The bill requiring Social Security Systems (SSS) coverage to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) under the age of 60 is now in Malacañang for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature, a senator said on Sunday, January 13.
Senator and author of the bill Richard Gordon said that the bill requires SSS coverage for both land-based and sea-based OFWs given that they are under the age of 60.
It also tasks the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Labor and Employment as the primary agencies that “would negotiate for the OFWs, especially those working in Middle East countries”.
The said bill also seeks to expand the function of the Philippine embassies in different countries abroad to enable them to collect the contributions of OFWs.
Currently, only 500,000 OFWs are covered by SSS. With the new bill in place, this number is targeted to increase to 2.5 million.
“The bill does not promise an abundance of wealth but to secure people in case they would encounter unwanted situations in their lives, through a lifeline that they themselves created through their contribution,” Gordon said.
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