-requisite to employment in that country.
The applicants, who later discovered there were no overseas jobs awaiting them, claimed they had spent close to P9,000 each in training fees, and a learning module paid to a company that Cañete said appears to be spurious or at least not authorized by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration nor the Technical Education Skills Development Authority.
The complainants had sought the assistance of the CHR in claiming their money back, amounting to about P4 million, as well as bringing to court those responsible for the alleged malpractice.
Meanwhile, Cañete said he has given Negros Oriental PESO chief Ramon Benedicto a copy of Jameo’s counter affidavit, and asked him to submit his own reply based on Jameo’s statements within the week. (PNA)
