By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Palma (left), and Pelaez brave the cold to meet up with claimants in an Admiralty park |
The first group of Filipino domestic workers seeking
reimbursement of the training fee collected by their recruitment agencies in
the
Most of those who received the text message from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office were among about 30 FDWs who filed a refund claim on Nov 22, the first group to do so.
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They took action after Labor Attache Melchor Dizon told a group of Filipino community leaders during a meeting that recruitment agencies could not compel the overseas Filipino workers they deploy to undergo training.
That statement entitled practically all OFWs leaving the
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The notification to the claimants mostly said they should go to Polo at 11:30am for the conciliation before either of the two assistant labor attaches, Angelica Sunga or Antonio Villafuerte.
Marites Palma, head of Social Justice for Migrant Workers and co-convenor of the Rise Against Government Exactions (Rage), says a total of 286 FDWs have filed refund claims against their agencies in the past seven Sundays.
She says the claims filed so far are for agency charges that range between Php30,000 to Php45,000.
Many more have expressed an intention to ask for a refund of the fees they paid their agencies, not just for training, but for other unauthorized fees, such as for video recording, and a second or third medical examination.
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However, some are disheartened because they do no have
receipts to back up their claim.
If the workers have other proof of their payment, such as a
text message from the agency, or photos, or corroborating statement by a fellow
applicant, all these could be used to show how much money was collected from
them.
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| A volunteer helps a fellow OFW fill out the claim form |
But the claim has a time bar. According to Labatt Dizon, citing POEA Rules, only fees paid no later than three years ago can be claimed back through conciliation. He also said Polo needs at least a month to process the application, meaning that as of now, only those paid from February 2018 onwards could be claimed.
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During the meeting with Filcom leaders in November, Dizon said the POEA Guidelines merely require OFWs to secure the NCII (national certificate of competency) from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
They may opt to go for training if they want to have a better chance of passing the skills assessment, but they should decide on this on their own.
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An employer who requires the worker to
undergo training before coming to
He also said that in line with the POEA Guidelines, everyone who has a valid NCII should not be required to undergo training and assessment all over again.
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Among those who were charged this illicit
fee are two claimants who both worked in the
Palma and fellow Rage leader Dolores Balladares-Pelaez have been meeting claimants in a park near United Centre building where Polo is located, to brief them claimants on the filing process, and why they should assert their right to claim back the illegal fee that was charged them.
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Another such meet-up is scheduled this coming Sunday at Harcourt Garden. Those who wish to get more information should check out the FB page, "Training Fee Refund - Hong Kong."
This is not the first time that OFWs in
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The latest rash of claims happened in
November 2016, after former POEA Administrator Hans Cacdac said during a visit
to
But in this case, the statements of claim submitted
by about 20 workers were all sent to POEA for action, as they were supposedly
all directed against agencies based in the
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This time around, Dizon said the claims
would be forwarded to POEA only if the worker and the counterpart agency in
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