OFWs in Austria say inflation hurting families in RP
By HECTOR PASCUA
ABS-CBN Europe News Bireau, Austria
The announcement by the Arroyo government that inflation in the Philippines rose to 12.2 percent in July, the highest in almost 17 years and amid a rise in food and fuel prices, has shocked a number of average Filipino earners in Austria.
A Philippine National Bank official in Vienna told ABS-CBN News that this could be a big blow to overseas Filipino workers, many of whom take jobs as domestic helpers.
Raquel T., 45, has held such a job in Austria for 16 years. She earns about 600 Euros a month.
In peso terms, she earns P42,000, (1 Euro = 68 Pesos). She used to send P20,000 (300 Euros) a month home, but the higher living costs in Austria have cut that to P15,000 (220 Euros). In addition to this are the expenses for her personal needs such as apartment rent, food and other things. Raquel helps support her family in the Philippines – three are in college and her husband maintains a small welding shop.
"Ako’y nag-aalinlangan na ngayon dahil hindi sapat ang kinikita ko in order to sustain my life here and also my family in the Philippines. The reason why I came here, sacrificing my family, is to be able to earn something to improve the economic conditions of my family. But under this present condition of the world economy, not only here in Austria but also the worst situation in the Philippines … I am suffocated with all these financial difficulties." Raquel lamented.
"The aspiration that I had before we coming to Austria, was to improve the economic condition of my family, but this is not happening. Instead I am suffering financially. In fact, ako’y nangungutang na sa bangko para lang may maidagdag sa aking ipinapadala sa Pilipinas. I am really helpless, hopeless sometimes," she said.
The Philippines relies heavily on money sent from overseas workers. The remittances contribute to the strength of the peso.
The PNB official here added: "The strong peso hurts the very people who help prop it up. Our average earners kababayans here are being punished twice. First, many are forced into leaving their families behind. Second, while the Filipinos here work so hard, the amount of money they get, though in terms of Euro, it has a big peso conversion, but it seems to be getting smaller and smaller, while their work harder and harder here, because of the abrupt increase of prices of almost all basic commodities in the Philippines."
Armando Reyes, a Filipino worker here who just took his vacation in the Philippines observed, "Chicken prices have also gone up. When we were in Manila last July, I observed that the price of chicken has gone up by P5, from P130 per kilogram in the first week of July to P135 per kilogram during the last week. Yung bangus naman, it went up by as much as P20, from P100 per kilogram in early July to P120 per kilogram noong last week naming doon. Pati nga tilapia at gulay ay nagging doble ang presyo."
Filipinos working overseas have been a pillar of the Philippines’ economy since the 1970s, when some of the country’s hardest-working and best-educated people left to take up service jobs in other parts of Asia, America, Middle East and Europe.
The money they send home each year accounts for more than 12% of the Philippine economy, often sustaining several extended-family members, some of whom don’t work. For years, these foreign currencies they sent back home have paid private school fees for younger siblings and bought small condos for aging parents.
ABS-CBN Europe News Bireau, Austria
The announcement by the Arroyo government that inflation in the Philippines rose to 12.2 percent in July, the highest in almost 17 years and amid a rise in food and fuel prices, has shocked a number of average Filipino earners in Austria.
A Philippine National Bank official in Vienna told ABS-CBN News that this could be a big blow to overseas Filipino workers, many of whom take jobs as domestic helpers.
Raquel T., 45, has held such a job in Austria for 16 years. She earns about 600 Euros a month.
In peso terms, she earns P42,000, (1 Euro = 68 Pesos). She used to send P20,000 (300 Euros) a month home, but the higher living costs in Austria have cut that to P15,000 (220 Euros). In addition to this are the expenses for her personal needs such as apartment rent, food and other things. Raquel helps support her family in the Philippines – three are in college and her husband maintains a small welding shop.
"Ako’y nag-aalinlangan na ngayon dahil hindi sapat ang kinikita ko in order to sustain my life here and also my family in the Philippines. The reason why I came here, sacrificing my family, is to be able to earn something to improve the economic conditions of my family. But under this present condition of the world economy, not only here in Austria but also the worst situation in the Philippines … I am suffocated with all these financial difficulties." Raquel lamented.
"The aspiration that I had before we coming to Austria, was to improve the economic condition of my family, but this is not happening. Instead I am suffering financially. In fact, ako’y nangungutang na sa bangko para lang may maidagdag sa aking ipinapadala sa Pilipinas. I am really helpless, hopeless sometimes," she said.
The Philippines relies heavily on money sent from overseas workers. The remittances contribute to the strength of the peso.
The PNB official here added: "The strong peso hurts the very people who help prop it up. Our average earners kababayans here are being punished twice. First, many are forced into leaving their families behind. Second, while the Filipinos here work so hard, the amount of money they get, though in terms of Euro, it has a big peso conversion, but it seems to be getting smaller and smaller, while their work harder and harder here, because of the abrupt increase of prices of almost all basic commodities in the Philippines."
Armando Reyes, a Filipino worker here who just took his vacation in the Philippines observed, "Chicken prices have also gone up. When we were in Manila last July, I observed that the price of chicken has gone up by P5, from P130 per kilogram in the first week of July to P135 per kilogram during the last week. Yung bangus naman, it went up by as much as P20, from P100 per kilogram in early July to P120 per kilogram noong last week naming doon. Pati nga tilapia at gulay ay nagging doble ang presyo."
Filipinos working overseas have been a pillar of the Philippines’ economy since the 1970s, when some of the country’s hardest-working and best-educated people left to take up service jobs in other parts of Asia, America, Middle East and Europe.
The money they send home each year accounts for more than 12% of the Philippine economy, often sustaining several extended-family members, some of whom don’t work. For years, these foreign currencies they sent back home have paid private school fees for younger siblings and bought small condos for aging parents.
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