Only 3,325 Filipinos in NMI are OWWA members

A few months ago, a Filipino worker on Saipan jokingly asked his colleague who was fixing electrical wirings in a building at the time whether he has a life insurance under the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, just in case he gets electrocuted. The worker was not an OWWA member. He did not get electrocuted, but he died of stroke a day later. Had he been an OWWA member, his family in the Philippines could have received at least P100,000 to be able to make a good start after his untimely passing. Families could get as much as P200,000 for accidental deaths.

Sad tales about not having an OWWA life insurance and other benefits are common in the CNMI, where only 3,325 or about 41 percent of the estimated 8,000 Filipino workers have OWWA membership.

Philippine labor attaché to the CNMI Joan Lourdes Lavilla said applying for OWWA membership is a matter of taking responsibility for one’s own future and one’s family’s future.

“Think about the economic consequences of your death. It’s a personal responsibility,” Lavilla told [I]Saipan Tribune[/I] yesterday.

She said a worker’s $25 OWWA membership fee a year can go a long way in helping the family when the worker dies.

Among the highest membership rate

In recent years, OWWA membership among Filipinos in the CNMI has been increasing.

From only 2,856 in 2005, the number went up to 2,917 in 2006, dipped to 2,758 in 2007, before going up to 3,325 in 2008.

OWWA welfare officer Reynaldo D. Tayag also said that despite only 3,325 members in 2008, the CNMI has actually one of the highest OWWA membership among Filipino communities across the globe.

In other countries, OWWA renewal happens only once in two years, while on Saipan, workers get to renew their membership every year.

Lavilla said Filipino workers in the CNMI are also reminded right away of their membership renewal every time they go on vacation in the Philippines.

OWWA, an attached agency of the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, is the lead government agency tasked to protect and promote the welfare and well-being of overseas Filipino workers and their dependents.

An OWWA membership provides life/accident insurance, among other benefits. A member is covered with life insurance for the duration of his employment contract. The coverage includes P100,000 for natural death and P200,000 for accidental death. A member shall be entitled to disability/dismemberment benefits ranging from P2,000 to P50,000.

Filipino workers who want to become OWWA members should apply in person at the OWWA office on the ground floor of the Marianas Business Plaza (formerly Nauru Building) in Susupe. Besides Monday to Friday office hours, OWWA is also open on Sundays from 10am to 3pm, but during Sunday when there are trainings, office hours are from 8:30am to 5pm.