MANILA, 15 April 2005 — A member of the House of Representatives has filed a bill seeking to give undocumented or irregular Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) the same benefits provided to documented OFWs.
House Bill 3572 filed by Rep. Arthur Pingoy Jr. also proposed that a 50,000-peso pre-departure loan for leaving OFWs be included in the General Appropriations Act, or the national budget.
The proposal, however, is not being supported by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), which warned that it could lead to more undocumented overseas workers.
“(Treating both undocumented and documented OFWs) the same just might encourage illegal recruitment in the country,” POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz objected during a congressional hearing on the proposal.
She also said there were legal reservations on this because “in the first place, they (undocumented workers) don’t even have contracts of employment.”
Pingoy’s bill merely revised portions of Republic Act 8042, known as the Migrant Workers Act. The bill was named an act to establish a higher standard of protection and promotion of the welfare of migrant workers, their families and overseas Filipinos in distress.
The performance bond to be put up by recruitment agencies has been set at P100,000.
Pingoy’s bill said this bond shall be answerable for all money claims or damages that may be awarded to the workers.
On Pingoy’s proposal to provide a P50,000 loan for each OFW under the Migrant Workers Loan Guarantee Fund, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) head, Marianito, said the welfare aganecy had actually been granting these loans of up to P40,000 per worker.
Pagcor issued no objection to this proposal.
The bill suggested that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) provide the initial funding for the loans. Funding for these loans for the year following the bill’s enactment would then come from the GAA.
Meanwhile, Akbayan Representatives Etta Rosales, Mario Aguja and Risa Hontiveros refiled a bill strengthening the regulatory functions of the POEA and in the process amending the Migrant Workers Act.
House Bill 2367 repeals Sections 29 and 30 of the Migrant Workers Act, mandating the deregulation of the POEA by 2000 which has not been implemented.
It also mandates the continued supervision by the POEA of all private sector participation in the recruitment and overseas placement by setting up a licensing and registration system.
“It (the POEA) shall also formulate and implement, in coordination with appropriate entities concerned, when necessary, a system for promoting and monitoring the overseas employment of Filipino workers taking into consideration their welfare and the domestic manpower requirements.”
