SC: Making departing OFWs pay for SSS unconstitutional
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that mandating land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to pay Social Security System (SSS) contributions before leaving the country is unconstitutional.
A provision in the implementing rules of the Social Security Act of 2018 is unconstitutional, the high court said in partly granting the petition filed by Migrante International and others.
“To enforce compulsory coverage of land-based OFWs through the issuance of overseas employment certificates (OECs) is unduly oppressive, unreasonable and repugnant to the Constitution,” the SC said.
“It undermines the mandate of the Constitution to protect the rights of overseas workers and to promote their welfare,” the court noted.
Without an OEC, a land-based OFW’s right to travel is “significantly restricted” as their right to work abroad is based on this document, the SC said.
The decision, penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, was promulgated in November 2024.
It directed the SSS, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and Department of Labor and Employment to stop implementing the provision.
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