Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) is a piece of document that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) need to present to the Immigration Department upon leaving the Philippines for work abroad.
The main purpose of OEC is to provide proof that as OFWs, they are exempted from paying travel taxes and terminal fees. Once they present this document, along with their passports, OFWs are cleared to bypass the collecting agents located inside the terminal building across international airports in the Philippines.
OECs can be filed at consulates and embassies of the Philippines located abroad, as well as POEA offices in the Philippines. While the cost may be minimal, many OFWs argue that it’s not just about the money and the time spent, but more on its practical use.
Why Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) requirements must be abolished
It’s costly
The title may be a bit too much if the cost per copy of OEC is an affordable P100. But to ordinary OFWs who haggle for better exchange rates so they can send more money back home, this amount (or equivalent foreign equivalent), is too much. Not to mention the cost of transportation, food and effort just to fall in line and get this document.
It’s time consuming
Obtaining OEC or exit pass can be long especially on places where concentration of OFWs is high. Therefore it can be a considerable amount of time to get this form sorted out. And since time is also money, don’t we think it’s sometimes more practical not to get OEC to avoid costs and risk to physical health and inconvenience at work?
It’s not practical
Paying a fee for a document that exempts one from paying a fee sounds redundant and impractical. If you add the hourly rate at work queuing, paying for transport or even taking a leave from work, may even be higher than the airport terminal fees and travel taxes combined. But OFWs are forced to comply, because failure to present an OEC to an immigration officer could get them at risk of offloading.
There are other ways we can prove ourselves as OFWs
If the main reason for OEC is to prove that Filipinos are certified working abroad, OEC is not the only document that will solve this issue. OFWs can show their job contract certified as valid by the embassy, visa on their passports or IDs/residence permits of their country of employment. OEC just complicates the matter and has become a big nuisance to many Filipinos abroad.
It adds workload to consular staff
Staff who are supposed to attend to more important tasks — assist distressed OFWs, follow up labor violations, and others — are forced to sit and issue these OECs, thereby making them unavailable to assist Filipinos who seek other forms of help.
We have been notified previously that OEC will be abolished. But until now, or at least in 2014 (see Twitter feed below), OEC is here to stay.
Update:
POEA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac confirms that they are working on a system that will store OFW information in a database. Expected to be ready by 2014, it will eliminate the need for OECs.
@pinoy_ofw We are working on a system where an ofw in our database with updated owwa etc won’t need an oec. Give us till 1st half of 2014.
— hans leo j. cacdac (@HansLeoCacdac) August 30, 2013
@mestreller @pinoy_ofw The OEC stands as proof that one is a documented OFW. Heto ho muna ang sistema natin and we ask for your patience.
— hans leo j. cacdac (@HansLeoCacdac) August 30, 2013
@mestreller @hansleocacdac @pinoy_ofw I suggest availment of our appointment system at http://t.co/My0n4KjmUg pic.twitter.com/OTKfNAczDZ
— hans leo j. cacdac (@HansLeoCacdac) August 30, 2013
@mestreller @hansleocacdac @pinoy_ofw I suggest availment of our appointment system at http://t.co/My0n4KjmUg pic.twitter.com/OTKfNAczDZ
— hans leo j. cacdac (@HansLeoCacdac) August 30, 2013
Update: June 29, 2014
POEA’s Mr Hans Leo Cacdac gave an update on Twitter:
@MarilyndelaVega @vicpao22 @remico2 @pinoy_ofw Abangan lang po, we shall soft launch this July …
— hans leo j. cacdac (@HansLeoCacdac) June 29, 2014
e kung para lang pla proof na ofw ung OEC,andaming ipapakita namin,visa sa passport,company at ID,ikama,contract,so yung ibinabayad para saan ?
waiting for the new system
Abolished O.E.C. There’s so many ways to proved that one is an OFW.
My issue din po ako on including paying philhealth through OEC, i was able to update my contribution directly to philhealth, pero bakit hindi nagrereflect sa philhealth yung binayaran ko sa OEC? It is still a waste of time, dahil kelangan ko pa ipaupdate ito sa office ng philhealth… Everyone should be aware on this, baka kz magkasakit tayo, after all hindi natin ito magamit, dahil need pa ayusin ito…
2013 pa nagsimula ang diskusyon na ito ano na kaya ang balita ngayong 2015 na at malapit ng mag 2016..??? At kung ang motibo ay iverify kung rehistrado ba ang isang OFW bakit kinakailangan pang magbayad bakit hnd na lang gawing online verification then iprint ang mga detalye at ipakita sa kung cno man ang gustong makita ito.
I just get my OEC yesterday here in Philippine consulate base in hk….and its very annying….i started from 1:00 quiueng
quiueng and i did finish almost 6:00.and only 3 counters open even if the saw us so many people lining up….specially sundays because mostly we cannot go out during working days….we need ur action about this….
kino contradict naman ng regulation ng NAIA ang batas na nag eexempt sa mga OFW NA MAGBAYAD NG TRAVEL TAX, ano ang susundin ung regulation ng isang gov’t agency or ung BATAS-REPUBLIC ACT 10022 (MIGRANTS WORKERS ACT), sabi nila puede raw i reimburse, di dagdag asikaso na naman………
hindi na dapat kailangan ang oec, kasi papeles yan para exempted ka sa TRAVEL TAX, ngayon ang NAIA naman nag issue ng order sa mga airlines to COLLECT AND INCLUDE TO THE TICKET ung TRAVEL TAX, so huag kayong dumaan sa OFW LINE…
hindi na dapat kailangan ang oec, kasi papeles yan para exempted ka sa TRAVEL TAX, ngayon ang NAIA naman nag issue ng order sa mga airlines to COLLECT AND INCLUDE TO THE TICKET ung TRAVEL TAX, so huag kayong dumaan sa OFW LINE…
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Ako nga nung umalis ng pinas may oec pero siningil pa rin ako ng terminal.fee sa.airport marami kasi buwaya dyan sa airport..
Naiinis ako nyan sa OEC online dati madali lang kumuha sa Meco ngayong kailangan pag mag online eh wala kya akong laptop cp gamit ko .ang daming che che buritsi! Nkaka bwesit! grrrrr!
dahil dito, maraming employer s America ang hndi n kumuha ng OFW d2 s pinas, ung mga employer ko dati, they love filipino workers, but because of this, they stop hiring OFW’s from Philippines. Diba nakakahinayang.
Waste of time both having an OEC and expecting that someone will do something about it.
Kailan mawawala po yun isang gusto kung teacher hindi nakaalis dahil sa oec dahil kailangan pa agency eh direct hire na