German national nabbed at Cebu airport for ‘illegal recruitment’

Ramon Hansmeyer/Photo: Mary Rose Sagarino

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — A 48-year-old German national was arrested at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) on Wednesday, May 22, for his alleged involvement in large-scale illegal recruitment.

Ramon Hansmeyer was arrested by operatives from the National Bureau of Investigation Cebu District Office (NBI-CEBDO).

The arrest stemmed from a request for an investigation into a deferred departure incident involving the suspect and four Filipinos by the Inter-Agency Council, MCIA’s Task Force Against Trafficking (AICAT-MCIAFAT).

The four Filipinos, including a Cebuano, were supposedly bound for Germany for vocational training.

Hansmeyer, who owns a German language school in Tagaytay, allegedly offered the victims vocational courses in Germany for which they would pay EUR 11,000 or about P700,000.

Hansmeyer allegedly assisted the victims in securing a sponsorship agreement in Germany for a vocational training program that would last three years.

However, when they were processing their departure, they were turned over by immigration officers to determine if they were victims of human trafficking and/or illegal recruitment.

“It was found they had insufficient documents to justify their visa to Germany. They lacked the affidavit of support or guarantee for their stay in Germany, at the same time they lacked authenticity of their contract. In short, they presented a contract before the DI officers, but there was no authentication from our Philippine embassy and that’s the basis why they were turned over,” said Eunice Scarlet Joy Panado-Noserale, Associate Prosecutor of the Department of Justice.

NBI-CEBDO said in a press conference on Friday that Hansmeyer was not licensed or authorized to recruit workers for overseas employment, as certified by the Department of Migrant Workers.

The victims were allegedly promised admission to Germany for vocational training after finishing their German class and passing the exam at Hansmeyer’s school.

“Allegedly yun yung sinabi niya I can assure you of your placement. Sinasabi lang na may vocational pero pagdating doon ang purpose talaga placement to work there. Meron din vocational courses na aabutan sila don pero yung target talaga doon is i-deploy sila sa trabaho na may kontrata itong si Hansmeyer,” said NBICEBDO Agent-in-charge Arnel Pura.

Pura said that Hansmeyer should have registered or partnered with agencies in the Philippines that are authorized for overseas employment.

NBI-CEBDO Senior Agent Atty. Niño Rodriguez said that according to the victims, Hansmeyer had already sent 300 to 400 people to Germany under his vocational training program. Hansmeyer has been staying in the Philippines since 2016.

Rodriguez explained that it is very risky for individuals to work illegally in other countries, especially since the Department of Migrant Workers does not have their records.

He said that these individuals are prone to abuse and subjected to life-threatening jobs.

“Our usual case involves the repatriation of Filipino workers because they did not declare their true intention of traveling and ended up in illegal activities outside the country. It is very hard for our country to monitor them because, initially, the government only had records of them leaving as tourists. This is the scenario we are trying to avoid,” said Rodriguez.

However, Hansmeyer denied the allegations that his operation is illegal.

“First of all, the German Embassy issued the training visa to them. They also sent me an email confirming that the contract is legitimate for training purposes. It is true that I am not registered by POEA because this is training, and there is a memo from migrant workers under section F explicitly stating that trainees do not fall under POEA. They even refused to process them,” said Hansmeyer.

He also claimed that he has only operated the school on his own for the last nine months. He alleged that the hundreds of workers sent before were by different partner agencies from the Philippines.

“I started this on my own nine months ago, and we have had good success. The students are very happy. I want to help the Filipinos. For eight months of training, I only take a pre-payment of PHP 25,000,” said Hansmeyer.

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