Article 11Labor and Agrarian Laws and Social Legislation, p. 11

LABOR LAWS AND SOCIAL LEGISLATION SPECIAL LAWS AND IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

The

selection

and

nomination

of

the

additional

members from the women, sea-based and land-based

sectors shall be governed by the following guidelines:

(a) The POEA and the OWWA shall launch a massive

information campaign on the selection of nominees and

provide for a system of consultative sessions for the

certified leaders or representatives of the concerned

sectors, at least three (3) times, within ninety (90) days

before the boards shall be convened, for purposes of

selection. The process shall be open, democratic and

transparent;

(b) Only non-government organizations that protect

and promote the rights and welfare of overseas Filipino

workers, duly registered with the appropriate Philippine

government agency and in good standing as such, and in

existence

for

at

least

three

(3)

years

prior

to

the

nomination

shall

be

qualified

to

nominate

a

representative for each sector to the Board;

(c) The nominee must be at least twenty-five (25)

years of age, able to read and write, and a migrant worker

at the time of his or her nomination or was a migrant

worker with at least three (3) years experience as such;

and

(d) A final list of all the nominees selected by the

OWWA/POEA governing boards, which shall consist of

three (3) names for each sector to be represented, shall be

submitted to the President and published in a newspaper

of general circulation;

Within thirty (30) days from the submission of the list,

the President shall select and appoint from the list the

representatives to the POEA/OWWA governing boards.

The additional members shall have a term of three (3)

years and shall be eligible for reappointment for another

three (3) years. In case of vacancy, the President shall, in

accordance with the provisions of this Act, appoint a

replacement who shall serve the unexpired term of his or

her predecessor.

Any

executive

issuances

or

orders

issued

that

contravene the provisions of this section shall have no

force and effect.

All

other

government

agencies

and

government-owned or -controlled corporations which

require at least one (1) representative from the overseas

workers sector to their respective boards shall follow all

the applicable provisions of this section. (As amended by

RA No 10022, [March 8, 2010])

SECTION 33. Report to Congress . — In order to

inform the Philippine Congress on the implementation of

the

policy

enunciated

in

Section

4

hereof,

the

Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of

Labor and Employment shall submit separately to the

said body a semi-annual report of Philippine foreign posts

located in countries hosting Filipino migrant workers. The

mid-year report covering the period January to June shall

be submitted not later than October 31 of the same year

while the year-end report covering the period July to

December shall be submitted not later than May 31 of the

following year. The report shall include, but shall not be

limited to, the following information: (As amended by RA

No 10022, [March 8, 2010])

(a)Masterlist

of

Filipino

migrant

workers,

and

inventory of pending legal cases involving them and

other Filipino nationals including those serving prison

terms;

(b)Working conditions of Filipino migrant workers;

(c)Problems encountered by the migrant workers,

specifically violations of their rights;

(d)Initiatives/actions taken by the Philippine foreign

posts

to

address

the

problems

of

Filipino

migrant

workers;

(e)Changes in the laws and policies of host countries;

and

(f)Status

of

negotiations

on

bilateral

labor

agreements

between

the

Philippines

and

the

host

country.

Any officer of the government who fails to submit the

report as stated in this section shall be subject to an

administrative penalty of dismissal from the service with

disqualification to hold any appointive public office for

five (5) years. (As amended by RA No 10022, [March 8,

2010])

SECTION

34.

Representation

in

Congress .

—

Pursuant to Section 5(2), Article VI of the Constitution and

in

line

with

the

objective

of

empowering

overseas

Filipinos to participate in the policy-making process to

address

Filipino

migrant

concerns,

two

(2)

sectoral

representatives for migrant workers in the House of

Representatives shall be appointed by the President from

the ranks of migrant workers: Provided , That at least one

(1) of the two (2) sectoral representatives shall come from

the women migrant workers sector: Provided, further ,

That all nominees must have at least two (2) years

experience as a migrant worker.

SECTION

35.

Exemption

from

Travel

Tax,

Documentary Stamp Tax and Airport Fee. — All laws to

the contrary notwithstanding, the migrant worker shall

be exempt from the payment of travel tax and airport-fee

upon proper showing of proof of entitlement by the

POEA.

The remittances of all overseas Filipino workers, upon

showing of the same proof of entitlement by the overseas

Filipino worker's beneficiary or recipient, shall be exempt

from

the

payment

of

documentary

stamp

tax.

(As

amended by RA No 10022, [March 8, 2010])

SECTION 36. Non-increase of Fees; Abolition of

Repatriation Bond . — Upon approval of this Act, all fees

being charged by any government office on migrant

workers shall remain at their present levels and the

repatriation bond shall be abolished.

SECTION 37. The Congressional Migrant Workers

Scholarship

Fund .

—

There

is

hereby

created

a

Congressional Migrant Workers Scholarship Fund which

shall benefit deserving migrant workers and/or their

immediate descendants below twenty-one (21) years of

age who intend to pursue courses or training primarily in

the field of science and technology. The initial seed fund

of Two hundred million pesos (P200,000,000.00) shall be

constituted from the following sources:

(a)Fifty

million

pesos

(P50,000,000.00)

from

the

unexpended Countrywide Development Fund for 1995 in

equal sharing by all Members of Congress; and

(b)The remaining One hundred fifty million pesos

(P150,000,000.00) shall be funded from the proceeds of

Lotto draws.

The Congressional Migrant Workers Scholarship Fund

as herein created shall be administered by the DOLE in

coordination

with

the

Department

of

Science

and

Technology (DOST). To carry out the objectives of this

section, the DOLE and the DOST shall formulate the

necessary rules and regulations.

SECTION 37-A. Compulsory Insurance Coverage for

Agency-Hired

Workers.

—

In

addition

to

the

performance

bond

to

be

filed

by

the

recruitment/manning

agency under Section 10, each

migrant

worker

deployed by a recruitment/manning

agency shall be covered by a compulsory insurance policy

which shall be secured at no cost to the said worker. Such

insurance policy shall be effective for the duration of the

migrant worker's employment contract and shall cover, at

the minimum:

(a) Accidental death, with at least Fifteen thousand

United States dollars (US$15,000.00) survivor's benefit

payable to the migrant worker's beneficiaries;

(b) Natural death, with at least Ten thousand United

States dollars (US$10,000.00) survivor's benefit payable to

the migrant worker's beneficiaries;

© Compiled By RGL

11 of 169