Metro Manila, June 26 ------ Incoming Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Toots Ople will prioritize reviewing the process of obtaining the overseas employment certificate (OEC), as she cites numerous related concerns from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
In an online roundtable discussion, Ople said that the employment certificate should not be a tool for other agencies to collect money from OFWs. Under the law, OFWs are now mandated to pay their PhilHealth premiums before they can get their OECs. The mandatory PAG-IBIG payment is also another requirement for an OFW to obtain the OEC. "Yung OEC, ako personal ko na belief, hindi siya dapat gawing collection tool ng iba't ibang ahensya outside the department kasi doon nagkakaproblema eh," Ople said.
Ople plans to sit down with other government agencies and lawmakers to discuss possible law amendments so that such matter will not be an additional burden to OFWs. "Yung OEC, there are a lot of reforms pagdating doon. Itong mandatory expanded insurance isang area of concern yan kasama ang Philhealth na sa tingin ko kailangan ng amendments sa batas," she said. Ople also met with incoming Department of Information and Communications Technology Chief Ivan Uy to discuss how they can modernize the processing of documents for OFWs. The new department is now forming an ICT team to help in the shift to digital or automated transactions. "Yung sa OEC, paano siya hindi maging pabigat sa ating mga OFWs. Second, yung ease of doing business kasi may mga employers na na-turn off dahil pabalik balik, pwede naman na yung kulang na documents e- submission," she said. Ople also wants the contract verification to be processed properly. "Yung contract verification nakita ko ang pila sa Dubai ang init init. We need to look at ways to modernize and automate transactions," she said.
Source: cnnphilippines.com
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