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MANILA - The Philippine Health Insurance Corp said Monday it had temporarily suspended all collections as opposition swelled against its premium rate increase for millions of overseas Filipino Workers.

OFWs with an income of P10,000 to P60,000 are required to pay 3 percent of their monthly salary starting 2020, up from 2.75 percent the previous year, according to a memo circular that took effect last April 22.

The monthly premium will increase by 0.5 percent every year afterwards until it reaches 5 percent in 2024, it added.

Philhealth imposed a moratorium on all collections because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which left businesses struggling to survive, said its president, Ricardo Morales.

"May moratorium tayo sa collection. Obviously, paano kokolektahin iyon kung walang suweldo ang tao," he told DZMM.

(We have a moratorium on collection. Obviously, how will you collect that when many people are not earning?)

"Wala munang koleksyon saka wala munang kuwentahan ngayon. Sagutin muna natin 'tong emergency na ito," he added.

(There will be no collection, no computation for now. Let's respond to this emergency first.)

Some 3.6 million out of 10 million OFWs are PhilHealth members. Last year, the corporation collected about P1 billion in premiums from migrant workers, lower than the P1.7 billion in benefit claims it paid out to the group and their dependents, Morales said.

He also denied that the PhilHealth bars OFWs from leaving the country if they fail to settle their premiums first.

PhilHealth should formalize the announcement of the moratorium and clarify what happens after it is lifted to ease the anxiety of migrant workers, said Susan Ople, president of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute

"Sana ilagay nila sa papel. Maganda iyong anunsyo, pero alam naman nating nakakalat sa buong mundo ang OFWs natin," she said in a separate DZMM interview.

(They should put it on paper. The announcement is good, but we all know that our OFWs are spread across the world.)

• Some OFWs allegedly forced to work as domestic helpers to weather pandemic

An online petition against the premium rate hike so far garnered 379,000 signatures out of its 500,000 target.

• 'They will not benefit at all': Locsin hits hike in OFWs' PhilHealth contribution rate

Allegations of fraudulent claims and the supposed presence of a mafia among its members had hounded PhilHealth last year, undermining its capacity to roll out the Universal Health Care, which aims to give all Filipinos affordable medical services.