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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

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Quezon City in
TIME:
Seventeenth Congress
Second Regular Session

House Bill No. 6519

Introduced by ANGKLA Party-list Representative JESULITO A. MANALO

AN ACT CREATING THE
OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS (OFW) SOVEREIGN FUNDS

EXPLANATORY NOTE

There are approximately 10 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) all over the
world with 2.2 million OFWs who left the country in 2016 according to the latest
data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. Their cash remittances peaked at $25.6
Billion in 2015, and increased by roughly 5% in 2016. With the enormous amount of
cash Filipino overseas workers bring in, the Philippines is now regarded as the third
largest recipient of foreign remittances around the world.

Considering the huge number of our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) and the high
volume of remittances they bring into the country, there is no doubt that they
continue to largely contribute to the economic growth of the country.
Notwithstanding these contributions, the government can still find other
mechanisms to help our OFWs utilize their monies better, and in the process, also
help the government raise more revenues to be used solely for select key
government programs or projects and likewise to introduce a new revenue
generation mechanism for the country other than the traditional taxes.

It is the exclusive duty of the House of Representatives to “originate” revenue or
tariff bills and bills authorizing increase of the public debt as stated in Section 24 of
Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, to wit:

ARTICLE VI
SECTION 24. All appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of the
public debt, bills of local application, and private bills shall originate exclusively in the House

of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments.

And since it is the duty of the House of Representatives to look for means to finance
government projects, this House Bill hereby proposes the raising of funds for

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government and government-assisted projects through the issuance of bonds and
other debt instruments for subscription and investment by OFWs, their immediate
relatives and other Filipino citizens abroad.

This measure is designed to encourage all OFWs to invest part of their income or
cash remittances with the government, to be pooled under a special fund to be
referred to as OFW Sovereign Fund. Similar to treasury bills or bonds, but under a
special fund devised solely for OFWs’ enjoyment, wherein they can invest their
monies with government, through a program to be created by the Bureau of the
Treasury, ideally for a higher return, better tax incentives, and with lesser risks than
in regular banks. This will allow OFWs to save some of their income,
simultaneously providing them the opportunity to help their country, since the
proceeds of this created fund will finance significantly urgent national government
projects.

This will enable OFWs to be investors in nation-building towards the
industrialization of the country so that OFWs like seafarers can be reintegrated into
the Philippine domestic economy by becoming industrialists themselves using their
know-how and experience acquired in working abroad to be the owners and/or
officers of their own shipbuilding companies and shipyards, as just one
example. This is in line with the agenda of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as
outlined in his July 24, 2017 State of the Nation Address wherein he said:

Ours is a rich country. Wealth that this country is endowed with [is]
4 gift from God to be utilized for the [people's] welfare and the common
good. I do not believe that this gift was given to us to be merely viewed or
‘appreciated, but to be extracted from the earth and utilized to make life
worth living.

That is why I say that it is not enough that we mine this wealth.
What is more important is that we convert the raw material thereof into
finished products for international and local purposes. That way, it will not
only be the few who are the rich but also the poor who are many who will
benefit therefrom.

Therefore, 1 call on our industrialists, investors [and] commercial
barons to put up factories and manufacturing establishments right here in
the Philippines to process our raw materials into finished products.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is most respectfully requested.

JESULITO'A. MANALO-


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Seventeenth Congress
Second Regular Session

House Bill No. 6519

Introduced by ANGKLA Party-list Representative JESULITO A. MANALO

AN ACT CREATING THE
OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS (OFW) SOVEREIGN FUND

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

SECTION. 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the “OFW Sovereign Fund
Act.”

SEC. 2. Coverage. - This Act shall cover all Overseas Filipino Workers
(OFW) and former OFWs, whether land-based or sea-based, and their immediate
family members such as their parents, spouses and children. If they are still
unmarried, their siblings shall likewise be covered by this Act. Other Filipinos
overseas are also covered by this Act as long as they are still citizens of the
Philippines.

SEC. 3. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to formulate
efficient programs that will help raise revenue to meet expenditure targets and to
effect adequate operational guidelines for fiscal and financial policies. It is also the
policy of the State to implement a system that shall help Overseas Filipino
Workers, their immediate family members and other Filipino citizens
overseas, maximize the use of their hard-earned money through investment
programs mutually-beneficial to them (the OFWs) and the government.

SEC. 4. Implementing Agency. - The Bureau of the Treasury is hereby
tasked to implement this Act and thus, is mandated to create a program specifically
designed to encourage all OFWs, their immediate family members and other Filipino
citizens overseas, to invest their monies or remittances with the government,
defining all its guidelines, including but not limited to the minimum amount
acceptable for investment, terms of the investment, and interest rates.


SEC. 5. Creation of OFW Sovereign Fund. - For the purpose of proper
monitoring of the investments made by OFWs and its use, the Bureau of the
Treasury shall create a separate special fund to be referred to as the OFW Sovereign
Fund, where all investments made by all OFWs, their immediate family members
and other Filipino citizens overseas, under the program herein created shall be
initially lodged, until it is utilized by the government for its select key projects. The
Bureau of the Treasury, in coordination with the Department of Budget and
Management and the Commission on Audit, shall make an accounting of all the
receipts and disbursements from the OFW Sovereign Fund and prepare a complete
annual report for ready reference of the public, especially by its investors as defined
under Section 2 hereof, with copies of the said report to be automatically submitted
yearly to the Senate and House of Representatives not later than April 30 of the year
immediately following the year covered by the report.

The proceeds of all the investments lodged in the OFW Sovereign Fund
shall be used solely by the national government to finance significantly urgent
national government and private projects with strong emphasis on productive and
job-generating industrial or agricultural projects, which shall be directed by the
President. The significantly urgent national government projects referred to here
shall include the purchase or establishment by the government of strong cash-
generating private corporations or government-owned and controlled corporations,
respectively, in fields such as, but not limited to, enterprises related to the
downstream petroleum industry, electric power generation, transmission and
distribution industry, information and communications technology industry, and
other strong cash-generating enterprises that shall wean away the government from
heavy reliance on taxes and fees as its main source of revenues.

The infrastructures and government offices that serve the benefit of the
people to be built through the income generated for such funds can be
supplemented by other funds of the government intended to benefit the welfare of
all Filipinos in terms of getting the much needed infrastructure in place and
operating.

No amount from the OFW Sovereign Fund shall be released for current
needs of the government like personal services, maintenance and other operating
expenses nor for any capital outlay inconsistent with the second and third
paragraphs of this Section.

SEC. 6. Tax Exemption of Interest Income and other Earnings from
Investments in the OFW Sovereign Fund. - The earnings of Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFW) and former OFWs, their immediate family members and, if they are
still unmarried, their siblings, and other Filipino citizens overseas, from their
investments in the bonds or other debt or investment instruments that the
government shall issue in the implementation of this Act, shall be exempted from
any and all kinds of taxes.


SEC. 7. Strong Information Drive. - To ensure the success of this Act, the
Bureau of the Treasury is directed to regularly adopt a strong information drive,
with assistance from other relevant agencies of government it may deem
appropriate, that shall help notify and educate all OFWs about the program, the
creation and purpose of the OFW Sovereign Fund and how investment in the fund
will be mutually-beneficial to the OFW and the government.

SEC. 8. Proof of Identity and Prohibitions Thereon. - Those under the
coverage of this Act as defined in Sec. 2 hereof shall be required to show proof of
their identity as such through their Overseas Employment Certificates (OECs), birth
certificates, marriage contracts, proof of Filipino citizenship and other verifiable
authentic documents. The use of dummies by persons and/or corporations and/or
other entities not under the coverage of this Act and the submission of fake or forged
documents to be able to participate in and benefit from this program shall be
punished according to existing laws.

SEC. 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Implementing
Rules and Regulations or IRR of this Act shalll include rules and guidelines to ensure
that the bonds or other debt or investment instruments that shall be issued by the
government in the implementation of this Act shall be denominated in Philippine
peso and likewise in small denominations such as, but not limited to, five thousand
pesos (P5,000.00)..

The Treasurer of the Philippines, in consultation with other concerned government
agencies including the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs and the
Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development,
shall formulate the necessary implementing rules and regulations to effectively
implement the provisions of this Act within ninety (90) days after its effectivity.

SEC. 10. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, issuances,
rules and regulations which may be inconsistent with any of the provisions of this
Act, are hereby deemed repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SEC. 11. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
complete publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,