Villar pushes immediate reduction of OFW fee

While he is elated over the decision of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to reduce the fees collected from overseas Filipino workers, Senate President Manny Villar said this corrective move must be immediately implemented.

Villar learned that POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz and OWWA Administrator Marianito Roque in an emergency meeting, agreed to update the conversion rate applied in the collection of the $25 OWWA membership fee from P51:$1 to P42:$1 beginning January 1, 2008.

"I am calling for the immediate implementation of the reduction of the fee charged to OFWs and the accounting of all excess collection," the Senate President said.

At the same time, "I am pushing for the Senate probe into the propriety and rationality of other similar fees imposed on OFWs," he said.

The Senate President earlier asked the POEA to explain over the excessive collection of OWWA membership fee from Filipinos working abroad.

He said instead of paying P1,275 based on the P51:$1 exchange rate for the OWWA fee, OFWs should be paying less with the continued strengthening of the peso against the dollar. With the prevailing rate of P41:$1, OFWs should be paying P1,025 only, saving P250, he added.

This prompted Villar to file a resolution in the Senate urging the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development to look into the reported excessive collection of processing fees from OFWs with the objective of formulating more caring, meaningful and truly labor-friendly social legislation for overseas Filipinos.