Binay wants to allow HK firms to service OFW insurance

Vice President Jejomar Binay has ordered the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and other agencies to consider allowing Hong Kong-based firms to service the insurance requirements of the newly amended law on migrant Filipinos. Binay said he has directed the DOLE to sit down with representatives of three other agencies to discuss the possibility of accrediting Hong Kong insurance firms to provide the mandatory insurance coverage for OFWs, The vice president, who is also the Presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ (OFW) concerns, identified three agencies as the Insurance Commission (IC), the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), and the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), according to a release posted Saturday on the DOLE website. The compulsory insurance coverage, which is part of Republic Act (RA) 10022 amending RA 8042 or the Migrant Workers Act of 1995, requires employers or recruiters to secure a two-year policy coverage for OFWs amounting to a fixed rate of US$144, on top of the premiums. (See: DOLE warns recruiters vs passing on insurance costs to OFWs) The policy includes benefits of $15,000 in case of accidental death; $10,000 in case of natural death; and $7,500 in case of permanent disablement, including repatriation costs, subsistence allowance benefit, money claims, compassionate visit, medical evacuation and medical repatriation. A certificate of cover, provided by an insurance company licensed and certified by the IC, is now required before an overseas employment certificate or exit clearance of agency-hired overseas workers is issued. The POEA said the accredited insurance providers to date are Paramount Life and General Insurance Corp., Philippine Charter Insurance Corp., and United Coconut Planters’ Life Assurance Corp. Binay issued the directive following complaints from Hong Kong employers over the compulsory insurance requirement of RA 10022, saying they already provide insurance policies for their foreign domestic helpers. According to Binay, citing a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Hong Kong, the General Chamber of Hong Kong Manpower Agencies is open to extending the insurance coverage already being provided to foreign domestic helpers, to comply with the required insurance benefits outlined in RA 10022. At present, the benefits for Hong Kong OFWs under their Employment Contract only cover medical treatment for illness or personal injury, compensation for injury by incident or occupational disease arising during employment, death, and repatriation of remains, the POLO report stated. “These benefits are short of the requirements of RA 10022 which, at the minimum, require insurance cover for accidental death, repatriation of the worker or his remains, subsistence allowance benefits money claims arising from employer’s liability, compassionate visit, medical evaluation and medical repatriation," the release from the Office of the Vice President said. Last month, Hong Kong residents reportedly canceled contracts for Filipino domestic workers, following the implementation of a mandatory insurance coverage for these workers. (See: Mandatory insurance imperils HK hiring of Pinoy helpers) A Hong Kong organization had claimed that over 100 residents have suspended hiring Filipino helpers due to the mandatory insurance, according to reports by Hong Kong-based news sites The Standard and the South China Morning Post. Records from the POEA show that Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, was the third top destination of OFWs in 2009, with 100,142 Filipino workers deployed there last year. Of this figure, about 25,000 are domestic helpers. Currently, there are about 140,000 Filipino domestic helpers in the region. It is also among the top countries in terms of OFW remittances, which amounted to over US$339 million in 2009.—JV, GMANews.TV