Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. has filed a bill that would require full disclosure of terms and costs of money transfer services that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are availing from remittance agents and companies.
Revilla filed the Senate Bill No. 438 or the “Remittance Act of 2019”, which also requires remittance agents and companies to be duly registered, licensed, and must meet the requirements set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Citing a statistic, Revilla said the majority or 52.8% of OFWs sent their remittance through banks while the rest is through money transfer services.
Should it be implemented, they will follow the exact real-time exchange rate at the beginning of the business day as posted in the Reference Exchange Rate Bulletin of the BSP.
There will also be a flat rate transaction for senders from the Philippines in accordance with BSP rules and regulations.
The bill also requires waiver forms for transactions that will contain details of the fees deducted from the remittance.
“These OFWs dedicate all their labor and sacrifices for the betterment of their families. Their salaries, wages or earnings that they send home are products of love and hard work,” Revilla said in a statement.
“Recognizing the valuable contribution of our OFWs in our economy, this measure seeks to protect the hard-earned money of our OFWs. It requires the disclosure of charges and fees that would be paid for sending their money through remittance agents and companies. Likewise, it penalizes price gouging or the exorbitant charging of fees for the transactions being made,” he added.
Those who will be found violating the said bill will face six years to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of P200,000 to P1 million.
