More anomalies vs OFWs uncovered
Another alleged anomaly on overseas employment has been unraveled after the controversy on the overcharging of recruitment fees.
The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) yesterday pressed for an investigation into the reported widespread practice of manning agencies of underpaying Filipino seafarers.
CFO chair Dante Ang said he received information that many Filipino seafarers have been getting much lower monthly pay than what is provided in their employment contracts.
“This is the first time that I heard about this malpractice of manning agencies, I don’t think we should allow this,” Ang said.
Fr. Savino Bernardi, of the Apostleship of the Sea, said his group has been watching over the welfare of seafarers and they have monitored several cases of underpayment.
According to Bernardi, many seafarers are not enjoying rightful wages because manning agencies are adopting lower exchange rate compared to the prevailing value of dollar in the market.
“When the exchange rate was P55 to $1, Filipino seafarers were not getting the equivalent of their monthly pay so right now I think they are receiving less than P40 to $1,” he disclosed.
Bernardi said the concerned government agencies should take steps to eradicate such illegal practice.
Ang said he will meet with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the unions of Filipino seafarers so they could discuss possible measures to protect the interest of Filipino seamen.
“The Philippine government is giving the best example for other countries in providing protection for overseas workers but still, improvement needs to be done,” Baggio stressed.
To provide better protection for the eight million OFWs abroad, the CFO and its other partners are holding tomorrow the first 2007 Forum on Overseas Filipinos.
The event is part of the numerous activities set to commemorate the month of overseas Filipinos and International Migrants Day.
Meanwhile, the local recruitment industry yesterday pushed for the granting of more government funds to OFWs to cope with the continuing appreciation of the peso.
Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (FAME) said instead of refunding the excessive fees collected from OFWs, the government should instead use it as assistance fund.
“There is no need to refund the over-payment, the government should just use the money for workers’ assistance loans which has been negligible for the past years,” FAME official Jackson Gan said.
Gan issued the statement after Labor Secretary Arturo Brion announced that the government is considering to refund “overcharged” fee imposed by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Gan said OWWA should just allocate more funds to help returning OFWs acquire loans for livelihood projects, and provide more budget for welfare assistance centers in countries where there is a high rate of welfare cases.
Gan also called on the government to press for the immediate passage of a proposed measure for the setting up a Workers Bank.
“With more funds, OFWs can easily avail of loans and financial assistance from OWWA,” Gan pointed out.
According to Gan, OWWA administrator Marianito Roque was wrong in claiming that only the workers are complaining about the overcharging of membership fee and not the recruiters.
“The reduction of the OWWA fee will benefit not the recruiters but the more than 500,000 re-hires who are required to pay the membership fee every time they are processed for their return to the jobsites and the OEC (overseas employment certificate) from the POEA,” he explained.
To secure employment certificate from POEA, OFWs are required to pay $25 OWWA membership fee.
However, workers and recruiters complained that POEA collects the fee based on P51 to a dollar rate and not the prevailing lower value of the greenback.
OWWA said they will reduce the fee to P42 to a dollar starting
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