OFWs fee babawasan ng POEA, OWWA simula Jan 1

Nagdesisyon ang Philippine Overseas Employment Administration at Overseas Workers Welfare Administration na bawasan ang singil sa membership fee na kinokolekta sa mga overseas Filipino workers dahil sa paglakas ng piso kontra sa US dollar.

Ngunit ang pagbawas sa singil ay sisimulan lamang sa Enero 1, 2008.

Matapos ang isinagawang emergency meeting ng OWWA board nitong Huwebes, inihayag ni POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz, na ang $25 OWWA membership fee ay sisingilin batay sa peso-dollar exchange rate na P42:$1, sa halip na P51:$1, simula sa Enero 1.

Dahil dito, ang dapat singilin sa mga umaalis na OFWs ay magiging P1,050, sa halip na kasalukuyang P1,275.

Ang OWWA fee ay siningilin ng POEA sa mga umaalis na OFWs kasama ng processing fee na P200 at Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) coverage na P900, ayon kay Baldoz.

Nitong Miyerkules, hiniling ni Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. sa POEA na magpaliwanag sa umano'y sobrang sinisingil sa mga umaalis na OFWs.

Naghain din ang senador ng Resolution 247 upang hilingin sa Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development na imbestigasyon ang sinasabing labis na singil.

Ang hakbang ay ginawa ng senador kasunod ng pagreklamo ni Lito Soriano, dating pangulo ng Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI), kaugnay sa hindi umano makatarungan singil na higit sa P250.

Ayon kay Soriano, ang mga recruitment agencies ang pumapasan sa sobrang singil dahil nakasaad sa batas na ang mga employer ang dapat sumagot sa mga bayarin.

Idinagdag niya na marami ring OFWs ang nagbabayad sa nabanggit na singilin.

Ngayon Pasko, sinabi ni Soriano na mahigit 100,000 OFWs ang uuwi sa bansa at obligado silang magbayad ng OECs (overseas employment certificates) sa POEA bago bumalik sa mga bansa na kanilang pinagtatrabahuhan.

“This translates to P25 million pesos that will again flow into the coffers of the government and short-changing our OFWs of P250 pesos for each contract processed by the POEA," ayon kay Soriano.

“They should reconsider for the sake of our workers who toiled all year and are here to spend their precious dollars at the same time shoring up the dollar remittances for the country," pagtatapos niya. – Fidel Jimenez, Marie Neri, GMANews.TV

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