House gives final OK to bill establishing OFW hospital

House gives final OK to bill establishing OFW hospital

By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News
The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading the measure seeking to establish a dedicated hospital for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their dependents.
With 180 affirmative votes and zero negative votes, the chamber approved House Bill 9194, principally authored by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Arroyo earlier said that the House is proposing the measure in response to President Rodrigo Duterte's call for pro-worker bills during the celebration of this year's Labor Day.
"This is an additional bill, because he asked for a bill for workers during Labor Day, so it’s best effort," the Speaker earlier said.
Under the measure, a hospital, to be called the OFW Hospital, will be developed to cater to the health care needs of Filipino migrant workers and their families.
The OFW Hospital will be under the full administrative and technical supervision of the Department of Health and will serve as the primary referral hospital for repatriated OFWs who need medical assistance and support.
Apart from providing comprehensive health care services to OFW contributors to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and their legal dependents, the hospital is also mandated to conduct medical examinations to make sure that OFWs are well-capacitated when they work abroad.
Moreover, the hospital is also tasked to set up systems that will monitor the condition of patients and to produce relevant health information and data for policy formulation.
The measure also states that all grants, bequests, endowments, donations and contributions for and to be used exclusively by the OFW Hospital will be exempt from donor's tax. It will also be considered as allowable deduction from the gross revenue of the donor, in pursuant to the National Revenue Code of 1997.
At the same time, the importation of equipment, machinery and spare parts to be used exclusively for hospital operation and are not available in the Philippines will likewise be exempt from value-added tax and customs duty. — BM, GMA News

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