Only few of the cases filed in court end up in the conviction of illegal recruiters. Senator Ralph Recto, in a press statement dated February 26, 2018, lamented that of the 736 cases of illegal recruitment disposed by the DOJ in 2016, only 39 or 5 percent ended in conviction, while 211 were dismissed, 438 were archived, 23 resulted in acquittals and 25 resolved through mediation. This means six (6) out of ten (10) illegal recruitment cases were archived while three (3) out of ten (10) were dismissed.70 For the period 2015-2019, the POEA investigated and prosecuted a total of 502 illegal recruitment cases involving 1,124 complainants. 102 of these complaints (20%) were closed and terminated at the level of the POEA. 126 of these cases (25%) were dropped or dismissed by the Department of Justice/Local Prosecution Office. 20 of these cases (4%) were dismissed in court. 100 of these cases (20%) were archived in court pending arrest of the accused. There are 12 cases (2.4%) with on-going trial. 4 cases (0.8%) resulted in court conviction.71 For the same period 2015-2019, the POEA prosecuted and/or monitored 33 convictions for illegal recruitment.72 And then there is the matter of apprehension. Most illegal recruiters facing arrest manage to evade the law, there is reportedly a pile-up of unserved outstanding arrest warrants. "At kahit libo-libo ang reklamo at nagiging biktima, ang average kada taon na bilang ng nahuhuli na illegal recruiter ay mga 40 lang. This was the period 2004 to 2010, Recto said.” Data analysis on the intake and disposition of illegal recruitment cases was limited, as figures for 2018-2020 were not yet available online. Closely related to the problem of illegal recruitment is the problem of human trafficking. Considering however, that there were no human trafficking cases involving OFWs decided by the Supreme Court in the period 2015-2019, the issue of human trafficking is not included in this study due to absence of data. This does not mean however, that human trafficking is not a problem of OFWs, as it is an ever-growing problem being faced by all. For the period 2015-2019 the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) monitored a total of 354 persons convicted in court for trafficking in persons. In order to have a more focused campaign against illegal recruitment, trafficking in persons and recruitment of minor workers, DOLE Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III issued Administrative Order No. 551, series of 2019, creating the DOLE Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment, Trafficking In Persons and Recruitment Of Minor Workers. The task force is headed by DOLE Undersecretary Jacinto Paras, with the Administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) as vice chair, and the Director of Bureau of Local Employment as member. The other members include the heads of the Overseas 70 71 72 Ibid. 2015-2021 POEA Illegal Recruitment Cases 2015-2021 POEA Prosecuted/Monitored Convictions 44