OFWs in Taiwan hit Phl government over insurance fee

MANILA, Philippines – A migrant workers’ group in Taiwan has scored the Philippine government for passing a law that requires insurance coverage for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“This would either result in the non-hiring of Filipino workers by foreign employers or would eventually lead to the OFWs shouldering the cost of said insurance,” said Dave Chang, head of Migrante International-Taiwan chapter.

Chang claimed that an applicant that has been collected the sum of P6,500 as insurance fee.

“Newspaper reports already indicate that as much as 50,000 job orders for Filipinos would be cancelled for next year. There is already an existing mandatory insurance coverage for foreign workers in Taiwan which are both paid monthly by employers and employees alike, with the latter paying more,” he added.

He said OFWs would shell out a total of NT$11,844 a month, which includes the medical and labor insurance fees.

“The minimum wage in Taiwan is NT$17,280 and the OFW is left with only NT$5436 in monthly earnings,” Chang said.

“It would do well that OFWs in Taiwan like in Hong Kong and other places where there is already mandatory insurance be exempted from its implementation. Instead what the Philippine government needs to do is to ensure the protection of the rights of its nationals abroad including making sure that the take home pay of those in Taiwan are higher as it is now because it turns a blind eye to the many deductions imposed on the OFWs,” he said. –Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com)