Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTA’
Quezon City, Metro Manila

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

361

House Bill No.

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE MARISSA “DEL MAR” P. MAGSI

AN ACT
PENALIZING CERTAIN ACTS IN THE IMPOSITION OF EXCESSIVE
PLACEMENT FEES AGAINST OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS

EXPLANATORY NOTE

When we hear stories of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), we often hear about
the success chapters. The rags to riches tale that underdogs from a developing country
are enthusiastic to hear. We love to admire houses made of wood slowly get erected in
concrete, with flourishing gardens and filled car ports to boot.

But that is the fairytale behind the struggle. What we fail to sit down and talk
about are the struggles that come along with the triumphs. How they are forced to pawn
their personal possessions to comply with employment requirements, how they take
their cows for one last stroll in their backyard before they are sold for quick cash, how
their lands are put up in the market, so they pay for plane tickets. These are the realities
that the fantasy often overshadows.

We rarely talk about the exorbitant placement fees that many hopeful Filipinos
must pay as a necessary step they have to take if they are to take the trip that will change
their lives. Under the current system, recruitment agencies licensed by the Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) are allowed to charge placement fees for
their services in the amount not exceeding one (1) month’sworth of the OFW’s basic

salary.

Despite the ceiling, reports from OFWs have revealed that not all recruitment
agencies comply with the standards. In fact, some collect even as much as three (3) to
four (4) times their monthly basic salary. Excessive fees can run OFWs up to six (6)
digits, causing them to be neck-deep in debts even before they leave the country.

We cannot allow this abuse to persist. If we want to encourage more Filipinos to
seize opportunities abroad which would not only help them improve their lives, but
would certainly help in boosting the Philippines’ economy, we must craft measures that
would aid them and protect them.


This proposed bill seeks to prohibit collecting placement fees above the standards
set. To further protect our OFWs whose desperate need to search for greener pastures
make them vulnerable to unbelievable promises from agencies, this bill also seeks to
prohibit collecting of placement fees in advance of the offered job’s availability.

Because we also heard of sad tales of prospective OFWs who have been victimized
by contracts not materializing and yet receiving no refund of the placement fees they
have already advanced, this bill also seeks to prohibit the refusal to return such fees
collected when deployment does not materialize.

Penalties of imprisonment and/or fine shall also be imposed under this proposed
measure for those who commit the prohibited acts under this measure.

We must zealously protect our Filipinos who dream of having a future to look
forward to. Their vulnerabilities which have long exposed them to abuses should always
be kept in check and reviewed. We must keep adjusting to the demands of the times and
responding to the realities of the ground.

For this reason, approval of this measure is earnestly sought.

vans f MAR” P. MAGSINO


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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 36 1

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE MARISSA “DEL MAR” P. MAGSINO

AN ACT

PENALIZING CERTAIN ACTS IN THE IMPOSITION OF EXCESSIVE
PLACEMENT FEES AGAINST OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in

Congress assembled:

Section 1. Short Title.— This Act shall be known as the “Fair Placement Fees for

OFWs Act”.

Section. 2. Statement of Policy; Prohibited Acts. The following acts committed by

any person involving and relating to the imposition of placement fees against Overseas
Filipino Workers (OFW), are hereby prohibited:

P

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c.

d.

°

. Collecting placement fee above the legitimate placement fee fixed and

determined by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA)

without prejudice to Section 5 hereof;
Collecting placement fee in advance of the job's availability overseas;
Not issuing the appropriate receipts for any placement fee collected;

Not returning any placement fee collected when deployment does not

materialize;

Forcing an OFW to issue post-dated checks to guarantee payment of any
placement fee; and

Forcing an OFW to borrow money only from designated persons or
lending institutions.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. For purposes of this Act, placement fee shall
refer to the amount charged by a Private Recruitment and Placement Agency (PRPA) or

any person from a recruit as payment for placement services which shall not exceed the

equivalent of one (1) month salary of the job for which an OFW has been recruited.


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SECTION 4. Penalties. Commission of any of the following acts in the
immediately preceding Section shall be punished by six (6) years imprisonment or a fine
of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php 100,000.00) to Five Hundred Thousand Pesos
(Php 500,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court.

The penalties herein provided shall be treated as separate and distinctfrom any
liability arising from the same punishable acts in Section 1 hereof.

If any of the acts in Section 1 is committed by a corporation, its officers and
directors shall be made liable in the same manner as the employee or person related in
any capacity to the corporation who actually committed the same.

Moreover, if any of the acts is committed by a licensed recruitment agency, its
agent or representative, such agency's license shall be automatically revoked with

finality and no longer eligible for reinstatement.

SECTION 5. Implementing rules. The POEA is hereby mandated to promulgate
the schedule of placement fees abroad together with the implementing rules and
regulations within ten (10) days from the effectivity of this Act.

SECTION 6. Separability Clause. If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall
remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 7. Repealing Clause. All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders,
proclamations and/or administrative regulations which are inconsistent with the
provisions of this Act are hereby amended, modified, superseded or repealed
accordingly.

SECTION 8. Effectivity Clause. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from its
publication in the Official Gazette or at least three (3) newspapers of national

circulation.

Approved,