OFWs to get leeway on Pag-IBIG dues

MANILA, Philippines –  Vice President Jejomar Binay has announced that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are members of the Pag-Ibig Fund and among those repatriated from the Middle East will be given three to four months leeway not to pay their dues.

Binay, who was the guest of the Manila Overseas Press Club’s (MOPC) second meeting, said the move is part of the government’s effort to lessen the impact of their returning to the country unprepared.

“We need to make some actions to lessen the impact on repatriated OFWs from the Middle East, such us those from Libya and Egypt,” he said.

Binay, also presidential adviser on OFWs concerns, said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is also conducting search for available jobs in foreign countries.

He said if something happened in Saudi Arabia, the biggest supplier of oil all over the world, it would have a bigger impact on the country.

“We have a million OFWs in Saudi Arabia, excluding those undocumented.”

He said his office is also working on the construction of seven million housing units for OFWs.

Binay said the Aquino administration is also trying to attract more investors to come and invest in the country.

Binay said the repatriated OFWs from Libya and Egypt were given additional skills so they could use it once they decide to work abroad again.

“The media should help the government inform our countrymen who want to work abroad about the hazards of being there,” he said.

Binay noted that some OFW benefits abroad are not properly coordinated.

“They (employers), particularly those who are directly hired, hardly pay them their benefits,” he said.

He said the law mandates that all OFWs must be members of Pag-IBIG.

“There is much to be done and it is a problem met by different OFWs in different parts of the world. The second issue is the regulation of domestic harassment. We also see a lot of problems, literally, in remediation of domestic services.”

Binay cited that in Libya, only 7,000 to 8,000 OFWs have actually returned to the country.

He said some of the estimated 23,000 OFWs who left Libya either went to Egypt or other countries in Europe seeking greener pastures.