Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act
RULE XI
ROLE OF DOH
Section 1. Regulation of Medical Clinics. The Department of Health (DOH) shall regulate the activities and operations of all clinics which conduct medical, physical, optical, dental, psychological and other similar examinations, hereinafter referred to as health examinations, on Filipino migrant workers as requirement for their overseas employment. Pre-Employment Medical Examinations (PEME) for overseas work applicants shall be performed only in DOH-accredited medical clinics and health facilities utilizing the standards set forth by DOH. Pursuant to this, the DOH shall ensure that:
(a) The fees for the health examinations are regulated, regularly monitored and duly published to ensure that the said fees are reasonable and not exorbitant. The DOH shall set a minimum and maximum range of fees for the different examinations to be conducted, based on a thorough and periodic review of the cost of health examinations and after consultation with concerned stakeholders. The applicant-worker shall pay directly to the DOH-accredited medical clinics or health facilities where the PEME is to be conducted.
(b) The Filipino migrant workers shall only be required to undergo health examinations when there is reasonable certainly by the hiring recruitment/manning agency pursuant to POEA Rules and Regulations that he/she will be hired and deployed to the jobsite and only those health examinations which are absolutely necessary for the type of job applied for those specifically required by the foreign employer shall be conducted;
(c) No groups of medical clinics shall have a monopoly of exclusively conducting health examinations on migrant workers for certain receiving countries;
(d) Every Filipino migrant worker shall have the freedom to choose any of the DOH-accredited or DOH-operated clinics that will conduct his/her health examinations and that his/her rights as a patient are respected. The decking practice, which requires overseas Filipino workers to go first to an office for registration and then farmed out to a medical clinic located elsewhere, shall not be allowed;
(e) Within a period of three (3) years from the effectivity of the Act, all DOH regional and/or provincial hospitals under local government units shall establish and operate clinics that can serve the health examination requirements of Filipino migrant workers to provide them easy access to such clinics all over the country and lessen their transportation and lodging expenses; and
(f) All DOH-accredited medical clinics, including the DOH-operated clinics, conducting health examinations for Filipino migrant workers shall observe the same standard operating procedures and shall comply with internationally-accepted standards in their operations to conform with the requirements of receiving countries or of foreign employers/principals.
Section 2. Temporary Disqualification of Foreign Employers. Any foreign employer who does not honor the results of valid health examinations conducted by a DOH-accredited or DOH-operated clinic shall be temporarily disqualified from participating in the overseas employment program, pursuant to POEA Rules and Regulations. The temporary disqualification of the employer may be lifted only upon the latter's unqualified acceptance of the result of the examination.
Section 3. Liability of Medical Clinic or Health Facility. In case an OFW is found to be not medically fit within fifteen (15) days upon his/her arrival in the country of destination, the medical clinic or health facility that conducted the health examination/s of such OFW shall pay for his/her repatriation back to the Philippines and the cost of deployment of such worker.
Any DOH-accredited clinic which violates any provisions of this section shall, in addition to any other liability it may have incurred, suffer the penalty of revocation of its DOH-accredited if after investigation, the medical reason for repatriation could have been detected at the time of examination using the DOH PEME package as required by the employer/principal or the receiving country.
Section 4. Liability of Government Personnel for Nonfeasance and Malfeasance of their Duties under the Act.
Any government official or employee who violates any provision of this Rule shall be removed or dismissed from service with disqualification to hold any appointive public office for five (5) years. Such penalty is without prejudice to any other liability which he/she may have incurred under existing laws, rules or regulations.
Section 5. Issuance of Guidelines.
Within sixty (60) days from effectivity of these Rules, the DOH shall issue the pertinent guidelines to implement the provisions of this Rule.