What are the benefits of an OWWA member?

Security and Protection

• LEGAL ASSISTANCE
  OWWA members / contributors are provided legal assistance either on the jobsite of after they arrive home.
  
  • What are the acts considered as illegal recruitment as defined by RA 8042?
    
  • How do I file an administrative case at the POEA?
    
  • After paying a large sum of money, I found out that the person recruiting me for a job abroad was not authorized by POEA. He promised me that I would be deployed even though he has no license. What shall I do?
    
  • I want to withdraw my application from an agency because it has failed to deploy me after so many months now. Can I claim for reimbursement of my expenses?
    
  • What other causes of action may a migrant worker have against his recruiter, whether licensed or not, and where can he file his complaint?
    
  • What welfare assistance are provided by the POEA to overseas workers and their families?
  
  
  
• REPATRIATION OF WORKERS
  As contained in the Migrant Worker and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, the primary responsibility to repatriate OFW lies on the principal or agency to advance the cost of plane fare and to immediately send the worker home should the need for it arise, without prior determination of the cause of the termination of the worker's employment. However, after the worker has returned to the country, the principal or agency may recover the cost of repatriation from the worker if the termination of the employment was due to solely to his / her fault. In case of conflict, the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) will determine the outcome of the dispute.
  
  In the case the employer fails to provide for the worker's repatriation cost, the OWWA official assigned at the post shall notify OWWA nd POEA simultaneously so that proper disposition can be made. The OWWA officials at post will send communication to its home office to provide flight details of the returning worker so that airport assistance may be provided.
  
  
  • What welfare assistance are provided by the POEA to overseas workers and their families?
    
  • What other provisions of RA 8042 are in connection with the newly-acquired jurisdiction of NLRC?
    
  • What are the benefits of an OWWA member?
    
  • For more details, Please contact our Workers Assistance Division
  
  
  
• AIRPORT ASSISTANCE
  Airport assistance is a regular OWWA program. Once a repatriation advisory is sent to the home office, OWWA officers assigned at the OWWA Counter located at the premises of Ninoy Aquino International Airport will immediately attend to the needs of the arriving distressed or sick workers.
  See also: What are the benefits of an OWWA member?
  
  
• PROGRAMS, BENEFITS and SERVICES
  • Insurance and Health-Care Program Benefits
    
    
  • Credit Program for OFWs
    
    
  • Education and Training Program
    
    
  • Social Services and Family Welfare Assistance
    
    
  • Workers Assistance and On-site Services
    
    

• THE SOCIAL REINTEGRATION PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
  The Social Reintegration Program Development assists returning OFWs to cope with psychological factors / difficulties / perplexities / troubles they encounter on their return home.

• Education for Development Scholarship Program (EDSP)
     The Education for Scholarship Program is a scholarship grant offered to qualified beneficiaries/dependents of OWWA member-OFWs who intend to enroll in any 4 to 5-year baccalaureate course.
  
  
• Skills-for-Employment Scholarship Program (SESP)
     The Skills for Employment Scholarship Program is a scholarship program that the OWWA offers in coordination with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), to land-based or sea-based OWWA member-OFW's or their dependents/beneficiaries.


• Seafarer's Upgrading Program (SUP)
      The Seafarers' Upgrading Program is intended to provide OWWA-member seafarers job-related training in priority maritime courses identified by the Maritime Training Council. It is designed to upgrade the skills, and develop the expertise of Filipino seafarers in accordance with technological advancements and international maritime standards.