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A school president and two other top officials were arrested after they failed to return the training  and placement fees paid by students who were promised employment in Canada.

Police served the arrest warrant against David Sobrepeña, president and owner of Union College; Monalisa Dabao, vice president; and Deobela Fortes, director of the school’s career and placement office in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, on Thursday, a report from the town’s police chief, Supt. Marvin Saro, said on Saturday.

School finance officer Polixema Adorada and office assistant Lirio Corpuz were also named in the charges and were arrested by police on Friday.

At least 30 of 70 individuals, who availed themselves of the school’s short-term program, sued the school officials in 2009, after none of them had gotten to Canada, where they were supposed to land jobs as service crew in a food chain.

This was after the school collected from each student $2,500 to $3,500 for skills training and P15,000 to P20,000 for language training in 2008.

But after the course, none of them was sent abroad.

Sobrepeña, who is suffering from hypertension, is under hospital arrest.

Sirjonas Javier, legal counsel of Dabao and Fortes, said his clients were denying the accusations of illegal recruitment and estafa.

“But with regards to the merits of the case, we are to prove that the evidence of the prosecutor are not that strong to deny them (respondents) bail. We already filed a petition for bail yesterday (Friday) and the hearing will be on Thursday,” Javier said.

The victims are mostly from Laguna, but others come from as far as Mindoro, Pangasinan, Pampanga and Tarlac, said one of the complainants, Adelfo Carandang.

Carandang said some had resorted to mortgaging pieces of property and vehicles and borrowing money from usurers to raise funds for the placement fees. - Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon

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