Overseas Filipino workers are urging President Rodrigo Duterte to issue an executive order to scrap their supposed premium contribution to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
On Monday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced that OFW payments to the state insurer should only be voluntary and must not be a requirement for the issuance of the overseas employment certificate (OEC).
Thousands of OFWs posted online their take on the new announcement. On the Facebook page of The Filipino Times, a number of UAE-based OFWs called on the immediate passing of a moratorium.
“Make it official not just verbal. It’s already a law [so] please review and revise ASAP,” one OFW said.
“Yup, dapat ma-isyuhan agad ng memo na wala ng 3% talaga para masigurado at wala ng pangamba ang mga OFW,” another said.
Below are other comments from OFWs:
“Maraming salamat po mahal na Pangulo sa pagdinig sa aming panig. However, kindly assure po that this would be official by amending the RA 11223, removing the section stating na mandatory ang pagbabayad namin ng Philhealth including na din po yung mandatory payment to secure OEC.”
“Let’s not celebrate yet. That provision needs to be repealed and signed again.”
“If not, they will just bring it back when it’s no longer a hot topic. The bigger problem is where they will get the money for their Universal Health plan?”
“It has to be official hindi lang verbal. The law should be amended… Magbabayad naman yang mga OFW kung makatarungan ang singil at isa pa ayusin muna nila ang sistema at imahe ng PhilHealth.”
Earlier, some 170 OFW groups across the globe joined hands in an online petition to oppose the hike contributions.
The controversy started when PhilHealth issued a circular on the increase of the premium for OFWs with monthly income of P10,000 to P60,000 to 3% of their monthly salary starting this year.
The circular said that payment hike is stated in the Universal Health Care Law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2019.
