Definitions are important. Words that define who we are provide clarity, certitude and purpose. For example, I embrace the definition of a mother because that is who I am. That classification makes sense to me, and I have my daughter to raise and nurture and protect as any mother would. The definition of a definition is that it is a statement that expresses the essential nature of something.
Thus, if a law defines a carpenter as someone who fixes cars, then we would have houses with steering wheels and engines. If a law defines a doctor as a nurse, then certain limitations would be imposed, though both are noble professions. If a law defines solo parents as simply parents who live in separate houses, then the indescribable challenge of having to raise a kid by one’s self is lost in translation. A wrong definition can be a dangerous thing.
The Social Security Act of 2018 defines overseas Filipino workers as self-employed until a bilateral labor agreement (BLA) shall have been entered into, thus land-based overseas Filipino workers shall pay both the employer and the employee contributions. This definition makes no sense, except for collection purposes. We all know that every OFW has a foreign employer—but because it is almost improbable that a foreign employer would give his or her share of contributions to our SSS, then under this law, that significant person becomes invisible.
The same law defines manning agencies as employers. Section 3 under Rule 14 of the Social Security System law states: “Sea-based OFWs are compulsory members of the SSS. Manning agencies are agents of their principals and considered as the employers of sea-based OFWs. For purposes of the implementation of the Social Security Act of 2018, they are jointly and severally or solidarily liable with their principals with respect to the civil liabilities incurred for any violation of the Social Security Act of 2018, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.”
A manning agency cannot be and is not a seafarer’s employer. Global shipping companies recruit seafarers through the manning agencies, which, in turn, handle payroll and other administrative matters. Do manning agencies pay for the salaries of seafarers? No. They provide remittance platforms so that the families of these seafarers can have easy and safe access to the monthly allotments. Can you invoke the joint and several liability of a manning agency for unremitted SSS contributions, especially when the seafarer is no longer at sea? Strangely enough, under this law, the answer would be yes.
A law that is intellectually dishonest would make its implementing institutions dishonest as well. You cannot redefine what it means to be an OFW just because you need their premiums.
Am I against making SSS membership compulsory for OFWs? Yes. I believe in freedom of choice. But, and let me make this clear, I am not against the SSS.
I believe that an OFW must be free to choose whether to be a member of Pag-IBIG Fund or SSS, and yes, even PhilHealth, and when as well as where to pay his or her contributions. These workers will be gone for an average of two years. Yet even before they could even earn their first salary, these institutions are already grabbing money from their pockets.
The draft implementing rules and regulations of the new SSS law specifies that for land-based OFWs, the measures for enforcing compulsory coverage shall include the collection of contribution payments by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Department of Labor and Employment through “its applicable documentation and deployment processes such as the issuance of Overseas Employment Certificate [OEC].…”
In short, walang kawala. Pay before you leave. If you don’t pay, you won’t be issued an OEC, hence, you can’t leave.
How much will a non-SSS member, first-time OFW pay?
For new hires, direct or name hires and government-to-government hires, they are required to enroll as an SSS member with one monthly contribution. For rehires or those processed as Balik-Manggagawa, they are required to pay three months’ contributions. If POEA becomes the collection agency, this means that for a worker who has to come home due to any emergency or any circumstance beyond his or her control, the worker’s first money out would be to the SSS, for a compulsory three months’ contribution.
What would be the minimum premium for a first-time OFW, including a domestic worker bound for Kuwait or Saudi Arabia? The minimum amount is currently pegged at P960, according to the SSS. For that same worker to come home for a vacation or to renew her contract, she would have to pay P2,880. Why in heaven’s name should an OFW shell out that much money when all she or he wants to do is come home for a brief visit?
The solution, as I am sure the SSS management would be quick to say, would be for our government to enter into as many bilateral labor and social security agreements as possible. Under such agreements, the OFW will now have an employer who can share in the contributions. Easier said than done, of course. As of today, we only have 11 such bilateral agreements involving social security.
Definitions are important. How can we reconcile existing laws on overseas employment with this new social security law, which defines an OFW as self-employed and manning agencies as employers? But hey, what’s important is for the SSS to survive and thrive, yes? Like I’ve said, walang kawala.
2 comments
Thank you, Ma’am Toots…we , as OFW’s should have freedom of choice. Kami dito sa Italy, we cannot impose or force our employers to pay their share sa SSS contributions namin…we could only pay as voluntary members…besides, until now, wala pa ring malinaw na Bilateral Agreement between Italy and the Philippines regarding this.
good day, yung manning agency namin ayaw magbigay ng share sa sss ko.. ako lahat magbabayad ng lahat ng govt contribution ko. . pwede nyo po ba ako matutulongan. salamat po