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| Secretary Cacdac made the announcement during a Senate inquiry led by Senator Tulfo |
The Department of Migrant Workers has pledged to grant a long-standing plea by deployed overseas Filipino workers to be provided with free periodic medical check-ups while they are abroad.
DMW Secretary Hans
Cacdac made the announcement during a Senate inquiry on Thursday, in response to
concerns raised by Senator Raffy Tulfo over irregularities in pre-employment
medical examinations and allegedly abusive practices by some clinics.
Cacda said OFWs will
soon receive free annual medical check-ups through the DMW’s Aksyon Fund, one
year after being deployed, and shortly before finishing their two-year contract.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
The Aksyon Fund or Agarang Kalinga at
Saklolo para sa mga OFW na Nangangailangan is a financial support mechanism for
OFWs needing urgent assistance abroad.
The idea is for the
government to ensure the rights of all Filipinos to health and well-being are
observed even while working abroad.
"Yes, Mr. Chair, we will do that through the AKSYON Fund, dahil maaari
po nating pondohan ang follow-through medical check-up ng ating mga OFW upang
matiyak ang kanilang kalusugan at kapakanan habang nasa abroad at bago sila
umuwi sa bansa (because we can fund the follow-through medical check-ups of
our OFWs to ensure their health and well-being while abroad and before they
return home)," Cacdac said.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
He was responding to Tulfo’s concern that
alleged irregularities in the pre-deployment screenings could result in an OFW being given
a clean bill of health even if he or she has a medical issue that needs to be
addressed.
Cacdac said that under the directive,
routine health monitoring of OFWs will also be covered during their deployment
and prior to repatriation.
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| Pindutin para sa detalye |
But he did not elaborate on the
mechanics of providing such a service abroad, as well as the potentially huge
cost it would entail.
Following
up on his initial query, Tulfo urged the DMW to institutionalize the initiative
through a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Health to ensure
greater oversight and regulation of medical clinics authorized to provide
health clearances to OFWs.
Tulfo
cited as an example SuperCare Medical Services, Inc. (SMSI) an accredited
maritime clinic which reportedly charges OFWs P1,200 for initial tests and
P1,300 for each repeated “confirmatory” test without proper explanation
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Cacdac
said in response that private recruitment agencies are supposed to oversee the
pre-employment medical check-ups, but the DMW has the authority to investigate
and impose sanctions on agencies that commit malpractice.
He
promised to pursue a MOA with DOH, and at the same time bring the matter to the
Human Resource for Health Network and the private sector so there will be a
coordinate response to the health-related issues.
Cacdac’s pronouncement
drew a surprisingly critical comment from DMW Assistant Secretary Kiko de
Guzman, who said there was a seeming “disconnect” between the response and
Tulfo’s query over alleged malpractices of medical clinics.
De Guzman said providers of pre-employment medical examinations are accredited and regulated not by the DMW but by the DOH. Some foreign countries of destination also have their own medical screeners.
He also questioned
how the DMW intends to implement the annual medical screenings at the jobsites
if the host government does not require these.
If not done at the
jobsites, he asked if the medical examinations will be required for the millions
of rehires, re-contracts and workers on leave when they arrive in the Philippines.
And, if the returning worker is found unfit to work, can the DMW prevent him/her
from returning to the jobsite.
Clearly, a lot of issues need to be resolved first before the check-up plan, no matter how advantageous it may sound for the OFWs, could be fully implemented.
