Senate adopts resolution on PHL-Japan social security agreement

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and sponsor of Resolution 283, said the agreement seeks to coordinate the pension programs for people who live or work in the Philippines and Japan (Photo: Duterte Today/Facebook)

MANILA—The Senate on Monday adopted a resolution concurring in the ratification of a social security agreement between the Philippines and Japan.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and sponsor of Resolution 283, said the agreement seeks to coordinate the pension programs for people who live or work in the Philippines and Japan wherein those covered by their respective social security systems would continue to receive the benefits due them whether they reside in the Philippines, Japan or elsewhere.

“Upon the entry into force of this agreement, employees temporarily dispatched for a period of five years or less to the other country will be covered by the pension system of the country from which these employees were dispatched,” Cayetano said.

He pointed out that the agreement would allow the establishment of eligibility to receive pension in each country by totalizing the period of the coverage in both countries.

This way, he said, employees who have divided their careers between the Philippines and Japan will no longer be required to pay pension premiums in both countries.

Senate Pres. Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon, co-sponsor of the resolution, said the agreement is expected to protect the social security rights of overseas Filipinos in Japan.

It will also give them access to social security benefits, including sickness, maternity, paternity, occupational diseases, invalidity, old age and survivor’s pension.

Drilon said the mutual agreement would benefit an estimated 377,233 Filipinos in Japan and 17,021 Japanese nationals currently in the country.

The Philippines-Japan Social Security Agreement was signed on Nov. 19, 2015 in Manila and ratified by the Philippine President on Jan. 12, 2017.

Aside from Japan, the Philippines have similar agreements with Austria, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Spain, France, Canada, Quebec, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands.