MANILA, Philippines — Two lawmakers at the House of Representatives have urged the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to protect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and seamen by making sure their salaries and other benefits are on par with their foreign counterparts.
Party-list ACT-CIS Reps. Erwin Tulfo and Edvi Yap took up the cudgels for Filipino seafarers on board foreign vessels and land-based OFWs by calling on the DMW over the weekend to make sure that the contracts signed by Filipino workers are commensurate with their world-class capabilities and should receive salaries, among other benefits similar to that being received by other nationalities.
“For a long time my office has been receiving these kinds of complaints but our kababayan are helpless because we Filipinos are not choosy,” Tulfo said.
“I encourage the DMW to make sure that Filipinos are not at a disadvantage when it comes to salaries and benefits,” he added.
Yap said that the DMW should talk to the manning, placement, and recruitment agencies regarding the matter.
“This is not only happening to our seafarers but also to land-based contract workers such as engineers, accountants, draftsmen and others. It seems Filipinos are receiving a smaller salary compared to other nationalities, particularly the Europeans and Americans,” he said.
“I think it is high time we do something about this because we do not complain when it comes to salaries especially when our kababayan are based abroad,” Tulfo said.
Filipino seafarers receiving a smaller salary compared to their counterparts recently became an issue after it was reported that a seafarer went to court in The Netherlands and demanded the same salary as the European seafarers.
Tulfo and Yap are scheduled to meet with officials from the DMW this week to discuss the issue.
