Republic of the Philippines p DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Intramuros, Manila Be Wiectee 26 March 2021 REP. RAYMOND DEMOCRITO C. MENDOZA Chairman Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs House of Representatives Attention: Atty. Christopher S. Lomibao Committee Secretary Dear Chairman Mendoza: We are pleased to submit the attached position paper of the Department on the proposed House Bills (HB1430, HB3217, HB3390, HB3811, HB4690, HB5258 and HB8252) which seek to provide insurance protection to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). The Department believes that the immediate passage of this bill into law is an immense value in this time of pandemic to further strengthen the protection of our OFWs Thank you and keep safe. Very truly yours, Secretary Dept of Labor & employment ‘Mice othe Secretary ND 0 AEPOSITION PAPER on the Proposed Expansion of Compulsory Insurance Coverage of OFWS. The proposed bills on the expansion of compulsory insurance for all OFWS i.e. Balik-Manggagawa or re-hire by the foreign employer, name-hire, direct-hired worker by the Foreign employer and Govt-to-Govt hired worker by the Foreign employer is a welcome development. In fact, Article 13, Section 3 of the Constitution specifically provides that the “State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, hence, the passage of these bills into law is very timely in this period of pandemic to ‘strengthen the protection of OFWs. The following recommendations might be helpful in the smooth Passage of all the proposed bills into law: ; 1. Ensure that the proposed Insurance contract must be valid for two (2) years; 2. Renewal of employment contract must include the mandatory insurance coverage shouldered by the employer; oe . Ensure that the procedure for claiming benefits of the compulsory insurance coverage is made known to migrant worker/s and/or his/her beneficiaries; 4. Ensure that the procured Compulsory Insurance coverage for agency- hired, Balik-Mangagawa or Re-hired workers, Direct-hired workers and Govt-to-Govt workers shall be chargeable to the employer or the agency or the manning agency and shall be at no cost at all to the ofws: 5. Determine and/or define the roles of Foreign Employers, Broker, and Manpower Agency in the proposed expansion of Coverage of Compulsory Insurance coverage, if any; 2 The Department of Labor and Employment must authorize the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) to accredit legitimate Insurance providers at post to avoid fly by night insurance companies; Approval of this urgent bill will be of immense value to all the OFWs.