Section 9Sec./Art. 9

Section 16 of Republic Act No. 8042, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 16. Mandatory Repatriation of Underage Migrant Workers. - Upon discovery or being informed of the presence of migrant workers whose ages fall below the minimum age requirement for overseas deployment, the responsible officers in the foreign service shall without delay repatriate said workers and advise the Department of Foreign Affairs through the fastest means of communication available of such discovery and other relevant information. The license of a recruitment/manning agency which recruited or deployed an underage migrant worker shall be automatically revoked and shall be imposed a fine of not less than Five hundred thousand pesos (Php 500,000.00) but not more than One million pesos (Php 1,000,000.00).

All fees pertinent to the processing of papers or documents in the recruitment or deployment shall be refunded in full by the responsible recruitment/manning agency, without need of notice, to the underage migrant worker or to his parents or guardian. The refund shall be independent of and in addition to the indemnification for the damages sustained by the underage migrant worker. The refund shall be paid within thirty (30) days from the date of the mandatory repatriation as provided for in this Act."