MANILA, 14 December 2007 — Starting Jan. 1, the membership fee charged by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for each Filipino overseas worker will be lowered, officials said yesterday.

OWWA Administrator Marianito Roque said the fee of 1,275 pesos will be reduced to 1,050 pesos in view of the continuing decline of the US dollar vis-à-vis the Philippine peso.

Roque’s announcement comes amid a growing clamor by OFWs for a reduction in the fee.

The fee is fixed at $25 each time an OFW signs a new contract to work overseas. Overseas workers argued that since the fee is pegged to the exchange rate of 51 pesos per $1, it is just right that the peso equivalent be reduced considering that the exchange rate is now close to 41 pesos per dollar.

The P1,050 membership fee come January is pegged at P42 to a dollar.

Roque sought to allay charges of overcharging against the OWWA, saying the agency’s Board of Trustees was just waiting for the peso-dollar exchange rates to “settle” down before approving the reduction in membership fees.

“OWWA has not increased the membership fee despite the increase of peso-dollar exchange rate to P55,” he said, referring to the peso’s decline during the presidency of Joseph Estrada (1998-2001) and the early years of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo presidency.

Roque also said his agency is doing its best to ensure that workers get back what they pay in terms of services.

“We will give back the membership fees OFWs have been paying in the form of services,” he assured reporters yesterday.

Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) also confirmed the planned reduction in the fee.

On Wednesday, Senate President Manuel Villar demanded an explanation from the POEA over the continued “overcharging.”

It is the POEA that collects the OWWA membership fee, together with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) coverage of P900 and processing fee of P200.

Recruitment agencies were also reported to have complained against the unchanged OWWA fee, saying they were being affected since the law requires that the employer pays the fee.

Most of the workers, however, end up paying the fee.