Fahrenheit Co. Ltd. has strongly denied media reports that the company has been involved in human trafficking, human smuggling, or illegal recruitment.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the company said it \u201ccategorically and strongly denies and these false claims. In no way, or in any form whatsoever\u201d is Fahrenheit Co. Ltd. involved in such accusations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been operating as a law-abiding and responsible business entity. We would not sacrifice our untarnished reputation just to be involved in illegal activities especially in something as grave as human smuggling.\u201d<\/p>\n
This statement is attributed to Isagani C. Cabrera, president of Fahrenheit Co. Ltd.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cM\/V Forever Lucky was not even scheduled to depart anywhere since at that night of July 3, there were some repairs being done in the ship,\u201d he added in the statement.<\/p>\n
It said that Fahrenheit Co. Ltd. has been in the business of port operations and other related businesses for the past 20 years.<\/p>\n
In early July, news reports published the headline: \u201c139 Filipino workers rescued from human trafficking.\u201d The reports said that Fahrenheit Co. Ltd.\u2014a diversified company with shipping as an integral part of its business\u2014is involved in \u201cpossible human smuggling and other illegal activities\u201d and through the intercession of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine Coast Guard, \u201cFahrenheit\u2019s ship \u2013 M\/V Forever Lucky \u2014was prevented to depart for Micronesia with about 139 undocumented Filipinos on board.\u201d<\/p>\n
Citing record, the statement said that the case filed against Cabrera, together with four of Fahrenheit\u2019s workers, was downgraded to \u201cillegal recruitment\u201d because there was no compelling reason or evidence to charge them with \u201chuman smuggling\u201d or \u201chuman trafficking.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, the case filed against them was for alleged violations of R.A. 8042, otherwise known as the \u2018Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995\u2019 as amended by R.A. 10022.\u00a0\u00a0The Department of Justice, in a decision handed last July 9, already dismissed the case \u201cfor lack of probable cause,\u201d the company statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could we be involved in illegal recruitment when we are not even actively recruiting people for work abroad?\u00a0\u00a0There is not a single time when we, or the company, has even asked for any form of payment or fees in exchange for overseas employment.\u00a0\u00a0So the unfortunate events which happened were a big surprise to us since for the past two decades, we have been operating our business smoothly and efficiently,\u201d said Cabrera. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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