OFWs gain SC reprieve on $25-fee By Rey E. Requejo | Jan. 21, 2015 at 12:01am manilastandardtoday/2015/01/21/ofws-gain-sc-reprieve-on-25-fee/#.VL6prfspDYw.facebook The Supreme Court has directed the Pasay City Regional Trial Court to promptly resolve a petition seeking to declare as unconstitutional the omnibus policies issued by the Overseas Workers Welfare Association that required Filipino migrant workers to pay a $25.00 contribution on per contract basis. The petition was filed in 2004 by the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch. In a 10-page decision, the SC’s Third Division through Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta ruled that the Pasay RTC erred when it junked the petition on the ground of lack of jurisdiction. The RTC stressed that the determination of constitutionality of the OWWA resolution falls within the jurisdiction of this Court. The SC held that the lower court has jurisdiction over the case as it is “settled in law that RTC has jurisdiction to resolve the constitutionality of a statute, presidential decree, executive order, or administrative regulation,” under in Section 2(a), Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution. The SC remanded the case to the Pasay RTC, Branch 111, for proceedings and resolution. In its petition, the PMRW said OWWA and its board of trustees acted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in issuing Board Resolution No. 0383 entitled the OWWA Omnibus Policies to provide guidelines on matters concerning OWWA membership and its coverage, collection of contributions, and availment of benefits. The group stressed that OWWA was created by law to provide welfare services to all Filipino overseas contract workers, without limiting the same to member-contributors only. But because of the passage of the omnibus policies, the OWWA benefits have been made available only to those overseas contract workers who have paid their monetary contribution on a per contract basis.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 03:41:18 +0000
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