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Friday, March 29, 2024

OFW group seeks strict enforcement of fund requirement

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The fate of some 5 million overseas Filipino workers deployed in the Middle East will take a turn for the worse because of the failure of the government to fully implement the escrow funds needed to cover the legal claims arising from violations of employment contracts, an OFW advocacy group said on Sunday.

AKO OFW (Advocates & Keepers Organization of OFWs) national president Marcia Sadion said the non-implementation of a government order requiring foreign recruitment agencies to set aside $50,000 escrow funds has endangered the welfare of some 5 million OFWs who endure maltreatment, non-payment of wages and other violations of their contracts of employment.

Under the guidelines of the Philippine Overseas Welfare Administration, Sadion said all FRAs must put up the funds in escrow.

He said the amount will cover the legal claims of OFWs against their employers. FRAs, however, are only required to set aside $10,000, which is not enough to cover the cost of the claims.

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Sadion said his group wrote a manifesto to President Rodrigo Duterte asking him to order government agencies tasked with OFW concerns to more strictly implement the mandatory $50,000 escrow deposit requirement for the accreditation or accreditation renewal of FRAs.

“It is in these circumstances and premises that we are calling the President’s attention, hoping and deeply praying that imposition of penalty or sanction be immediately undertaken against non-compliant FRAs to the escrow deposit requirement to continuously protect and promote the benefits, interest, rights, and general welfare of those OFWs,” the group said.

AKO-OFW stressed that a presidential order imposing sanctions on non-compliant FRAs would “protect and promote the benefits, interest, rights and general welfare of OFWs” who are victims of abuse and exploitation of employers and other foreign entities.

OFW remittances account for 10 percent of the country’s GDP.

In 2017, Middle East-based OFWs alone provided 27 percent or $5.4 billion out of the total $16 billion in remittances.

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