Migrante International welcomed the Supreme Court decision against the mandatory advance payment of Social Security System (SSS) for Filipino migrants before they can leave the country.

In a decision reached in November 2024 but made public only this March, the court said that the mandatory collection of SSS from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as a requirement to obtain their overseas employment certificate (OEC) is “unduly oppressive, unreasonable, and repugnant to the Constitution.”

The forced collection stemmed from the 2018 SSS Act, a law signed by Rodrigo Duterte, which mandates all land-based OFWs to register and pay contributions to SSS as “self-employed” members, pay their share of contributions as “employers,” and pay advanced three months’ worth of SSS contributions before they are given their OEC. That same year, Migrante International and the parties of Bayan Muna, Gabriela, ACT-Teachers, and Kabataan filed a case seekng to nullify the law, which they said was “unjust seizure of property, violates the right to travel guaranteed under the Constitution, and is detrimental.”

In line with this, the Supreme Court said that the specific provisions of the 2018 SSS Act “undermine” the “constitutional mandate to protect the rights of overseas workers and promote their welfare.” Requiring the OEC before leaving the country severely limits their right to work abroad, according to the court.

Josie Pingkihan, deputy secretary general of Migrante International, called the decision a victory of “collective action” against state extortion. “Duterte’s SSS Act violates the right of OFWs to work, travel and choose which social security programs they will benefit from,” she said.

However, Migrante is aware that the fight against state collections from OFWs does not end here. Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s government continues to forcibly collect SSS contributions at an even higher rate of 15% this year. This is in addition to other fees that are also forcibly collected from OFWs such as Philhealth, Insurance, and OWWA Membership.

“We will not stop fighting against forcing OFWs to shoulder the high SSS contributions that fund the high salaries and perks of the SSS board while our pension rates stagnate. Six years have passed, Digong is in jail, but where is his promised ₱1,000 pension increase?” Pingkihan asked.

“With the low wages received by OFWs, how will our families survive if the government drowns us in rising monthly expenses? We will continue our campaign continues to end the mandatory fees imposed on us OFWs for SSS, PhilHealth, and other services. We need public services that are not run as businesses by the likes of Duterte and Marcos Jr,” she said.