Automatic OWWA membership renewal sought

A group of Filipinos in the Kingdom wants automatic renewal of membership in the Philippines' insurance fund for overseas workers to ensure that everyone is covered at all times.
In a concept paper, the Jeddah-based Kasapi Congress said the measure is necessary in view of the inability of many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), notably the domestic workers, to renew their membership due to the nature of their work.
"As the lifeline of the OFW, especially in times of calamities, continuity of OWWA
(OverseasWorkers Welfare Fund) membership is of paramount importance," said the paper presented by Kasapi Congress to Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay in a forum Wednesday night in Jeddah.
Binay was in the Kingdom to attend the funeral of Crown Prince Naif in Makkah last Sunday.
Membership in the welfare fund is mandatory for Filipino overseas contract workers. A $ 25 entitles a member to  health care, disability and death benefits, scholarships and financial assistance for education and training, workers assistance and on-site services and social services and family welfare assistance.
Coverage varies. Land-based workers with open-ended or continuing contracts get a two-year welfare coverage, but those whose contracts are renewed yearly or every six months (mostly sea-based workers) are made to pay another $ 25 every time they sign a new contract.
Filipino workers in the Middle East are largely covered by two-year membership with the OWWA. When they go home on vacation, they are made to renew their membership to be able to leave the country again for work abroad.
However, many of the low-paid workers such as house servants and family drivers are unable to renew their membership because they don't go home for vacation. While membership can be renewed at the Philippine embassies or consulates, there are few who do that.
Kasapi leaders say that this reality has resulted in many OFWs without insurance coverage in times of emergencies.
To address the issue, the group proposed that members who have failed to come forward and renew their OWWA membership be automatically extended another two-year coverage in the form of a loan.
"If the agency (OWWA) could provide business or livelihood loans amounting to hundreds of thousands of pesos or more, there is no reason why it could not give a loan of $ 25 every 2 years to an OFW who missed paying his membership renewal," it argued.
It said the OWWA can always collect the loan payment when the OFW visits the consulate either for passport renewal or to request for an Overseas Employment Certificate, at Philippine airports prior to their departure, through the various remittance service centers, or an organization to be formed by OFWs exclusively for the purpose.
Vice President Binay promised to take the proposal into consideration.
Membership in the OWWA has become a hot issue lately as the Filipino community worldwide raised funds to support a fellow OFW who suffered severe burns in a case of electrocution. The worker left his original employer and transferred to another without renewing his OWWA membership, thus becoming ineligible for welfare benefits.
A Manila lawmaker, meanwhile, proposed that the OWWA membership fee be doubled, but she withdrew the bill amid an uproar among overseas workers.