Binay orders stoppage of advance payment of Pag-IBIG for OFWs

VICE President Jejomar Binay on Thursday has ordered two government agencies to suspend the implementation of the order that mandates the six-month advance contribution of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the Home Development Mutual (Pag-IBIG) Fund. In a statement, Binay directed both the Pag-IBIG and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) “to conduct a thorough study and more consultations with the affected sectors.”

He said that there is a need to review the legal basis and propriety that compels OFWs to pay in advance the equivalent of their supposed six months worth of contribution, amounting to P600.

At present, the advance six-month payment is said to be a precondition for Filipino workers going abroad to work.

“What is important is that government should assist our OFWs and should not be seen as further imposing burdens on them,” Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and the Pag-IBIG Fund board of trustees, said.

“Aside from reviewing the legal basis for the order, the concerned government agencies should hold more consultations with the affected sectors. There should be transparency in the process,” he added. “There are benefits to be derived from Pag-IBIG membership and this should be explained fully to our OFWs.”

On July 7, POEA issued memorandum circular 06, which mandates all outbound OFWs to pay six months worth of Pag-IBIG membership contributions.

Based on the circular, OFWs cannot be able to get their overseas employment certificate and leave the country unless they have paid the said amount.

As head of the Pag-IBIG Fund board of trustees, Binay assured OFWs that the matter would be given priority under his office. He added that the government would continue extending assistance to the OFWs “instead of being a burden to them.”

According to the statement, concerned migrant workers groups—Migrante, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and associations of labor exporters—have questioned the POEA directive. –BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON, Manila Times