DOLE confident OFWs to continue remittances

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) expressed confidence yesterday that the estimated eight million Filipino workers abroad would continue to send remittances and help boost the country’s economy.

Acting Labor Secretary Danilo Cruz said any attempt to dissuade the millions of Filipino workers abroad from sending money to their families back home through the banking system would not prosper.

Cruz was reacting to news reports that a coalition representing overseas Filipino workers (OFW) is campaigning to get migrant workers to halt dollar remittances to the Philippines to pressure President Arroyo to quit amid accusations that she rigged the vote in the bitterly contested May 2004 elections.

"The attempt to encourage Filipino workers to join a remittance boycott cannot have a credible following among apolitical OFWs whose remittances are not meant for political purposes but primarily to support their families," Cruz said.

He also belied reports that the "No Resign, No Remit" drive by the Outrage alliance, composed of nine organizations, is now gaining ground in countries like Hong Kong, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Italy.

"Contrary to the claim of militant groups, remittances from Filipinos (are) continuously growing and even expected to reach $5 billion at mid-year 2005," Cruz said.

Remittances last year reached $8.5 billion, accounting for about 10 percent of the gross domestic product.

Based on figures from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the remittances from OFWs are expected to reach $10 billion by yearend due to the rising number of Filipino workers abroad.

Employment of Filipino seafarers alone, Cruz said, is projected to go up by 10 percent this year.

The alliance projects that the campaign will affect banks’ foreign exchange earnings and it will be a blow to the national economy.

Cruz then called on militant groups to be more considerate to OFWs and stop using them in the effort to destabilize the Arroyo administration.

Newly installed BSP Governor Amando Tetangco also dismissed the campaign, saying migrant workers will not heed the call because their families depend on the money for survival.

The spokeswoman for the alliance, Connie Bragas-Regalado, who also heads the Migrante sectoral party with some 100,000 members in 22 countries, said OFWs could still send money home through friends or other informal channels. — Mayen Jaymalin, AP