In January, GMA News Online reported that the Department of Migrant Workers in the Philippines had arrested two individuals in Rizal for allegedly engaging in "illegal recruitment” and human trafficking, after 226 victims reported the individuals' activities.

The two individuals offered jobs in Canada in agriculture, domestic worker, food processing, and hospitality on social media in exchange of recruitment fees. The individuals allegedly used local recruiters Sunrise Consultancy & Management and Joyful Manpower Exponents, and Dubai based recruiters Ivouch Consultancy and JBG Manpower Consultancy.

In February, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Ivouch Consultancy and JBG Manpower Consultancy to respond to the article, to outline how they conduct due diligence on recruiters who use their services, and to disclose any steps they take to ensure responsible recruitment for migrant workers, including ensuring workers are not charged recruitment fees in line with responsible recruitment principles. The companies did not respond to the Resource Centre.

The Resource Centre was not able to contact Sunrise Consultancy & Management and Joyful Manpower Exponents to invite a response to the allegations; if a response is received in future this page will be updated accordingly.