^niat£:
of ti'i? &-i 'i rf:i-;p
NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Second Regular Session 
)
SEIM
S. No.
^^80
23 AUG-1 PI 36
Introduced by Senator MANUEL "LITO" M. LAPID
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 iove 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 .>vstem, recruitment agencies licensed by the 
Philippine Overseas Employment Aomin stration (POEA) are allowed to charge 
placement fees for their services in the '.mount not exceeding one (1) months' worth 
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.
In view of the foregoing, early passage of this bill is earnestly requested.
^ V'
MAfi5iL ''LI?0 ' M. LAPID
Senator


NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
Second Regular Session 
)
SENATE
s. No. 2380
of til? el'ig>
23 AUG-1 PI 36
RECElVtDBV
Introduced by Senator Manuel "Lito" M. Lapid
1 
AN ACT
2 
PENALIZING CERTAIN ACTS IN THE IMPOSITION OF EXCESSIVE
3 
PLACEMENT FEES AGAINST OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines 
in Congress assembled:
4 
Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Fair Placement Fees
5 
for OFWs Act."
6 
Section. 2. Statement of Policy, Prohibited Acts. The following acts committed
7 
by any person involving and relating to the imposition of placement fees against
8 
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW), are hereby prohibited:
9 
a. Collecting placement fee above the legitimate placement fee fixed and
10 
determined by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) without prejudice to
11 
Section 5 hereof;
12
13
b. Collecting placement fee in advance of the job's availability overseas;
c. Not issuing the appropriate receipts for any placement fee collected;
14 
d. Not returning any placement fee collected when deployment does not
15 
materialize;
16 
e. Forcing an OFW to issue post-dated checks to guarantee payment of any
17 
placement fee; and


1 
f. Forcing an OFW to borrow money only from designated persons or
2 
lending institutions.
3 
SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. For purposes of this Act, placement fee shall
4 
refer to the amount charged by a Private Recruitment and Placement Agency (PRPA)
5 
or any person from a recruit as payment for placement services which shall not exceed
6 
the equivalent of one (1) month salary of the job for which an OFW has been recruited.
7 
SECTION 4. Penaities. Commission of any of the following acts in the
8 
immediately preceding Section shall be punished by six (6) years imprisonment or a
9 
fine of One Flundred Thousand Pesos (Php 100,000.00) to Five Flundred Thousand
10 
Pesos (Php 500,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court.
11 
The penalties herein provided shall be treated as separate and distinct from
12 
any liability arising from the same punishable acts in Section 1 hereof.
13 
If any of the acts in Section 1 is committed by a corporation, its officers and
14 
directors shall be made liable in the same manner as the employee or person related
15 
in any capacity to the corporation who actually committed the same.
16 
Moreover, if any of the acts is committed by a licensed recruitment agency, its
17 
agent or representative, such agency's license shall be automatically revoked with
18 
finality and no longer eligible for reinstatement.
19 
SECTION 5. Impiementing ruies. The DMW is hereby mandated to promulgate
20 
the schedule of placement fees abroad together with the implementing rules and
21 
regulations within ten (10) days from the effectivity of this Act.
22 
SECTION 6. Separabiiity Cause. If any provision or part hereof is held invalid
23 
or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected
24 
shall remain valid and subsisting.
25 
SECTION 7. Repeaiing Cause. All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders,
26 
proclamations and/or administrative regulations which are inconsistent with the
27 
provisions of this Act are hereby anriended, modified, superseded or repealed
28 
accordingly.


1 
SECTION 8. Effectivity Clause. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from
2 
its publication in the Official Gazette or at least three (3) newspapers of national
3 
circulation.
Approved,