Article by:
Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA – Stiffer penalties must be crafted against employers who will not abide by the mandatory insurance for agency-hired, directly hired, and returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), according to a senatorial candidate.
If former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar wins a Senate seat in the May 9 polls, he vowed to promote the welfare of OFWs.
“Dapat ay tutukan ng gobyerno ang enforcement ng regulasyong ito dahil para ito sa benepisyo ng mga migrant workers, kasama na rin ang kanilang mga pamilya (The government should focus on enforcing this regulation because it intends to benefit our migrant workers and their families)," he said in a statement over the weekend.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said recruitment and manning agencies as well as employers who will not provide the mandatory insurance will be blacklisted.
The insurance coverage must cover the duration of the employment contract and assures coverage in case of death, disability, repatriation, medical emergency, and litigation.
The retired police general encouraged OFWs to report to authorities and concerned agencies if ever their employers will not offer them insurance.
Eleazar is ranked fifth in a survey conducted by GoPhilippines.com, the results of which were posted Saturday after gathering results in Pangasinan.
He got 58 percent and trailed Loren Legarda (71 percent), Francis Escudero (64.8 percent), JV Ejercito (64.6 percent), and reelectionist Senator Joel Villanueva (63 percent). (PNA)
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