Good News OFWS: Philhealth and Pag-ibig not MANDATORY ANYMORE!

This is good news to all OFWs. 

We sent an email inquiry to POEA confirming this matter and here is the reply:

PEBA: "Pag kukuha po ba kami ng OEC ngayon starting April 1, MANDATORY pa rin po ba na hahanapan o pababayarin kami ng PHILHEALTH and PAG-IBIG or pwede na makakuha ng OEC lang without paying ng mga ito?"

POEA:  "Yes we are no longer requiring Philhealth and Pag-Ibig contribution payments in the process of securing OECs. The OWWA contribution, however, will still have to be paid."

So it means those who wants to pay only OEC and OWWA will only pay around P1,000 - P1300 in order to SECURE OEC o Balik Manggagawa Certificate


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From Philhealth

Starting April 1, vacationing and
re-hired overseas Filipino workers will have to pay their premium contributions
to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) separately from
their payments to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for
their Overseas Employment Certificates (OECs).

This development is in line with the
decision of the POEA to implement a single collection policy starting on the
same date. The POEA will only be collecting fees for OEC and no longer for
PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG Fund.

image by R. Llanda

The collection counters of
PhilHealth and other government agencies, however, will be retained at POEA in
Mandaluyong City and in the one-stop shops of POEA nationwide.

“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 A. Padilla.

Padilla added that “OFW-members may still pay
their premium contributions at the designated PhilHealth counters at the
Balik-Manggagawa Center at the POEA in Mandaluyong City, as well as through any
of the 27 accredited collecting partners that we have earlier authorized for
local collection from OFW-members. They may also pay at our Local Health
Insurance Offices nationwide.”

Overseas Filipinos pay P2,400.00
annually for their premium contribution to PhilHealth. The amount includes
coverage for all qualified legal dependents of a migrant worker such as legal
spouse who is not a PhilHealth member; legitimate and illegitimate children
below 21 years old, unmarried and unemployed; and parents who are below 60
years old but are suffering from permanent disability which renders them
totally dependent on the member for support.

Parents who are 60 years old and
above and are not yet PhilHealth members may enrol under the Senior Citizen
category.

PhilHealth pays for overseas
hospitalization of migrant workers, as well as for the confinement of their
legal dependents in the Philippines, through a reimbursement mechanism. Migrant
workers have 180 calendar days from the date of discharge to file their claim
documents through any of PhilHealth’s 17 Regional Offices in the Philippines. All
refunds are paid for in Philippine peso equivalent. (END)

PAYMENT OF PREMIUM CONTRIBUTIONS
OF MIGRANT WORKERS 

EFFECTIVE
APRIL 1, 2015 

Starting April 1, vacationing OFWs or balik-manggagawa returning to their
destinations overseas, must proceed to the PhilHealth counters at the POEA
in Ortigas EDSA, Mandaluyong City to pay their premium contributions. 

Upon recent advice by the POEA, payments for Overseas Employment
Certificates (OECs) will no longer include PhilHealth premium contributions.
To avoid the long queue, OFWs should pay their PhilHealth premiums first
before going to POEA to get their OECs.
Premium payments may be made at designated PhilHealth Counters at
the Balik-Manggagawa Center, or through any of our accredited collecting
partners nationwide. 

The list of ACAs authorized to collect OFW premium
contributions can be found on www.philhealth.gov.ph/advisories/2014/
adv12-03-2014.pdf.
Further inquiries regarding this matter may be referred to the Overseas
Filipinos Program Office at (+63917) 5129149, (+632) 441-7444 ext. 7416
or through ofp@philhealth.gov.ph. 

by ALEXANDER A. PADILLA

Philhealth President

©2014 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards

Watch VIDEO: "Domestic Help"[er]

There was a dinner party hosted by an Asian family with a Filipina Household Service Worker or a domestic helper. The  madam is feisty, pretentious, and unkind to the domestic helper. 

"An intimate dinner party comes alive as the night takes an unexpected turn. The inhabitants become the imprisoned, and the only way to break free is to confront the lies they have told themselves. A walk through the dark history of the household becomes a desperate struggle for survival, but by dawn it becomes clear that redemption is out of reach."

Watch Other Asian Short Films at www.viddsee.com

©2014 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards

TRAVELLING ABROAD? TO AVOID CONFISCATION, CHARGE YOUR GADGETS!

If travelling abroad, especially if you are an OFW, just to ensure that your electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, smartphones, and tablets are safe and working, make it full charge before reaching the NAIA Terminal. The authorities in the NAIA, and other Philippine airports are checking gadgets that are carried by passengers on international flights, most particularly those going to the US. The Office for Transportation Security (OTS) says they began their inspection of electronic gadgets to passengers traveling from out of the country at the NAIA. The process is simple, they will turn on the gadgets to check if the devices and gadgets are working or functional. Gadgets without power or defective will be confiscated and the owner could be interrogated or will undergo a background check, perhaps?

The supervisor of the OTS says that he had orders from the higher authorities to follow the policy as soon as possible.

The electronic gadgets will also pass through the X-ray scanning machines. This strict implementation is following the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) directives that all airlines and airports must check the passengers especially the Philippine Airlines passengers that have direct flights to the U.S. from NAIA to Hawaii and other mainland cities in America. This precaution is for the safety of the passengers for any event such as a terrorist attack. They say that one cell phone is capable of making a bomb that can create explosion.

Per the news Rappler.com

The agency also said devices that fail to power up won't be allowed on planes and that their owners might have to undergo extra screening before boarding.

“As the traveling public knows, all electronic devices are [already] screened by security officers,” TSA said in a statement.

The TSA implemented the directive after some experts suggested that a new type of improvised explosive device (IED) could be planted in a laptop or other electronic devices.”

©2014 THOUGHTSKOTO