The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that requiring land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to pay their Social Security System (SSS) contributions before obtaining an Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) is unconstitutional.

An OEC is a document that serves as an exit clearance for Filipino workers departing the country for overseas employment.

In a 40-page decision written by Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, the SC struck down Rule 14, Section 7(iii) of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 11199, declaring it contrary to Sections 1 and 6 of Article III of the Constitution.

“To enforce compulsory coverage of land-based OFWs through the issuance of OECs is unduly oppressive, unreasonable, and repugnant to the Constitution,” the Court said. It also stated that this provision places an ‘undue’ burden on OFWs.

The ruling emphasized that the policy effectively compels land-based OFWs to shoulder the SSS contributions of their employers—a burden not required of any other class of employee under the SSS system.

The Court’s decision aligns with a 2019 petition filed by civil rights group Migrante International and Bayan Muna party-list, which argued that the provision restricts the right of overseas workers to travel.

Rule 14, Section 7(iii) required land-based OFWs working in countries without a social security agreement or bilateral labor agreement with the Philippines to pay their SSS contributions in advance before they could obtain an OEC. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Department of Labor and Employment were tasked with enforcing this provision through documentation and deployment procedures.