Retirement system for OFWs proposed

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) may soon look forward to lucrative businesses when they retire from work.

A party-list lawmaker has filed a bill which proposes a retirement system designed to provide OFWs with funds enough to run a business or other productive endeavors.

Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (Party-list, Alagad) filed House Bill 1334 establishing the Overseas Filipino Workers Social Security and Retirement System, which shall cover all documented OFWs who are duly registered with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

Under the bill, the Overseas Filipino Workers Social Security and Retirement System or the "System" shall be responsible for providing retirement benefits and welfare assistance to OFWs and their dependents.

Marcoleta said the System shall also develop a savings plan by which OFWs can be encouraged collectively to contribute part of their earnings in order to protect them against the hazards of old-age, disability, sickness, and death.

"Under the System, a trust fund shall be establish which will constitute the contributions of OFWs," said Marcoleta.

The bill provides that when a covered OFW is separated from employment, the obligation to pay contributions from that employment shall cease at the end of the month of separation but he shall be credited with all contributions paid and shall be entitled to all benefits under this Act.

It further provides that all covered OFWs who had paid at least 120 monthly contributions prior to the semester of retirement and who has reached the age of 45 years shall be entitled to a monthly pension.

Upon the death of the retired OFW pensioner, his primary beneficiaries as of the date of his retirement shall be entitled to 80 percent of the monthly pension and his dependents to the dependent's pension as provided under the bill. (MRS-PRIB/PIA-NCR/sdl)

Holders of Passports Bearing Fake Immigration Stamps Liable to Prosecution in Hong Kong

The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region today called on Filipino tourists planning to visit Hong Kong not to be duped by unscrupulous individuals or companies in the Philippines who promise ease of entry into countries abroad through the use of forged entry/exit immigration stamps.

The warning comes after a Filipino tourist was arrested by immigration authorities at Hong Kong International Airport on 28 October for having in her passport fake entry and exit stamps to falsely show that she had previously traveled to Hong Kong. The Filipino, who is from Batangas province and was visiting Hong Kong for the first time, was on her way back to the Philippines with her family at the time of her arrest. She was brought to Shatin Magistrates’ Court on 30 October and pleaded guilty to the offense of possession of a false instrument. The judge handling the case sentenced her to four (4) months’ imprisonment.

The immigration entry/exit stamps were allegedly forged by a company that peddles the service as a way of bolstering a visa applicant’s chances at getting a visa from certain embassies in Manila.

Filipinos should be aware that these embassies also report fraudulent visa application documents to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). The Consulate has made a recommendation to authorities in Manila for the investigation of the case.

Mere possession of a false instrument is an offence under Section 75 of Hong Kong’s Crimes
Ordinance and carries with it a maximum penalty of 3 years’ imprisonment.