Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Quezon City 39 sea
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS fel

Fi
HOUSE BILL No 8892

st Regular Session

Introduced by REP. LINA G, ESCUDERO.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Each year, more than a million Filipinos leave the country to work abroad through overseas
employment agencies and other programs; and in the course of the recruitment process, the
government allows one (1) month salary placement fees charged to the prospective OFW to allow
the employment agency to cover the cost of processing the application.

However, very few recruitment agencies comply with the standards set in charging
placement fees. and some collect as much as four (4) times the monthly salary of the aspiring
OFW, This practice of charging excessive processing fees can cost the prospective OF W as much
as one-hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00), and most get mired in debts even before getting
hired, if not backing out from the recruitment process altogether.

‘Therefore, this bill deserves immediate consideration and approval.

LINA G. E! DERO.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Quezon City

Introduced by REP, EVELINA G. ESCUDERO

AN ACT
NALIZING CERTAIN ACTS IN THE IMPOSITION OF EXCESSIVE PLACEMENT
'S AGAINST OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS,

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

SECTION 1. Title, This Act shall be known as the “Fair Placement Fees for OF Ws Act”.

SEC. 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:

a. Collecting placement fee above the legitimate placement fee fixed and
mined by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POA) without prejudice to
on 5 hereof;

b. Collecting placement fee in advance of the job’s availability overseas:

c. Not issuing the appropriate receipts for any placement fee collected:

d. Not returning any placement fee collected when deployment does not
materialize:

€ Foreing an OF W to issue post dated checks to guarantee payment of any
placement fee; and

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

institutions.

SEC. 3. 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
(Php100,000.00) to Five Hundred ‘Thousand Pesos (Php$00,000.00), or both, at the dis
the court.

The penalties herein provided shall be treated a:
from the same punishable acts in Section | hereof.

separate and distinct from any liability

If any of the acts in Section | is committed by a corporation, its officers and dir
be made liable in the same manner as the employee or person related in any capa
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.

SEC. 4. 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.

SEC. 5. 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
reeruit 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,

SEC. 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,

SEC. 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

SEC. 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,