UPDATED) Govt urged to adopt welfare insurance program for OFWs
(UPDATED) MANILA, Philippines - A group of manpower agencies on Tuesday urged the government to look into its existing voluntary welfare insurance program for OFWs and make it mandatory for the benefit of all concerned.
The Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (Pasei) said its Workers’ Welfare Enhancement Program (WWEP) - Personal Accident and Social Entitlement Insurance, which had been running for the past four years, is initially paid by deployment agencies and continued by workers on a voluntary basis.
But it would be at no-cost to workers and to government, if it is made mandatory, Pasei said, adding that workers deployed by licensed agencies "will get additional benefits over and above and on-top of" what they will get from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), which is initially paid by deployment agencies and continued by workers on a voluntary basis.
“Once this program is made mandatory to protect our workers at no cost to them, DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) and OWWA could now better re-allocate the budget of its duplicating and overlapping programs with the WWEP … and re-align them to cover OFWs' Re-integration Programs and to fund its New Expatriate Livelihood and Social Fund for those to be affected by global recession," the group said.
Pasei President Victor Fernandez Jr said that under the proposed insurance plan, for a mandatory coverage of only US$3 per month or at the cost only of one good fast food value meal a month, the Filipino migrant worker will be entitled to:
• Accidental death benefit of up to $15,000 or about P725,000;
• Survivor’s benefit (in case of natural death) of up to $10,000 or almost P483,000;
• Permanent total disablement of up to $7,500 or more than P365,000;
• Repatriation of bodily remains (including burial) of up to $15,000 or about P725,000;
• Repatriation due to emergency evacuation and legitimate cause of up to $1,000 or more than P48,000;
• Subsistence allowance of $100 per month or more than P28,800 for six months; and
• Legitimate monetary claims for unpaid and just wages of up to $4,500 or more than P217,000.
“PASEI and the entire industry is fully endorsing this protective program for the OFWs at no-cost to government and at no cost to the workers for the full benefit and protection of the workers once made mandatory," Fernandez said.
He said that the WWEP has been “up and running" for over four years now, although it has been only on a voluntary basis.
“It is high time that government and it is very timely for the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to make this no-cost program mandatory and made compulsory for all deploying agencies to cover their workers," he said.
Fernandez said the program benefits every sector concerned, including the OFW, the manpower agency, the employer as well as the government since they don’t have to shell out any money in case of death, disability or repatriation due to emergencies such as war.
Fernandez said this “public-private partnership" of Pasei and all overseas employment service providers “may someday be used as model or as template by other labor-exporting countries to protect their own migrant workers."
“With an Executive Order from President Arroyo, this protective program for Filipino migrants may soon be replicated by other labor-exporting countries to prevent abuses being perpetrated on migrants and reduce, if not eliminate, global irregular migration of guest workers," he said. - GMANews.TV
The Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (Pasei) said its Workers’ Welfare Enhancement Program (WWEP) - Personal Accident and Social Entitlement Insurance, which had been running for the past four years, is initially paid by deployment agencies and continued by workers on a voluntary basis.
But it would be at no-cost to workers and to government, if it is made mandatory, Pasei said, adding that workers deployed by licensed agencies "will get additional benefits over and above and on-top of" what they will get from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), which is initially paid by deployment agencies and continued by workers on a voluntary basis.
“Once this program is made mandatory to protect our workers at no cost to them, DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) and OWWA could now better re-allocate the budget of its duplicating and overlapping programs with the WWEP … and re-align them to cover OFWs' Re-integration Programs and to fund its New Expatriate Livelihood and Social Fund for those to be affected by global recession," the group said.
Pasei President Victor Fernandez Jr said that under the proposed insurance plan, for a mandatory coverage of only US$3 per month or at the cost only of one good fast food value meal a month, the Filipino migrant worker will be entitled to:
• Accidental death benefit of up to $15,000 or about P725,000;
• Survivor’s benefit (in case of natural death) of up to $10,000 or almost P483,000;
• Permanent total disablement of up to $7,500 or more than P365,000;
• Repatriation of bodily remains (including burial) of up to $15,000 or about P725,000;
• Repatriation due to emergency evacuation and legitimate cause of up to $1,000 or more than P48,000;
• Subsistence allowance of $100 per month or more than P28,800 for six months; and
• Legitimate monetary claims for unpaid and just wages of up to $4,500 or more than P217,000.
“PASEI and the entire industry is fully endorsing this protective program for the OFWs at no-cost to government and at no cost to the workers for the full benefit and protection of the workers once made mandatory," Fernandez said.
He said that the WWEP has been “up and running" for over four years now, although it has been only on a voluntary basis.
“It is high time that government and it is very timely for the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to make this no-cost program mandatory and made compulsory for all deploying agencies to cover their workers," he said.
Fernandez said the program benefits every sector concerned, including the OFW, the manpower agency, the employer as well as the government since they don’t have to shell out any money in case of death, disability or repatriation due to emergencies such as war.
Fernandez said this “public-private partnership" of Pasei and all overseas employment service providers “may someday be used as model or as template by other labor-exporting countries to protect their own migrant workers."
“With an Executive Order from President Arroyo, this protective program for Filipino migrants may soon be replicated by other labor-exporting countries to prevent abuses being perpetrated on migrants and reduce, if not eliminate, global irregular migration of guest workers," he said. - GMANews.TV
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