Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) whether landbased or seabased is now entitled to an insurance policy and they will get it for free because it will be shouldered by the recruitment/manning agencies that will deploy them.

This is because recruitment agencies are now required to pay the insurance coverage of OFWs as stated in Republic Act 10022. The chief administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Jennifer Jardin-Manalili warned agencies that will try passing on to their hired OFWs (whether directly or indirectly) the costs of the insurance coverage. Manalili said agencies that will be caught violating the new rule will face punishment in accordance with existing POEA rules and regulations.

The POEA chief informed that the a certificate of cover (COC) provided by an insurance company licensed and certified by the Insurance Commission (IC) should be presented by the landbased OFW before he or she can be issued an overseas employment certificate (OEC) or exit clearance of agency-hired OFWs.

Seabased OFWs on the other hand must present a certificate of entry or other proofs of insurance coverage from the manning agency if the vessel is covered by protection and indemnity, provided that the minimum coverage under sub-paragraphs (a) to (i) 0f Section 37-A of Republic Act 8042, as amended, are included. The coverage must also conform with pertinent POEA rules and regulations and the POEA Standard Terms and Conditions Governing the Overseas Employment of Filipino Seafarers on Board Ocean-Going Ships.

The insurance coverage is only required for agency-hired OFWs but it is optional for name hires, rehires (balikmanggagawa or vacationing workers) and workers hired through government-to government arrangement.

Those OFWs who did not go through a recruitment agency may choose to pay for their insurance or request their foreign employer to subsidized their insurance coverage for them.

The insurance coverage shall be effective for the duration of the worker’s employment contract and shall cover, at the minimum, the benefits provided for by the Omnibus Rules and Regulations Implementing Republic Act 8042 as amended by RA 10022.

The insurance coverage shall include accidental death, natural death, permanent total disablement, repatriation cost, subsistence allowance, settlement claims, compassionate visit, medical evacuation, and medical repatriation.