Some OFWs prefer to send cash over balikbayan box items


By LUCKY MAE F. QUILAO
Despite a soaring inflation rate that peaked last month at 6.7 percent, and the reported drop in personal remittances by 1.4% last August, some overseas Filipino workers would prefer to send cash to their families rather than assorted items through balikbayan box.
OFWs GMA News Online had interviewed through social media said they will continue to send money especially during the Christmas season, as has been their practice.
“Magpapadala ako lalo na’t may asawa’t anak ako. Minsan tumutulong din ako sa mga magulang ko. Nagpapadala din ako sa probinsya para sa mga kapatid ko,” according to John Mark Rosario, 28, barista at the Emirates Leisure Retail in the United Arab Emirates.
“Hindi bababa sa P10,000 ang ipinapadala ko,” he said, adding that, “Hindi kasi ako pabor sa balikbayan box. Mas mabuti na ang pera ang ipinapadala para ma-budget ng maayos."
On the other hand, Jesus Caoile Mejia, 43, family driver in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia said he would send money to his mother every month.
"Hindi pare-parehas [ang ipinapadala kong halaga sa aking nanay] kasi minsan, malaki ang babayaran,” he also told GMA News Online through Messenger.
He does not also favor sending items through balikbayan box. “Yung box kasi, 45 days bago makarating sa paroroonan. Nagpapadala din ako nun kaso kailangan din ng pera pambayad sa kuryente, internet, at tubig at iba pa.”
Good thing, his employer would give him “gifts” from time to time.
“Hirap din minsan [magpadala ng pera]. Nakakabawi lang pag may binibigay ang amo na gift.” 
Jovielyn Taylan, 33, had it easy. She only sends money if her family asks for it.
“Fund transfer lang ako sa siblings at parents ko pero very seldom lang. For my siblings, additional allowance. For my parents, simple gift lang and if requested.”
Prices of 13 basic commodities have increased as indicated in the suggested retail price list of the Department of Trade and Industry.
While the depreciation of the Philippine Peso against the US$ spells some benefits for OFWs, rising prices of goods and services in the Philippines have just cancelled out their gains.
The Philippine peso closed at P53.44 per $1 last June benefiting an estimated 10 million OFWs.
Recently, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported of a decline in personal remittances last August. 
Data released by the BSP showed personal remittances—in cash or in-kind—fell to $2.760 billion in August.
Cash remittances, on the other hand, recorded a 0.9-percent drop to $2.476 billion.
"The countries that contributed to the decline in August 2018 were the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Qatar,” the BSP said in a statement. —LBG, GMA News

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