The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading House Bill (HB) No. 10959, which aims to provide a 50% discount on remittance fees charged to OFWs and their immediate families by banks and other financial institutions.
HB 10959, or the Overseas Filipino Workers Remittance Protection Act, received 174 votes. Pampanga third district representative and Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. authored the bill, with Tingog party-list representative and House Assistant Majority Leader Jude Acidre sponsoring it in the plenary. Acidre is also the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs’ chairman.
In a statement, Acidre said: “This provides incentives to encourage remittance centers to grant the discount. The centers may claim the discounts granted as tax deductions based on the cost of services rendered to OFWs to be treated as ordinary and necessary expenses deductible from their gross income.”
Under the measure, banks and non-bank financial intermediaries will be prohibited from raising their remittance fees without prior consultation with the Finance and Migrant Workers departments and the Philippine central bank.
