OFW Party List Representative Marissa “Del Mar” Magsino held a policy dialogue today to revisit the implementation of Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2017-0001, also known as the Inter-Agency Medical Repatriation Assistance Program (IMRAP).
All the participating agencies in JMC No. 2017-0001 attended the dialogue: Department of Health (DOH), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Philippine Charity Sweepstake Office (PCSO), and Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).
Magsino previously filed House Resolution No. 1373 urging for an inquiry into the implementation of the program.
IMRAP includes the medical repatriation of migrant workers, documented and undocumented, and other Filipino nationals and their dependents abroad, including those facilitated through the insurer, employer, agency, sponsor, or any third party, and those without proper coordination with relevant government agencies. The mechanism mandates the assistance of participating agencies from pre-arrival to post-arrival, including welfare assistance and reintegration assistance.
The assistance under IMRAP includes: in-flight medical assistance and escort services, initial medical assessment / evaluation upon arrival in the country, ambulance conduction, referral to and/or confinement in DOH or LGU/SUC-managed hospitals, financial assistance for payment of hospitalization and other medical expenses, PhilHealth assistance / benefits, and welfare programs and psychosocial counseling.
“Maganda ang ideya ng IMRAP. Bago pa man dumating sa bansa ang OF o OFW na nangangailangan ng medical repatriation, kasado na ang mekanismo simula sa Migrant Welfare Office (MWO) o kaya sa Embahada ng Pilipinas. Paglapag sa airport ay kasado na din ang pagsalubong ng ating mga ahensya tulad ng MIAA, OWWA, at DOH hanggang sa maihatid ang OF o OFW sa tahanan o kaya’y mailipat sa ospital. At hindi doon natatapos ang tulong natin, dapat ay nakasalo na ang mga programa ng DSWD at PCSO para sa repatriated OF o OFW. The process should be continuous and seamless.
However, in actuality, this does not happen all the time or does not happen as smoothly as the JMC envisioned,” said Magsino.
During the policy dialogue, Magsino highlighted the need to reassess and revise the JMC No. 2017-0001 considering the establishment of the DMW and the lessons learned from past global public health crises. The rapidly evolving work settings abroad with health implications also call for a revisit of the program’s guidelines to align with the current realities and challenges of medical repatriation for Overseas Filipinos (OFs) and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). There is also a need to streamline existing procedures, and enhance inter-agency coordination among participating government entities.
The dialogue also discussed the possibility of expanding the program to include repatriations of distressed OFs and OFWs, and not necessarily limited to medical repatriation. This will allow the mechanism to also help OFWs who are victims of abuse and human trafficking.
“Although IMRAP was greatly beneficial during the pandemic, we have also learned valuable lessons from its implementation. Changes have occurred since 2017, primarily the establishment of DMW. Based on our own experiences as we help repatriate OFWs, we also observed some gaps in the mechanism, which should be addressed in the amendments. These include miscommunication or non-coordination between and among the agencies, and the lack of supplementary support to the OF/OFW upon return such as welfare assistance or reintegration assistance,” said Magsino.
The party list solon also discussed a complementary program to IMRAP – DOH Department Order 2023-0003 mandating dedicated wards for OFWs in public hospitals.
Magsino mentioned that the dedicated wards in DOH-retained tertiary hospitals are not being followed thus forcing OFWs to transfer to private hospitals due to bed unavailability. As a result, they are compelled to cover their own healthcare expenses.
The government agencies who participated in the policy dialogue concurred that the IMRAP guidelines need to be revised, especially with the changes in their functions relative to the creation of DMW. They also agreed in principle to expand the program to include the repatriation of distressed OFWs, particularly abused or trafficked OFWs, subject to their existing rules and issuances on non-medical repatriation.
