A congressman on Monday suggested the use of financial and information technologies to speed up the refund of airport terminal fees and travel taxes levied on departing migrant workers.
Rep. Henry Ong of Leyte said in a statement: “Surely there must be some high-tech way the airlines and the country’s international airport agencies can transmit the travel tax and terminal fee refund directly to overseas Filipino workers.”
“Making some 2.3-million OFWs personally line up to get their refund seems like such an antiquated way of disbursing P277.65 million worth of refunds. The airlines must certainly have personal data on each of the OFWs who boarded their international flights and with that data, they can find a financial technology solution,” Ong, chairman of the House Committee Banks and Financial Intermediaries, said.
Migrant workers earlier complained that the Manila International Airport Authority, through the airlines, has been collecting airport fees and travel taxes from them despite their exemption under Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995.
Ong agreed with the assertion of MIAA General Manager Ed Monreal that the refund must be given directly to the overseas workers.
“But how that can be effectively and efficiently done is something the tech guys of the airlines and airports should be able to sort out,” Ong, who is also a member of the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology, said.
He added: “If they cannot resolve the problem, Congress may have to exercise its oversight powers to intervene on behalf of the overseas workers.”
“I hope it does not have to come to that because the sooner this problem is settled, the sooner the workers can get their refund,” Ong said.