A lawmaker filed a bill that seeks to create a special fund for the families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by untimely loss of income source due to death or disability of the OFW family member.
Quezon City representative and chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development, Winston Castelo, filed House Bill 7228 or the OFW Dependents Special Pension Fund Act, which seeks to provide a special fund in a form of pension for dependents of OFWs who died or became disabled overseas, reported Manila Bulletin.
“Our workers away from home are at the mercy of multifarious dangers and perils engendered by nature and fellow man alike. As if their solitude and remoteness are not enough torment themselves, their maltreatment is way unacceptable. Their noble aim of providing for their loved ones makes them endure every suffering and trouble that come their way,” Castelo said.
The bill caters to OFWs who died or became disabled making them unable to work and earn, affecting their families in the Philippines who live through their remittances.
The bill also tasks concerned government agencies to draft guidelines and rules in implementing the pension program.
