MANILA – The Senate has ratified a bill amending a law designed to further improve the standard of protection as well as the promotion of the welfare and assistance of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Senate Majority Leader Jinggoy Estrada reported the chamber approved the bill submitted by a bicameral conference committee which resolved its conflicting versions passed earlier by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Estrada said the bill carries the amendments that aim to strengthen the present law, known as the Migrant Workers Act of 1995.
But he added they have yet to confirm whether the House has also ratified the bill so that an enrolled copy could be transmitted to Malacanang for action by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
According to Estrada, the bill features a combination of preventive measures to address problems in the recruitment and deployment of OFWs, including the installation of better rescue and assistance mechanisms.
Estimates are that there are now more than eight million OFWs deployed mainly in the Middle East, mainly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany and neighboring countries like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Despite the global economic and financial turmoil, the Central Bank of the Philippines has projected that total OFW remittances for the whole of 2009 would reach a staggering $17 billion.
Under the bill, Estrada said it explicitly orders the government to continuously monitor international conventions, become signatory to and ratify those that guarantee protection to the OFWs.
In addition, he said the bill mandates the government enter into bilateral agreements with countries currently hosting the millions of OFWs.
At the same time, Estrada said the measure makes as accountable all members of the governing board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in the deployment abroad of Filipino workers.
Penalties include dismissal from the service or disqualification from holding appointive public office for at least five years, Estrada said.
Covered by the penalties, the senator said, are officials found responsible for the issuance of permits and allowing the deployment of OFWs to countries that refuse to guarantee or comply with international labor standards.
Moreover, Estrada said the bill includes in its definition of “illegal recruitment†reprocessing workers through a job order that pertains to non-existent work, work different from the actual work or work with a different employer whether registered or not with the POEA.
Estrada said such scheme is known as “contract substitution†which has victimized many OFWs. He explained these workers sign contracts in the Philippines but are forced to enter into new employment contracts upon reaching their destinations.
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