DMW approves simplified land-based deployment rules

By Samuel P. Medenilla

THE Department of Migrant Workers

(DMW) will soon enforce a one-strike policy for erring recruitment agencies and employers under its simplified land-based deployment policy.

O n Thursday, DMW Secretary Maria

Susan V. Ople signed the department circular for the new rules and regulations on the recruitment and employment of land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The issuance, a result of DMW’s stakeholder consultations, updated the 2016 deployment rules of the now defunct Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to “demystify and simplify” its provisions.

F rom 77 pages in the 2016 rules, Ople said they reduced it to just 44 with simplified language using a rights-based approach as well as fair and ethical recruitment principle . She said they opt ed to scrap the threestrike policy in the previous rules since it was being abused by some unscrupulous agencies to avoid sanctions.

Cardinal sins

UNDER the new rules, a recruitment agency may now face the cancellation of its license, which will effectively lead to its closure, if it is found to have committed one of the 20 “cardinal sins.”

The list of serious offences include the deployment of minor or a worker below the minimum age requirement; engaging in acts of gross misrepresentation for the purpose of license renewal; reprocessing workers through non-existent or erroneous job orders; reprocessing workers using job orders from another agency; engaging in the recruitment or placement of workers in harmful jobs; changing ownership or control of a single proprietorship licensed to engage in overseas employment.

Also list ed as a cardinal sin are: if an official of the recruitment agency becomes a member of the Board of any corporation or partnership engaged in the management of a travel agency; deploying workers with travel documentsa which were not processed by DMW; allowing non-Filipino citizen to head or manage a licensed recruitment agency; allowing foreign recruitment agency, principal, or employer to own and/or participate in the management and/or operations of licensed Philippine recruitment agency; deploying a worker recruited by a foreigner; allowing agents unauthorized by DMW to recruit; charging or collecting placement fees in countries, which prohibit the said practice; passing to the workers fees and costs, which should be chargeable to employers.

Rounding up the so-called recruitmentrelated “mortal sins” are refusing or unreasonably failing to act on any request for aid from workers, which leads to death, abuse or psychological impairment; contract substitution without the approval of DMW; requiring overseas Filipino workers (OFW) to undergo health examinations, seminars, instructions or schooling to a specific institutions, which may impose additional costs to the applicant; requiring an OFW to avail of loans from a specific institution; engaging in human trafficking; and engaging on graft and corrupt practices.

Permanent ban

DMW Undersecretary Bernard P. Olalia noted cancellations of licenses can no longer be reversed. The officials of the erring agency will also be permanently banned from putting up a new recruitment agency.

Recruitmen t rules violations, which are not included in the list, will be deemed light violations, which can result in license suspension lasting six months to one year.

H owever, recidivist recruitment agencies engaged in habitual light infractions can also face license suspension or cancellation, according to Olalia.

D espite the stricter rules, recruitment agencies welcome the reform since it can help in weeding out their erring members.

“It will help ensur e only the good ones [recruitment agencies] will remain, which are for the protection and welfare of our OFWs will remain,” Philippine Employment Agencies & Associates for Corporate Employers in Middle East Inc. (PEACEME) president Arnold Mamaclay said in an interview with reporters.

For her part, Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. (PASEI) President Raquel Espina-Bracero said the new rules help improve the public image of their sector.

“As an owner of an agency, you will be extra careful with your operations with the new one-strike regulation. It will also allow us to police our ranks,” Bracero said.

Other provisions

ASIDE from the standardized penalty structure, the rules also contain other provisions, which includes requiring licensed recruitment agencies to employ a full-time and trained Welfare Desk Officer (WEDO) to monitor OFWs abroad.

It also allo ws DMW to regulate the accommodations of recruitment agencies for its workers and extend the validity of licenses for recruitment agencies.

The validity period of provisional licenses is from two years to three years, while the validity of a regular license has been extended to six years from the previous four-year period.

The escrow deposit of recruitment agencies for contract violations of their OFWs has also been increased from P1 million to P1.5 million.

Another reform is the DMW’s shortened process-cycle time from 15 days to seven to 10 days on onsite accreditation and verification in its Migrant Workers Offices (MWO) overseas.

Br acero said they may recommend possible changes in the new rules once it is fully reviewed by their members.

O ple assured they are open to possible amendments in the new rules based on feedback of stakeholders. She said they will also release separate updated deployment rules for sea-based OFWs in the coming months.

THE rocket debris lies on the shorelines of Morong, Bataan shortly after it was towed out of the sea on June 5, 2023. The Philippine Coast Guard is in possession of the debris for investigation. PHOTO COURTESY OF PCG

Fisherman recovers floating rocket debris

AFISHERMAN found what is believed to be a rocket debris floating in the open sea in Bataan this week, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported Friday.

The PCG said Alvin Menez, a local fisherman, spotted a floating object on June 5, approximately 10 miles off Napot Point, Barangay Nagbalayong in Morong, Bataan.

“The fishermen towed the metal object using their motorized fishing banca all the way until they reached the shoreline at Sitio Samuyao, Barangay Mabayo, Morong, Bataan at about 5 p.m.,” the Coast Guard said.

The debris has Chinese characters imprinted on it.

The PCG Station Bataan is in possession

By Andrea E. San Juan

‘THE 35-percent personal income tax is relatively high. Dapatibaba [It should be lowered],” Mon Abrea, Founding Chairman and Chief Tax Advisor of Asian Consulting Group (ACG), said on Friday.

Abrea said the 35-percent rate should be adjusted...“same with [Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises] CREATE law,” saying that CREATE law lowered the corporate income tax to 25 percent and for small companies to 20 percent. Reducing the personal income tax rate of 35 percent—for those earning P8 million and above—is a way of encouraging voluntary compliance especially of the top taxpayers, Abrea explained.

According to the Department of Finance (DOF), the CREATE law, the “largest” fiscal stimulus for businesses, is seen to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through the grant of a corporate income tax reduction in the country from 30 percent to 20 percent while large corporations also enjoy an immediate reduction in the corporate income tax rate from 30 to 25 percent.

“So I guess the highest rate for personal income tax should be between 20 to 25 percent and that is the world standard. That’s not my personal opinion,” Abrea told reporters in a media briefing on Friday in Makati City.

The Finance department said in December 2022 that majority of taxpayers will receive further personal income tax cuts beginning January 1,2023 pursuant to Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law (TRAIN) law, which, among others, adjusted personal income tax rates, to make the system simpler, fairer, and more efficient.

Individuals with an annual taxable income below P250,000 are still exempted from paying of the recovered debris for investigation and proper disposition.

Last month, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) warned pilots and seafarers about possible debris from a rocket launch by China.

CAAP said China’s Long March 7 rocket was launched from Wenchang, while PhilSA said the debris may float or wash ashore to nearby coasts of Bajo de Masinloc in Zambales. Late last year, several metal debris were similarly found off Pag-asa Island in Palawan and Occidental Mindoro provinces which officials said were likely to be parts of a Chinese rocket. PNA personal income taxes under the adjusted tax rates, DOF noted. “ The revised tax schedule beginning January 1, 2023 reduces personal income taxes for those earning P8,000,000 and below, compared to the initial tax cuts for January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022,” the Finance department said in a statement in December 2022. Mean while, DOF also noted that to maintain the “progressivity” of the tax system, the tax rate for individuals earning P8,000,000 and above annually will be maintained at 35 percent.

According to a story by the B usiness M irror in March 2023, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is banking on higher spending by Filipinos to offset the possible reduction in its collection of personal income tax as a result of the second round of income tax reduction under the TRAIN law.

BIR C ommissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. said money collected by the bureau from Filipinos’ consumption would be able to compensate for the reduction in their annual income tax filings.

“Hopefully, it will compensate. Effectively, with higher take-home pay, hopefully they will be spending,” Lumagui told reporters in March. “So, consumption tax.”

Under the TRAIN law, the tax rate for individuals earning between P250,000 and P8 million would be slashed further by 2-percentage points to 5-percentage points depending on their tax brackets. The reductions in personal income tax took effect on January 1.

For example, the personal income tax of individuals earning between P250,000 and P400,000 would now be 15 percent of excess over P250,000 from 20 percent of excess over P250,000 before.