Balik-Manggagawa OFWs reminded of separate payments to Philhealth, POEA

Vacationing and re-hired overseas Filipino workers will have to separately pay their contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration for their Overseas Employment Certificates (OECs).

PhilHealth issued this reminder as the new policy (where the POEA will collect fees for only OEC and no longer for PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG Fund) took effect April 1.

"We call on our OFW-members to pay their PhilHealth premium contributions first before going to the POEA for their OECs. This will secure their social health insurance coverage, as well as that of their legal dependents, for their peace of mind," said PhilHealth president and CEO Alexander Padilla.

Balik-manggagawa processing soon at Duty Free Phils

Returning Filipino workers may soon have their exit clearance processed while shopping at Duty Free Philippines in Paranaque City.

Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said the POEA is setting up a satellite unit of its Labor Assistance Center at the Duty Free Philippines Corporation’s Balikbayan Plus OFW Center for the convenience of returning workers who may wish to have their overseas employment certificate while at the Duty Free Shop.

The Balikbayan Plus OFW Center is a business area that hosts government agencies and private companies for the documentation of overseas Filipino workers and regular travelers.

How To Process Balik-Manggagawa in the Philippines?

For those who failed to get there OEC (Overseas Employment Certificate) in the country they've working, here are the questions and procedures how to get OEC in the Philippines:

BALIK-MANGGAGAWA (BM) PROCESSING

1. WHO ARE CONSIDERED BALIK-MANGGAGAWA?

* Worker-on-Leave - a worker who is on vacation or on leave from employment under a valid and existing employment contract and who is returning to the same employer, regardless of any change in jobsite, to finish the remaining unexpired portion of the contract.

* Rehire - a worker who was rehired by the same employer after finishing his/her contract and who is returning to the same employer, regardless of a change in jobsite.

* POLO registered worker - a returning worker whose employment contract was not processed with the POEA but was subsequently verified and registered with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in the jobsite and who is returning to the same employer either as a worker-on-leave or rehire, regardless of any change in jobsite. Same employer / principal refers to the current employer of the worker at the time he/she came home for vacation and to whom he/she is returning to resume employment upon return to jobsite.

POEA tells returning OFWs to get exit clearance early

POEA gears up for peak season, tells returning OFWs to get exit clearance early.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has formed Task Force Balik- Manggagawa in anticipation of the arrival of thousands of OFWs who will spend the holiday season in the country even as Administrator Carlos S. Cao Jr. advises returning workers to have their overseas employment certificate (OEC) or travel exit clearance processed early.

To avoid long lines at the Balik-Manggagawa Processing Center, Cao said that OFWs should get their OECs as soon as they arrive in the country instead of flocking to the POEA office in Ortigas immediately after Christmas and New Year’s Day. Cao also suggested that returning OFWs should secure their exit clearance at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) nearest their jobsite even before their flight to the Philippines.