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| Rows of unoccupied chairs at POLO indicate that only a handful of workers now apply for paper OEC for their impending Philippine vacation, having been replaced with BMOnline. |
From today, Sept. 15, the ‘paper’ overseas employment certificate (OEC) that all overseas Filipino workers returning to their jobs abroad must have will no longer be issued.
However, those who have yet to sign up with the Balik Manggagawa Online (BMO) service will still be asked to pay a fee of $20, and given a printout of their successful registration, which they need to present at Philippine airports prior to departure.
But once registered, they need not go through the same process unless they change employers.
This clarification was made by Deputy Labor Attache Henry Tianero to The SUN, when asked how Resolution No. 12 which the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration passed on Aug. 4 and is due to take effect today, is to be implemented.
Tianero said that pending the issuance of implementing guidelines for the Resolution, only those who had previously obtained an OEC after registering with BMO and are returning to the same employer, will be exempted from securing the certificate.
But the returning workers are still being advised to bring along their employment contract, which they should present to immigration officers along with their passport and work visa, to prove their status.
The rules have also changed for those who switch to another employer after finishing their contracts.
According to Tianero, this category of workers will have to make an appointment to change their job particulars at the POEA office of their choice in the Philippines.
But to make it easier on them, POLO will help the workers open an account with BMO while in Hong Kong, so they can easily log back in when they get to the POEA office.
“Once registered, their information will remain in the POEA data base and they need only to log in again to retrieve and change it,” said Tianero.
But for those who break their contracts, Tianero said they will have to go through the whole process of listing up with POEA again as if they are getting out of the country for the first time.
While a big majority of OFWs in Hong Kong are still not registered online, Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre expects the usual overcrowding at Polo during the peak vacation periods to thin out soon.
“I’d say that eventually, about 90 percent of our workers will no longer have to queue up before going home for a vacation,” Labatt said.
In the meantime, he is urging all workers to take advantage of the lean days to sign up with BMO, or update their records.
He said all computers in his office have been made accessible to OFWs for this purpose, so all they have to do is to choose a day when there are not a lot of other workers around, all wanting to do the same thing.
From August 21, he also ordered Polo to open six days a week, excluding Fridays, to assist those registering for the first time.
POEA administrator Hans Cacdac earlier stressed in an email reply to The SUN’s queries that prior online registration is necessary before a returning worker can be cleared for departure.
“To be exempted, one must be in the POEA database. One can’t just present oneself to LAC and expect clearance,” he said.
Cacdac is expected to make a progress report to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III one month after the implementation of the OEC exemption.
According to the POEA Board, the new measure is being put in place in accordance with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s directive to streamline processes in the deployment of OFWs.
It was also in response to a clamor from OFWs for an easier way to process their work-related documents.
