Manila: Filipino migrant workers (OFWs) have been exempted from paying airport and travel charges, the labour department reiterated amid continued resistance from the airport authority to readily absolve this particular sector from paying the controversial fee.

Labour Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, in a statement, maintained that it was the stand of the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) that OFWs are exempt by law from travel tax, documentary stamp, and airport fee.

“It is our position that OFWs are continuously and automatically exempted from paying the travel tax, or the International Passenger Service Charge (IPSC), even for tickets purchased abroad or online. This is pursuant to RA 8042, as amended by RA, 10022,” Baldoz emphasised.

The IPSC is a schedule of fees that travellers passing using the Manila International Airport must pay. The declared aim of the integrated charges was to streamline payment and collection of fees and charges so that passengers would not have to spend more time in queues. The new charge structure was implemented on February 1.

But a group of OFWs had said that while the IPSC may have led shorter queuing times for international passengers in general, the new system is prejudiced against the interest of OFWs. They said they now have to fall in line at the Landbank Branch at the airport to get reimbursements for the IPSC they had paid in advance when before, they only needed to flash their Overseas Employment Certificates at the counters.

According to Baldoz, the DOLE has communicated this concern to Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya as well as to the Senate of the Philippines.

“We have stated this position in countless meetings called by the DOLE through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) involving representatives of civil society groups, recruitment agencies, and other government agencies, such as the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration,” she said.

Baldoz said that under the guidelines, OFWs will continue to be exempt from paying the IPSC or terminal fee of Php550 (Dh45) and this fee will not be automatically collected from airline tickets purchased within the Philippines. However, the IPSC or terminal fee will be collected by default from airline tickets purchased online and outside the country, subject to refund to OFWs upon the presentation of their OECs at designated counters or at the MIAA office.

According to Baldoz, the airlines have argued that foreign travel agents and airline offices would encounter difficulties in determining the authenticity of the OECs and the manner of verification of airline tickets purchased online. Likewise, she said, the DOLE has already expressed its willingness to share with the MIAA the POEA’s database of OFWs for purposes of verification.

“The airlines and the MIAA, however, should prepare their respective computer application systems to enable this proposed data-sharing,” she said.

“The welfare concerns of a significant sector of Philippine society that has been a strong development partner of the country — our OFWs — should also be given utmost consideration,” Baldoz said.