Love cannot be forced. It must come of its own free will. Like the gentle breeze that lifts a kite to kiss the clouds, love shuns any form of oppression. The true essence of love is freedom. You cannot be forced to “feel the feels.”
In the crafting of laws, sometimes love flies out of the window. In a sea of conflicting ideas and stubborn targets, one foregoes the romance in favor of the practical. Of course, the implementers of laws and our legislators would likely say, “what the heck are you talking about?”
I am talking about all these mandatory contributions that an overseas Filipino worker is now required to pay. Ang layo ba? Paano ’yan naging tungkol sa love? Let me explain. An overseas Filipino workers will shell out all the required contributions because he or she can’t leave the country otherwise. Nauna ang kasal sa ligawan.
The OFWs cannot leave without an overseas employment certificate (OEC) issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. The draft implementing rules of the new Social Security System law says that the POEA cannot issue an OEC unless the SSS contributions are paid. Grabe naman. Hindi naman ’yan requirement ng foreign employer. And yet, there it is. The mandatory SSS membership for OFWs is another pay-before-you-leave scheme that our beloved OFWs would have to abide by.
Wait, there’s more. The Universal Health Care Act also prescribes mandatory premiums for our OFWs raised to the nth degree. ’Yung kasalukuyang P2,400, magiging P6,864 in annual premiums that an overseas domestic worker has to pay. How about our skilled workers, which include our world-class seafarers? Their annual PhilHealth premium will now rise to P16,500.
Hindi ba maganda na lahat tayo may universal health coverage na? Sobrang ganda nga. Ang tanong: kaka-yanin ba ito ng isang domestic worker bound for Kuwait or Saudi Arabia?
I shared the new computations with our OFWs in Hong Kong during a radio interview with Tita Kerry on Pinoy Saan Man. The reactions came in swift and sharp, accompanied by enraged emoticons. “When did this happen?” “But, why?” “Ang mahal naman!” Benign would not be an apt word to describe the feedback. More so when I read from the matrix provided by a reliable source that five years from now, the minimum premiums of our OFWs for PhilHealth will amount to P12,480.
For SSS, the minimum contribution for OFWs is pegged at P960 for first-time members and a mandatory collection of three months for those coming home for a brief vacation or to renew their contracts with their employers under the Balik-Manggagawa program.
In a joint press conference held on Monday at the Aloha Hotel in Manila, the Blas F. Ople Center, Integrated Seafarers of the Philippines, United Filipino Seafarers, Joint Manning Group and the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. said that the new mandatory contributions should not be tied to the issuance of OECs of OFWs.
We shared the common position that our workers should be allowed to leave and earn a salary before all these mandatory contributions kick in, otherwise their contributions will not be sustainable. We also believe that the POEA should maintain its status as a regulatory body, not a collection agency. Ano ba madalas ginagawa sa kolektor? Iniiwasan, di ba? Paano kapag iwasan na ng OFWs ang POEA?That is why all these mandatory schemes will have temporary value because without true love, these things would not become sustainable.
In addressing urgent and vital public-health issues and strengthening the SSS as a financial institution, our workers may just leave through the backdoor, thus causing a new wave of problems.
PhilHealth should also be on guard against issuance of fake receipts by syndicates to unsuspecting OFWs since no one has been punished for it in the past. Some liaison officers of licensed recruitment agencies who intentionally pocketed the contributions of OFWs issued fake receipts to unsuspecting workers. The workers only found out about the fake receipts when it was time to claim their medical reimbursements.
In 2016, there were at least 201 confirmed cases of fake PhilHealth official receipts issued to OFWs involving around P17.4 million in unremitted collections. No one was convicted of the crime. Do we want a resurrection of such cases?
True love, sana. Let our overseas workers choose where to belong, when to pay and how much. Umalis na nga sila ng bansa para suportahan mga pamilya nila. Bago pa ba sila sumuweldo, kakaltasan na sila ng mga dambuhalang institusyon tulad ng SSS at PhilHealth?
I know that we all have to contribute our share to ensure the financial security and continuance of programs and services of social protection institutions. I know that our OFWs also deserve to be covered by SSS and PhilHealth. They understand this, but they do not understand the manner by which they are being forced to pay up. No contributions, no jobs. Tama ba naman ’yon?
True love, sana. That’s all we ask.
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Susan V. Ople heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a nonprofit organization that deals with labor and migration issues. She also represents the OFW sector in the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.
1 comment
I think its time for the president to rethink who really were his advisers. The author of this bill was for sure has stocks or shares on an insurance business. The Filipino main reason why he/she went abroad is to work to for him ebale sustain his family in the Philippines in which his earning in the the country is not sufficient. On this scheme it clearly shows that ” Hindi pa man umaalis ang pobreng OFW, baon na sya sa utang” sa dami ng babayaran namely sa Govt Collecting Body palang, plus mga addtional expenses on the process. The column also correct that OFW might start avoiding the POEA as they avoid also massive collection of fees. Nangyayari na po yan thas why there is thousand of filipino leaving the country per week for work by means of tourist visa or visit visa. The bees around PD30 is basically opt for easy collection of fund, not on strengthening the collection of Taxes base on the current and previous laws as clearly illustrated on this kind of bill. They are are tough on enforcing laws on the weak side of the society like OFW’s, but they are like a lamb when it comes to elite violators. Hope somebody will touch the president eyes and tick the president ears, for him to see and hear what is really happening. that what he is signing is in contrast to his advocacy.