Pinoys in Saudi Arabia want automatic renewal of OWWA membership

A group of Filipinos in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is pushing for the automatic renewal of their membership in the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to make sure they are covered at all times. The Jeddah-based Kasapi Congress made the proposal as it said many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), especially domestic workers, cannot take time out to renew their membership. They presented their concept paper to Vice President Jejomar Binay at a forum in Jeddah Wednesday night, Saudi-based news site Arab News reported on Saturday. Binay, who was in Saudi Arabia to attend the funeral of Crown Prince Naif in Makkah, promised to take the matter into consideration, the Arab News report said. "As the lifeline of the OFW, especially in times of calamities, continuity of OWWA membership is of paramount importance," the group said in its paper. The Arab News report said OWWA membership is mandatory for OFWs, with a $25 fee entitling members to health care, disability and death benefits. Other benefits include scholarships and financial assistance for education and training, workers assistance and on-site services and social services and family welfare assistance. No time to renew membership The Arab News report noted land-based workers with open-ended or continuing contracts get a two-year welfare coverage. However, those whose contracts are renewed yearly or every six months, mostly sea-based workers, are made to pay another $25 every time they sign a new contract. It added Filipino workers in the Middle East are largely covered by two-year membership with the OWWA. When they go home on vacation, they are made to renew their membership to be able to leave the country again for work abroad. But the Arab News report said many low-paid workers such as house servants and family drivers are unable to renew their membership because they do not go home for vacation. Kasapi leaders said this reality has resulted in many OFWs without insurance coverage in times of emergency. It proposed that members who have failed to come forward and renew their OWWA membership be automatically extended another two-year coverage in the form of a loan. "If the agency (OWWA) could provide business or livelihood loans amounting to hundreds of thousands of pesos or more, there is no reason why it could not give a loan of $25 every two years to an OFW who missed paying his membership renewal," it said. The group said the OWWA can always collect the loan payment when the OFW visits the consulate either for passport renewal or to request for an Overseas Employment Certificate. It can also do so at Philippine airports prior to their departure through remittance service centers or an organization to be formed by OFWs for the purpose. — LBG, GMA News