This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 39, November 6-12, 2005
MIGRANT
WATCH
Increase in Remittances Due to More OFW Deployments Both
a Filipino migrants’ leader and the top executive of the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas say that the increase in remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)
this year is due to the increase in the deployment of workers and professional
for overseas jobs. This, in turn, is due to the economic crisis ailing the
country. BY
ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO The leader of a Filipino
migrants’ group and the top executive of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas agree
that the increase in remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) this year
is due to the increase in the deployment of workers and professional for
overseas jobs. This, in turn, is due to
the economic crisis ailing the country, said Migrante International chairperson
Connie Bragas-Regalado. The BSP had recently
released figures showing that remittances from OFWs could total some $10.3
billion by end-2005, or 20 percent higher than 2004 inflows. OFW remittances for
2004 totaled $8.55 billion. For the first seven months of 2005, OFW remittances
amounted to $5.77 billion, or $1.04 billion more than the $4.73 billion recorded
during last year’s first seven months. Contrary to the BSP’s
expectations, OFW remittances have registered double-digit growth since last
year. The BSP had earlier projected only a five-percent growth in OFW
remittances for this year. “This
is due to increased deployment of higher-paid skilled professionals and improved
access to formal remittance channels,” BSP governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in
a recent speech.
Regalado expressed a similar view in an interview with Bulatlat. “The
remittances have increased because there are now more Filipinos working abroad,”
said the Migrante International leader. The
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)’s data for the first half
of 2005 reveal that a total of 216,893 land-based OFWs were deployed for the
said period. This is 24,094 more than the 192,799 land-based OFWs deployed for
the first half of the previous year. POEA
data further show that 352,214 land-based OFWs all in all were deployed last
year. Latest
figures from the POEA point to an average of 2,700 land-based and sea-based OFW
departures each day for this year. The POEA even expects the average to reach
3,000 a day by year’s end. The current figure is higher than the 2,500 daily
average OFW departures recorded by the POEA for last year.
Crisis and departures The
increase in OFW departures, Regalado said, is due to the economic crisis
presently plaguing the country. In
mid-2004, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo admitted that the country is facing
a fiscal crisis. Late
last year, former Finance Secretary Juanita Amatong revealed that in 2003 alone,
the government lost some P229.4 billion ($4.23 billion based on a 2003 average
exchange rate of $1=P54.20) in potential revenues due to tax incentives for
large corporations. Meanwhile, the socio-economic think tank IBON Foundation
estimates that the government loses some P100 billion ($1.83 billion based on a
$1=P54.63 exchange rate as of Nov. 3) a year due to tariff-removal policies
imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The government’s National Tax
Research Center (NTRC) estimates annual corruption losses at 20-30 percent of
the national budget, while losses due to tax leakages are estimated at P215-285
billion a year.
Meanwhile, based on data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC),
the daily family living wage for a family of six – the average Filipino family –
amounts to a nationwide average of P667.20 as of last September. This is P126.60
higher than last year’s national average of P540.60.
Conversely, the minimum wage stands at a national average of only P222.93 daily
as of last June, or P444.27 less than the P667.20 national average family living
wage for a family of six. The National Capital Region (NCR) has the highest
regional minimum wage rate at P325 – as opposed to its family living wage rate
of P681 as of last September.
Mindanao
Regalado further revealed that there has been an increase in the number of OFWs
coming from the provinces in Mindanao, an island in southern Philippines. She
said majority of OFWs in the Middle East come from Mindanao.
Regalado said that the top ten destinations for OFWs are in the Middle East.
Most of those who go to the Middle East, she said, come from the Mindanao
provinces. “You
can clearly see in Mindanao the gap between the poor there and the poor in Metro
Manila,” she said. “The poor in Mindanao are really, really poor.” The
Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) – which encompasses the provinces of
Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Maguindanao – has consistently registered the
biggest regional gap between the minimum wage rate and the living wage for an
average family. As of 2004, the region’s living wage for a family of six was
estimated at P750 ($13.38 based on the year’s $1:P56.05 exchange rate), while
its minimum wage was pegged at only P170. As of last September, the region’s
family living wage has risen to P858 ($15.71 based on a $1:P54.63 exchange rate
as of Nov. 3), while the minimum wage stands at P180. Bulatlat © 2005 Bulatlat
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Crisis, dwindling opportunities driving more Filipinos abroad – Migrante
Bulatlat