Overseas Filipino workers returning to the same employer at
the same work place will no longer be required to secure an overseas employment
certificate, or OEC, as early as the first week of next month.
In addition, all OFWs returning to their job sites will be
exempted from paying the travel tax and terminal fee upon the mere presentation
of their valid work visa, contract or any document that will prove their overseas employment status
to qualified airport personnel.
These new measures are in line with Resolution No. 12 passed
on August 4 by the Governing Board of the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA), headed by the new Labor Secretary Silvestre T. Bello
III,
Under the Resolution, the OEC exemption will apply to two categories
of workers:
1) OFWs
or BMs (balik manggagawa) who are returning to the same employer and jobsite
and with existing record/s in the POEA data base;
2) And
those hired through the Government Placement Branch, or the POEA’s in-house
recruitment facility for Filipinos aspiring to work abroad.
 |
| A copy of the POEA resolution |
To be exempted, the returning OFWs must use the BM Online
facility to register - for free - before departure. The information stored in
the POEA data base and electronically transmitted to the Bureau of Immigration
will serve as a guide to the immigration officer in validating whether the worker could be cleared for departure.
According to the POEA Board, the new measure is being put in
place in accordance with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s directive to streamline
processes in the deployment of OFWs.
It was also in response to a clamor from OFWs for ease in
processing their employment documents.
True to these objectives, even those who do not fall in
either of the two exempted categories will no longer have to obtain an OEC, as
long as they register with the BM Online system and get their records entered
in the POEA website.
According to Resolution No. 12, returning workers who are
not exempted will just have to register with the BMOnline web page, then set an
appointment with their preferred POEA office or center for evaluation and
validation.
Even those who go to the airport without appropriate
registration will not be turned away, but will instead be asked to go to the
labor assistance center (LAC) for evaluation to determine if they can be
“cleared for departure, or subjected to further evaluation/completion of
documents”.
Based on these guidelines, those who are in Hong Kong or other places abroad and want to avoid the
hassle of being held at the airport should just register, or update their work
status in BMOnline system, to ensure that they could be cleared for departure.
As to the travel tax and airport terminal fee exemption, the
resolution says the returning worker could present any of the following
documents to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA)
and the Manila International Airport Authority:
1) valid work visa
2) valid employment contract
3) valid company ID
4) recent payroll slip “or other equivalent document”
The resolution also says the POEA will issue implementing
guidelines to ensure that the “pilot implementation” of the resolution will
take place in the first week of September.
Apart from Secretary Bello, the members of the POEA Board
who signed the resolution were POEA Administrator Hans Cacdac who acts as
vice-chairman; and members Milagros Isabel Cristobal, Estrelita Hizon,
Alexander Asuncion, and Felix Oca. - The SUN Team
