RemittancesGateway.org

Reject plan to veto migrant act, Palace told

Wednesday, 24 February 2010 09:45

Source: Manila Bulletin
By Shianee Mamanglu

Malacañang was urged Tuesday to reject a proposal of the Department of Finance (DoF) seeking to veto a provision in the new Migrant Workers Act that excludes overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remittances from the documentary stamp tax (DST).

 

Ernesto Herrera, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) secretary-general, said the DoF’s request was “foolish and contemptible.’’

“Malacañang should reject its request outright,’’ Herrera said in a statement.

“We have been pushing for the abolition of the DST on remittances because it has been a burden to OFWs and their families,’’ he added.
 
Last January 18, both the Senate and the House ratified the new Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act providing, among others, the exemption on the money wired home by OFWs from the DST.

The proposed new Migrant Workers Act also requires, among others, minimum compulsory insurance coverage for agency-hired employees, including benefits of $15,000 for accidental death, $10,000 for natural death, and $7,500 for permanent total disability, at no cost to the laborer.