Vice President Noli ?Kabayan? de Castro has ordered the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to investigate whether the improper issuance of clearances and certificates may be the result of submission of altered or falsified documents by employment agencies and recruiters.

POEA should check the source of these spurious documents and hold accountable those found to have submitted falsified papers, said De Castro, also presidential adviser on Filipinos overseas.

De Castro gave the order after Standard Today exposed the illegal recruitment activities and the fraudulent use of official document.

Labor recruiters will be held administratively liable, and their licenses canceled while their officers will be sent to prison for illegal deployment, said De Castro, also the chairman of the task force against illegal recruitment.

Based on a report the Immigration bureau gave to De Castro, the modus operandi uncovered involved the alteration of employment visas, or the original profession of the worker, but still receiving the POEA clearance.

Moreover the vice president called the attention of POEA and the Immigration on reports of Immigration and National Bureau of Investigation agents engaging in illegal recruitment.