Deeper probe on OFW overcharging sought
A migrants’ group in Hong Kong asked the Senate on Friday to conduct a broader inquiry on overcharging of overseas Filipino workers by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, to include utilization of collected fees.
Dolores Balladares, chair of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (Unifil-Migrante-HK), said POEA’s deployment guidelines for domestic workers also ought to be looked into because it practically gave a license to recruitment agencies to charge exorbitant fees of as much as P100,000 under the guise of training.
The suggestion followed the decision of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration board to reduce the peso equivalent of the $25 membership dues of OFWs to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration by P225 by adopting a peso-dollar exchange rate of P42:$1 instead of P51, beginning January 1, 2008.
The peso-dollar rate has been steadily gaining strength at the 42 to P41 level for in the past months but the OFW contracts processed by the POEA still charge a peso equivalent of P1, 275 for the $25 OWWA membership dues.
POEA’s decision followed a statement from Senate President Manuel Villar Jr on Tuesday, demanding an explanation on what he considered as excessive collection on OFWs who, ironically, are referred to as "modern heroes" for their remittances that keep the economy afloat.
But Villar was not satisfied with the POEA decision. He wanted the peso-dollar conversion at P41:$1 and that the corrective step be done immediately, considering that the peso-dollar rate has long been above the P51 level.
The Senate President also demanded an accounting of all excess collection of the POEA from the conversion of the $25 OWWA dues at P51:$1.
“I am pushing for the Senate investigation into the propriety and rationality of other similar fees imposed on OFWs," Villar assured.
He said instead of paying P1,275 based on the P51:$1 exchange rate for the OWWA fee, OFWs should be paying less with the continued strengthening of the peso against the dollar. With the prevailing rate of P41:$1, OFWs should be paying P1,025 only, saving P250.
Leaders of recruitment agencies sounded the same call.
Alfredo Palmiery, chairman of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (FAME), Victor Fernandez and Lito Soriano of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (Pasei) said the reduced OWWA dues must be implemented immediately.
PASEI and FAME represent 95 per cent of close to a million land-based OFWs.
Soriano exposed the overcharging on OFWs over the weekend, prompting Villar to demand an explanation from POEA.
With more than 3,000 OFWs leaving the country every day, and millions of others paying their OWWA dues, Soriano said POEA must have collected huge sums already.
From the estimated 100,000 OFWs on vacation or re-hires processing their overseas employment contracts (OECs), Soriano said the POEA should have collected P25 million already.
While the P225 reduction on the peso equivalent of the $25 OWWA dues may be insignificant, Soriano said the amount serves as a symbolic gesture of the government for the contributions of migrant workers now totaling 8 million all over the world and propping the national economy with more than $14 billion projected remittances by the end of the year.
Unifil said the Senate inquiry on the collection of excessive fees on OFWs must be pursued vigorously, and expanded to include the fees collected by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
“We also call on Senator Villar to ensure the representation of OFWs by inviting groups of OFWs and families of OFWs such as Migrante International in the inquiry he is pushing for," Balladares said in a statement from Hong Kong.
"This initiative should be pushed to its conclusion. Finally, it must result in concrete gains for OFWs who have long called for the scrapping of the POEA Guidelines, the OWWA Omnibus Policies and other excessive and onerous charges of the government to Filipino migrant workers," Balladares said.
“OFWs have long been a rich source of income for the government. While we carry the burden of keeping the economy afloat, we are also being used by GMA to prop up her corruption-ridden administration," she asserted.
Meanwhile,Jackson Gan, vice president of FAME, said that it is high time that Congress pass a bill that will set up an OFW Bank that could help migrant workers abroad who are suffering from reduced income as a result of the peso gain.
Proposals in Congress for an OFW Bank provide for funding from the P7 billion OFW trust fund coming from OWWA membership dues paid by departing workers.
The bank could provide soft loans for OFWs for their placement fees and livelihood projects in partnership with farm cooperatives. - GMANews.TV, with reports from Marie Neri
Dolores Balladares, chair of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (Unifil-Migrante-HK), said POEA’s deployment guidelines for domestic workers also ought to be looked into because it practically gave a license to recruitment agencies to charge exorbitant fees of as much as P100,000 under the guise of training.
The suggestion followed the decision of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration board to reduce the peso equivalent of the $25 membership dues of OFWs to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration by P225 by adopting a peso-dollar exchange rate of P42:$1 instead of P51, beginning January 1, 2008.
The peso-dollar rate has been steadily gaining strength at the 42 to P41 level for in the past months but the OFW contracts processed by the POEA still charge a peso equivalent of P1, 275 for the $25 OWWA membership dues.
POEA’s decision followed a statement from Senate President Manuel Villar Jr on Tuesday, demanding an explanation on what he considered as excessive collection on OFWs who, ironically, are referred to as "modern heroes" for their remittances that keep the economy afloat.
But Villar was not satisfied with the POEA decision. He wanted the peso-dollar conversion at P41:$1 and that the corrective step be done immediately, considering that the peso-dollar rate has long been above the P51 level.
The Senate President also demanded an accounting of all excess collection of the POEA from the conversion of the $25 OWWA dues at P51:$1.
“I am pushing for the Senate investigation into the propriety and rationality of other similar fees imposed on OFWs," Villar assured.
He said instead of paying P1,275 based on the P51:$1 exchange rate for the OWWA fee, OFWs should be paying less with the continued strengthening of the peso against the dollar. With the prevailing rate of P41:$1, OFWs should be paying P1,025 only, saving P250.
Leaders of recruitment agencies sounded the same call.
Alfredo Palmiery, chairman of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (FAME), Victor Fernandez and Lito Soriano of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (Pasei) said the reduced OWWA dues must be implemented immediately.
PASEI and FAME represent 95 per cent of close to a million land-based OFWs.
Soriano exposed the overcharging on OFWs over the weekend, prompting Villar to demand an explanation from POEA.
With more than 3,000 OFWs leaving the country every day, and millions of others paying their OWWA dues, Soriano said POEA must have collected huge sums already.
From the estimated 100,000 OFWs on vacation or re-hires processing their overseas employment contracts (OECs), Soriano said the POEA should have collected P25 million already.
While the P225 reduction on the peso equivalent of the $25 OWWA dues may be insignificant, Soriano said the amount serves as a symbolic gesture of the government for the contributions of migrant workers now totaling 8 million all over the world and propping the national economy with more than $14 billion projected remittances by the end of the year.
Unifil said the Senate inquiry on the collection of excessive fees on OFWs must be pursued vigorously, and expanded to include the fees collected by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
“We also call on Senator Villar to ensure the representation of OFWs by inviting groups of OFWs and families of OFWs such as Migrante International in the inquiry he is pushing for," Balladares said in a statement from Hong Kong.
"This initiative should be pushed to its conclusion. Finally, it must result in concrete gains for OFWs who have long called for the scrapping of the POEA Guidelines, the OWWA Omnibus Policies and other excessive and onerous charges of the government to Filipino migrant workers," Balladares said.
“OFWs have long been a rich source of income for the government. While we carry the burden of keeping the economy afloat, we are also being used by GMA to prop up her corruption-ridden administration," she asserted.
Meanwhile,Jackson Gan, vice president of FAME, said that it is high time that Congress pass a bill that will set up an OFW Bank that could help migrant workers abroad who are suffering from reduced income as a result of the peso gain.
Proposals in Congress for an OFW Bank provide for funding from the P7 billion OFW trust fund coming from OWWA membership dues paid by departing workers.
The bank could provide soft loans for OFWs for their placement fees and livelihood projects in partnership with farm cooperatives. - GMANews.TV, with reports from Marie Neri
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