Two lawmakers are strongly pushing for the inclusion of “war risks” in the mandatory insurance coverage of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
House Bill 4924, filed by Party-list Rep. Wes Gatchalian of Alay Buhay and Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Sherwin T. Gatchalian of Valenzuela City, provides for mandatory insurance coverage for agency-hired overseas workers against risks sustained from war, invasion, insurrection, revolution, military coup and terrorism, amending Section 37-A of Republic Act (RA) 8042.
Although RA 8042, as amended, or “The Migrant Workers and Overseas Workers Act of 1985,” provides for a compulsory insurance to all the migrant and overseas workers during the duration of their employment, the coverage, however, excludes war-risk losses as they are normally excluded from basic insurance policy.
The authors propose that Section 37-A should now read as follows: “Compulsory Insurance for Agency-Hired workers—In addition to the performance bond to be filed by the recruiting/manning agency under Section 10, each migrant worker deployed by a recruiting/manning agency shall be covered by a compulsory insurance policy, including war-risk insurance, invasion, insurrection, revolution, military coup and terrorism which shall be secured at no cost to the said worker.”
The bill said that in the wake of the current unrests, violence or war prevailing in several countries, particularly in the Middle East, OFWs are caught in the crossfire and are exposed to various forms of threats resulting in death, injuries, kidnapping, tortures, and even becoming prisoners of war.