Culinary school, offices shut over alleged unlicensed Australia recruitment

Ausphin International Institute of Culinary Arts and Business Management in Baguio City is shown in this undated photo.

Ausphin via Google Reviews

MANILA, Philippines — Five offices linked to a culinary school have been shut down over an alleged recruitment scheme that charged applicants as much as P420,000 for training and assistance in securing chef and cook jobs in Australia.

The Department of Migrant Workers on Friday, September 25, implemented a final closure order against Ausphin International Institute of Culinary Arts and Business Management and related operations in Baguio City, Pasig City and Mandaluyong City.

DMW Migrant Workers Protection Bureau head Rommel Abbang said the agency found that the company was allegedly recruiting chefs and cooks for jobs in Australia without the required recruitment license.

"We have closed down Ausphin businesses composed of three divisions after we received a report that they are doing recruitment activities for chefs and cooks with a promised salary of PHP200,000 to PHP250,000," Abbang said during the Baguio operation, as reported by the Philippine News Agency.

Applicants without experience were allegedly asked to pay about P420,000, while those with experience were charged P95,000, according to the DMW.

DMW-Cordillera Regional Director Cheryl Daytec Yangot said the P420,000 payment included about P270,000 in tuition for a 12-month culinary program, plus additional fees for assistance in finding jobs in Australia.

The operation covered Ausphin's culinary school, consultancy and recruitment businesses.

Abbang said the DMW conducted three surveillance operations before finding that the recruitment activities were being carried out without the required license.

All five offices were shut down simultaneously Friday.

'They will not open again'

Ausphin International Institute-Culinary Arts and Business Management Inc. was incorporated on Nov. 16, 2017, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission certification displayed at the facility.

"This is a final closure order and they will not open again," Abbang said.

The DMW will recommend that the Baguio City government cancel the school's business permit and ask the SEC to cancel the company's registration.

The agency will also file criminal complaints for alleged illegal recruitment against the company's incorporators, officers and other individuals allegedly involved in the operations.

Yangot urged students who paid fees after being promised jobs in Australia to file complaints with the DMW.

"We are urging them to complain and we are assisting them to the fullest," she said.

Yangot said DMW lawyers and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines would provide legal assistance in pursuing the cases.

She also urged Filipinos planning to work overseas to verify whether recruitment agencies are licensed and to carefully assess employment pathways offered to them.

"We have zero tolerance, so if you are conducting recruitment activities, please be mindful that you have to secure a license from DMW," Abbang said.