“We urge President Duterte to not only limit the exemption to returning OFWs, but to abolish the OEC permanently.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat
MANILA – A migrant rights group lauded the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for cutting the red tape by exempting returning overseas Filipino workers from procuring Overseas Employment Certificates (OEC).
In its Governing Board Resolution No. 12 Series of 2016, the POEA ordered the exemption of returning overseas Filipino workers.
“The OEC has long been deemed by OFWs and families as a money-making scheme by the government in the form of ‘legalized kotong’ (extortion), from new hires and Balik Manggagawa alike,” Migrante International chairperson Garry Martinez said in a statement.
Martinez said OFWs welcome such “positive development” under the present administration as it aims to streamline services for them and cut government “red tape.” But the group underscored that the OEC is just an added burden to OFWs.
“We urge President Duterte to not only limit the exemption to returning OFWs, but to abolish the OEC permanently,” Martinez said.
The OEC is supposed to provide protection as it serves as an “exit pass” that should be presented to prove she or he is a documented OFW. However, migrant rights activists argue that it has become a mere “state exaction” being asked from at least 6,000 OFWs leaving the country every day.
The country earns a whopping P180 million a day from various processing fees and state exactions from OFWs, said Migrante International.
In its study, the group estimated that a returning OFW spends an average of P30,000 ($643) to secure their OECs. Such exorbitant fee is nearly double of what it used to cost back in 2010, which was only P18,000 ($386).
Martinez attributed the increase to other mandatory fees that OFWs must secure, such as health and housing insurance, NBI and barangay clearances, and even their e-passport fees.
The group said that “new hires” spend more than returning OFWs.
“State exactions have caused OFWs and their families to become debt-ridden, contributing greatly to the widespread landlessness and poverty of many,” Martinez said, adding that some peasant families mortgage or sell their belongings to cough up money for exorbitant pre-departure and placement fees. 
