War risk insurance for OFWs pushed

A bill seeking to include war risk provisions in insurance policies of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) was filed recently in Congress.

Authored by Rep. Weslie Gatchalian, House Bill No. 4924 (which amends Republic Act No. 8042, otherwise known as Migrant Overseas Workers Act of 1995) seeks to include “war risk, invasion, insurrection, revolution, military coup and terrorism” in the coverage of compulsory insurance for agency-hired workers seeking employment abroad.

In filing the bill, Gatchalian said “political and civil unrest dominates global politics such as the Arab Spring, political turmoil in Libya, Syria and Iraq that swept the Arab nations and Eastern Europe and even the acts of terrorism by some fundamentalist groups such as the Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).”

“In the midst of this unrest are our OFWs who are caught in the crossfire in high-risk areas,” Gatchalian added.

Currently, government efforts to secure the OFWs from this war-torn areas are limited to evacuation and repatriation. The OFWs are not financially protected for all the risks they encounter in countries under civil or political unrest.

“Our existing compulsory insurance is limited to ordinary perils such as accidental death, natural death or disablement,” he said.

If enacted into law, the measure also provides that the insurance will remain for the entire duration of the migrant worker’s employment contract at no added cost to the OFWs.