THE justice department has dealt immigrant Filipino nurses a third successive loss in their long-running battle with their recruitment agency and employer here and in the United States as it dismissed a complaint for alleged illegal recruitment.

In a seven-page decision issued by Senior State Prosecutor Doris S. Alejo, the justice department dismissed the case filed against officials of Sentosa Recruitment Agency in the Philippines and Sentosa Care LLC of New York by 13 nurses for insufficiency of evidence. Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony D. Fadullon, and Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito R. Zuno concurred with Alejo’s ruling.

The case filed in June 2006 by lawyer Felix Vinluan accused Sentosa officials Bent Philipson, Francvis Luyun and Oliva M. Serduar of violating the Labor Code.

• Sentosa officials committed illegal recruitment because of "its acts of furnishing and publishing false notice or information or document in relation to recruitment or employment" and

• Sentosa "substituted or altered employment contracts approved and verified by the Department of Labor".

The DOJ said that "an in-depth study of the record shows there were no substantive alterations in the employment contracts signed by the complainants to sustain the findings of illegal recruitment against the respondents." It said what happened "may warrant an action which is civil in nature, but definitely, not a criminal action."

Sentosa Recruitment and its principals in the United States employ more than 5,000 doctors, nurses, dieticians and nutritionists, therapists, pharmacists, office and support staff etc., Of this number, more than 1,000 employees are Filipinos.

The first loss suffered by the Sentosa nurses was the case they filed with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration for alleged violation of recruitment rules and regulations.

In the United States, the nurses also lost three they filed against the company.