PhilHealth launches 1st office in Saudi Arabia

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East received an advance Independence Day gift with the launching of a new Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) office in Riyadh. PhilHealth president Rey Aquino and representatives from Enjaz and Development Bank of Philippines (DBP) signed Friday night a manifesto during the launching at the Riyadh Palace Hotel. “The manifesto is in support of PhilHealth’s campaign to serve Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom by looking after their health insurance needs as well as those of their beneficiaries," Aquino said, according to a report Sunday on Arab News. PhilHealth offices had been established in Hong Kong and Macau. Another office will also be set up in Singapore soon. Enjaz correspondent banks’ manager Amanat Ali represented Sami Al-Rajhi, head of Enjaz Network Group, while Abdullah Gacuan represented DBP. PhilHealth’s OFW members will exclusively remit their memberships dues to the Philippines through DBP-Enjaz. Citing recent reports, Aquino said Saudi Arabia again topped the list of land-based OFW destinations, with an 11.7-percent increase in deployment in 2009 compared to 2008. “Almost a million OFWs were deployed in Saudi Arabia last year in the skilled category. With this trend in OFW deployment, it is imperative that we educate our OFWs about their health insurance benefits so that they will have peace of mind while they toil in this oil-rich Middle Eastern country," he said. He added PhilHealth office there can assist on questions regarding membership amendments and member data records. Also, he said PhilHealth can accept claims and will distribute fliers to drum up interest among OFWs in the Kingdom and neighboring countries regarding their health insurance needs. “Eventually, our desk will receive premium payment amounting to SR81 (P1,009) per year. Note that OFW members are paying less compared to what other members in the other paying categories remit," he said. “We recognize the fact that OFW remittances made through banks for the first quarter of this year reached $4.3 billion, a major bulk of which came from the Middle East. This implies that there’s a strong demand for Filipino skills in almost every major industry in the Middle East and this demand translates to better opportunities for our skilled workers and to our economy as well," he said. He thanked Ambassador Antonio Villamor, outgoing Labor Attaché Rustico dela Fuente who will be cross-posted to Belgium, and incoming Labor Attaché Albert Valenciano for their help in the launching of PhilHealth’s office in Riyadh. — LBG, GMANews.TV