Gov’t urged: Give OFWs a break, put moratorium on SSS, PhilHealth premium hikes

The outlook for Filipino overseas workers is not at its brightest, according to the Blas F. Ople Policy Center.

MANILA, Philippines — A non-government organization (NGO) on labor migration called for the moratorium on all premium hikes to be collected from Filipino migrant workers as it warned that this would likely push workers away from seeking employment legally.

“The outlook for our overseas workers is not at its brightest, with tensions rising throughout the Middle East and ongoing protests in Hong Kong over a hotly contested legislation, among other challenges,” Susan Ople, former labor undersecretary and head of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, said in a joint press conference in Manila on Monday.

“Any imposition of additional financial burdens would push our workers away from existing legal deployment channels and make them less competitive against their rivals,” she added.

She also urged both the executive and legislative branches of government to slow down the imposition of mandatory contributions for all overseas workers.

Aside from the Ople Center, the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc (PASEI) and the Joint Manning Group representing the sea-based sector as well as NGOs namely the Kabalikat ng Migranteng Pilipino, Incorporated and Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-anak ng Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc. also urged the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to reject the provision in the published Implementing Rules and Regulations of the SSS that would tie-up OFW collections with the issuance of an Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC).

“This will be a bleak Christmas if the SSS (Social Security System) succeeds in its intention to collect three months in advance collection from every vacationing OFW as a condition for the release of their OECs (Overseas Employment Certificate). The POEA should not play the role of Scrooge since the law itself does not specify such a lopsided arrangement,” the policy center said.

The center cited the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) published recently by the SSS, which states that a returning OFW including those coming home for an emergency and/or vacation leaves will pay three months contribution to the SSS.

This provision, the center noted, would entail a payment of P2,880 for each vacationing OFW based on the minimum rate of contributions.

The amount would be higher for skilled and professional workers including seafarers, it added.

The policy center further said that in addition to the increase in SSS premiums for OFWs, the migrant workers would also need to shell out more money to pay to PhilHealth, from the current fixed rate of P2,400 a year to a salary-based P6,864 by September of this year, for overseas domestic workers.

“The salaries of our domestic workers abroad have been stagnant for more than a decade. Asking them to pay that much considering that they will be away from the country for at least two years, would cause undue burden given their vulnerable status and work conditions,” Ople said.

Under the draft IRR presented by PhilHealth officials to various OFW groups, the minimum contributions of an overseas domestic worker will reach up to P12,480 per year in 2024.