A Hong Kong based online service firm that bagged the five-year contract to handle an online system for processing, welfare protection and data storage of overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong denied any anomaly in winning the contract, saying it passed legal process in accordance with Philippine law.
The denial was made after Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III ordered to investigate officials in the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Hong Kong for awarding a contract to Polaris Tools Ltd, a Hong Kong-based company to handle an online system for overseas placement without public bidding.
Polaris Tools Ltd. chief executive officer Jaime Deverall questioned the DOLE “for conducting an investigation based on baseless allegations in anonymous letters and are influenced by the private, profit-driven organization that is the Lilac Center for Public Interest.”
In a statement, Deverall said an investigation was set and supposed to end on Sept. 3. However, 12 days after the investigation was launched, DOLE had still not reached out to Polaris to make a statement.
“This seemed strange to me since we were the winning bidders of the bidding process under investigation. I handed a letter to Atty. Philip Paredes at DOLE who is on the investigation committee. The letter basically details our perspective of the bidding process making it clear that it was transparent,” he said.
The new online system will replace the Service Agreement with EmployEasy Ltd., now Employeasy Group Ltd., the previous online system which has been in place for 11 years and provided OFWs, employers, and accredited employment agencies data and information on POLO programs, projects, and services on real-time.
There are more than 165,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong, mostly working as domestic helpers.
The probe was made following a report by Lilac Center president Nicon Fameronag that the company with a registered capital of 10,000 shares worth only HK$100 was able to clinch the contract with the POLO in Hong Kong.
However, the International Labor Affairs Bureau, the DOLE agency which exercises control and supervision over the POLOs, denied knowing the existence of the new contract.
POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia also said he is not aware of such a contract.
Documents obtained by the Lilac Center for Public Interest show that Polaris Tools Ltd. was incorporated in Hong Kong as a private company only on 19 February 2019, less than two weeks before it was awarded the contract on late February.
The company’s ownership structure shows Deverall owning 2,875 shares worth HK$28.75; Jonah Bolotin, who owns 2,125 shares worth HK$21.25; and Migrasia Global Solutions Ltd., which has 5,000 shares equivalent to HK$50—an astounding total capital of only HK$100!
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