DFA: Integrated Terminal Fee Inconvenient for OFWs
MANILA — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has added its voice to the growing clamor for the Department of Transportation and Communications to consider the welfare of overseas Filipino workers affected by the integration of the P550 airport terminal fee into airplane ticket costs.
In a letter dated March 13, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Laura del Rosario told Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya: “The DFA likewise conveys the sentiment of OFWs worldwide in objecting to the collection of the airport terminal fee, as it may cause inconvenience and unnecessary burden to them. The DFA supports the proposal to suspend the implementation of Memorandum Circular No. 8 while the said Memorandum is under review.”
The International Passenger Service Charge (IPSC) scheme demands all passengers, including OFWs, to pay the P550 terminal fee. The integration is aimed at decongesting the terminals since there is a separate queue for the payment of terminal fees.
While OFWs are allowed a refund, the scheme contravenes the Migrant Workers’ Act of 1995, which exempts them from paying travel tax and airport terminal fees. Filipino athletes, as well as Muslim pilgrims, are also exempted from paying the fees.
The Department of Labor and Employment also earlier told the DOTC of the exemption of the OFWs from the terminal fee.
Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also the Presidential Adviser on OFW Concerns, also wrote MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado “with utmost urgency to seek the suspension” of MIAA MC No. 8 directing the integration of the IPSC into the airline tickets at the point of sale insofar as it directly affects OFWs.
A case questioning the IPSC is already before a Pasay court.