Online petition launched vs. ‘forced remittance’ bill

Migrants' rights group Migrante has launched an online petition against a proposed law requiring OFWs to send money to their legal dependents or face non-renewal of their passports.

The contested House Bill 3576, filed by OFW Family party-list Rep. Roy Señeres, empowers ambassadors, consul generals, chiefs of mission, or charge d’ Affaires to withhold passport renewals unless migrants prove they regularly send remittance to their families.

HB 3576 states that “OFWs, whether sea-based or land-based, are required to remit regularly a portion of their foreign exchange earnings to their family or legal dependent recipient.”

The online petition, launched by Migrante's chapter in the United Arab Emirates, can be seen here. It has 10 signatures as of posting time.

In their petition, Migrante compared HB 3576 to the late President Ferdinand Marcos' "draconian Executive Order 857," which mandated migrant workers to regularly remit 50 to 70 percent of their earnings to their beneficiaries in the Philippines.

“Nag-aala-Marcos itong si Rep. Seneres, shame on him for once again shoving this down our throats," said Migrante chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado, in a statement.

"It is a blast from the past and a slap in the face of OFWs around the world who are already knee-deep in debt and barely coping with the global economic crisis," she added.

Nhel Morona of Migrante-UAE told Gulf News that the bill is not favorable to OFWs, and insisted that cases of abandonment by migrant workers was not enough to make remittance mandatory at all.

Contradictory to the group's belief, Senares' office told the news agency in a letter that only erring OFWs will be covered by the bill.

“Over the years Congressman Seneres and this office have received numerous complaints of housewives being abandoned financially by their husbands abroad. This bill is only intended for ‘irresponsible OFWs’,” Terrado told Gulf News in a phone interview from Manila," Señeres' chief of staff, George Terrado, told Gulf News. — Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more