MANILA, Philippines - Marissa del Mar, host of Buhay OFW TV on Aksyon TV, recently met with Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon at the latter’s office in Port Area, Manila and discussed the proposed Buhay OFW Center. After weighing the pros and cons of the project, they, in the presence of Johnny Pecayo and SA1 Napoleon Magsino Jr., agreed to put up a Buhay OFW Help Desk at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Marissa explained to Commissioner Ruffy that “modern heroes” have helped the Philippine economy afloat through the regular money remittance they have been sending to their loved ones back home, and they deserve some assistance, especially in going out of the country and in coming home from abroad.
They also discussed how material donations from other countries, like computer units, wheel chairs and other medical equipment, could be released without too much hassle, and the Commissioner gave some guidelines on the right way to go about it.
It was reported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas that as of Dec. 31, 2011, over $20B had been remitted to the Philippines, and this was the largest amount recorded ever.