Pursuant to Republic Act No. 9679, or the Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 2009, otherwise known as Pag-IBIG Fund, which took effect on 27 August 2009, the following guidelines are hereby issued:

I. Coverage. All Overseas Filipino Workers are covered by the Pag-IBIG Fund whether landbased or seabased.

II. Implementation - POEA implementation of the mandatory coverage shall start on 01 August 2010.

III. Contribution - Upon registration and deployment of an OFW, an initial membership contribution of six hundred pesos (P600.00) representing six (6) months contribution shall be paid by the worker. The OFW may, however, opt to contribute a higher amount as provided under Rule VI of the same law.

IV. Procedures for Membership Registration of OFWs at the POEA and issuance of POEA exit clearance/Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC). The following procedures for the membership registration and issuance of the POEA exit clearance/OEC shall be observed:

a. OFWs processed through the POEA Name Hire Facility, the Government Placement Branch and the Balik-Manggagawa Center shall register with the Fund by submitting to POEA a Member Data Form (MDF) in addition to the existing documentary requirements, as a requirement for the processing of their documents and issuance of the POEA exit clearance/OEC.

b. For OFWs hired through POEA-licensed recruitment agencies, the recruitment agency shall submit to POEA the individual MDF of their hired OFWs in addition to the existing documentary requirements, as a requirement for the processing of the worker ™s documents and issuance of the POEA exit clearance/OEC.

For compliance effective immediately.

(SGD.) JENNIFER JARDIN-MANALILI
  Administrator