Comments on: The future of OFW remittances

By: Alex Buenafe

Alex Buenafe — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:45:58 +0000

Here’s an update. The “8 m OFWs” the government or the media regurgitate in their reports is very questionable. According the US State Dept (in a statement prior to Hilary Clinton’s visit to Manila), there are already 4m Filipinos in the US (Fil Ams) who are immigrants, US citizens, not OFW’s. An old news item (I can’t recall where now) talking about contingency plans in case of mid east conflicts, they estimated 2 m OFW’s in Saudi Arabia and middle east. NSO in a 5 year survey of Filipinos who have worked overseas, came up only with 1m. At the most, there are probably 3 m OFW’s around the world, not 8 m. They shouldn’t be counting the immigrants, ex Filipinos etc.

By: Alex Buenafe

Alex Buenafe — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:38:44 +0000

The sad thing is that politicians are sending bodies, low skilled workers who are vulnerable in some countries like the middle east. The brightest and the brainiest have already left decades ago during the Marcos regime. It is very hard now for many Filipino professionals to go overseas based on their career performance because the competition is very strong. It is a very global labour market now, and so many expats everywhere working. My point is that what the country is sending out of the country are the most vulnerable, and the lowest wage earners.

By: Alex Buenafe

Alex Buenafe — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:33:46 +0000

Hello?

My point was that contrary to the myth the OFW are fuelling the economy, the contributions of balikbayans are far greater than OFW’s. Please correlate the statistics of BSP and POEA, where the money is coming from. By “glamourizing” and “heroizing” the OFW’s in the middle east and Asia, your organization is simply contributing to the “slavery” of cheap Filipino labour. In Saudi Arabia where there are an estimated 2 m OFW’s, the remittances todate in 2009 is even less than what Canadians send to the country. From what I understand, the low skilled workers the Philippines sends to the middle east earn less than $500 per month! For that kind of salary, it’s ridiculous for any Filipino to leave the country and family. I suggest globalOFW.com study the stats of BSP and POEA.

By: Alex Buenafe

Alex Buenafe — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:25:41 +0000

I didn’t realize my comments (last year) would elicit responses. For your research, the stats I checked are the websites of: BSP Overseas Filipino remittances (they don’t label it as OFW remittances); POEA OFW stats; NSO Survey on OFW’s. What you will find that 60% of OF remittances come from North America where 99% are immigrants, citizens (ex Filipinos) not OFWs. I hope this helps your research because this will unravel the “myth” of OFW remittances.

By: Meepo102

Meepo102 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:49:32 +0000

It is sad to know how intellectually bankrupt this nation is. Politicians talk about the dangers of brain drain but are unaware that THEY are the reason people have to leave their families to work. People just respond to incentives, if the benefit of working abroad is higher than the cost(expenses, family separation) then people will go for it. How arrogant are our politicians whose policies have maimed the economy to tell people about the dangers of brain drain!!!

By: Global Ofw

Global Ofw — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:02:30 +0000

Overseas Filipino Workers or Ofw are the saving grace of our country because of the sacrifices they endure for their families and for our country. The remittances they send helps our economy in a major way. In this regard I have written an article about money transfer tips for our Ofws. Here's a brief summary: Choosing a safe and cost effective way to send money transfer to your family is a primary concern of every overseas worker like ofws and migrants. Here are some tips on how to ensure that your hard earn money will reach your family at the lowest cost possible. . . you can visit the website www.globalofw.com for more details.

By: Allyssa

Allyssa — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:40:11 +0000

thank you for posting this. This helps me in my research on OFW Remittances.

By: Alex Buenafe

Alex Buenafe — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:07:30 +0000

I’m not sure if you understood my point. What I’m really trying to say is that with US$14 b (or $18 b, if you count the unofficial remittances), there is more than enough money to tap for nation building, that includes its human resources. The BSP says 30% already go into the real estate market, AND 30% goes now into “savings” (approx $4 b!). But there is very limited investment options available there, for say a balikbayan who wants to open an account there, other bank deposit or stocks. That’s why I think someone should study this phenomenon, trace the source of remittances (hopefully not drug or terrorist money), and take it from there. If they can tap $1 b only annually, say in some investment products available to this overseas Filipinos (not necessarily workers), that would definitely go along way for capital projects without dipping into the general revenues.

By: Bersamina Froilan Vincent

Bersamina Froilan Vincent — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 21:54:09 +0000

Indeed, your suggestion, sir, can make for a good, if not excellent, case study. There is a need to categorize or define the actual source of so-called OFW remittances in order to determine the chances of this country. We heavily rely on dollar remittances. Why not? They keep our economy afloat.
Dollar remittance is an indispensable and solid capital for investment. But there this one intangible capital that this nation must secure— this is the rule of law, which is the true wealth of nations, according to a group of World Bank researchers.

By: Alex Buenafe

Alex Buenafe — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 19:00:22 +0000

I have been wondering about the sources of this “OFW” remittances. After looking at the numbers ($ amounts), the number of “ofw” (those working on contract or work permits overseas), I don’t think the stats are meaningful. First, as of 2007, BSP reports close to $14 B of overseas foreign worker remittances through banks (2007). BSP estimates that at least 30% more go through informal remittances. That would be, approx $ 4.5 b of informal remittances.

The question is, are these all ofw remittances (POEA definition), temporary/migrant/non-immigrant workers whose passport/residence is the Philippines?

POEA’s stats of 2004 show that of the 8 million Filipino citizens overseas in their books, 3 m (rounded off) are actually immigrants of other countries, whose departure/stay overseas is not dependent on work. That would leave 5 m actual overseas contract/migrant workers. However, NCSO survey stats (2007) only showed that a cumulative of 1.7 m Filipinos, who work, had worked within the year overseas, or had left the country in the last 5 years to work overseas.

Whatever stats are used, the BSP record of foreign inflows plugged as “OFW” remittances may not necessarily be so. Meaning, yes, there is that amount coming officially (through banks) from overseas, but the remittances may be from not only OFW sources.

I believe that some smart student or professor or school, should study the numbers properly because although the POEA defined OFW contribute a great deal to the economy, maybe it is overblown. There is a big blob of foreign remittances that may come from overseas that is not necessarily explained. The result of this study can show how the government can tap into this big blob of remittances (outside of POEA defined workers), as source of capital for development, e.g. financial or investment products. It may mean that if this other sources of foreign inflow can be used to develop the country (30% of this remittances go into real estate), then it might help keep the best and the brightest in the country.

By: Froilan Vincent Bersamina

Froilan Vincent Bersamina — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:47:10 +0000

Thanks for the comment. My opinion is that if the government remained unperturbed by the negative signs that we witness today, the Philippines will certainly experience more intense poverty and economic crisis in the near future. Sad to say, the Arroyo government has no concrete national plan that seeks to pull this country out of both political and economic mess caused by Hello Garci scandal and many horrible political events in the past. I see no focus on the part of the government and the Filipino people continue to be swayed by collectivist thought. Soon, this country would stumble upon dictatorship because of the ongoing political and economic crisis coupled by the people’s inclination to collectivism. If you work abroad then you are lucky because you won’t be affected when that time comes.
The sign is– more and more people want to get out of this miserable country. Those left behind will be the ones to restructure and fix the mess caused by the old generation. But how? How is it possible when most of the country’s brightest and competent people have already left the country? Really, the OFWs are now shrugging…

By: Remitter

Remitter — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:56:10 +0000

With the peso getting stronger and the government making tall claims about the future of the next generation Filipinos, it seems like the path ahead is quite rosy. But the fact that the value of dollar is falling and the OFWs in the US and UAE are feeling the pinch can never be denied, especially, since the country receives several millions from these remittances. Also, the failure in attracting foreign investors goes against the economy. The hedge funds too have not done anything for the better. There are a few studies that are emphasising the importance of the OFWs which have them quite powerful, the fact remains that most of the OFWs are feared to be jobless in the foreign countries. If that is indeed true (which doesn’t seem improbable, given the slowdown in the US and UAE) the times will get tougher and the economy would suffer.