Ople center seeks DFA intervention on threats of 14 countries to shut down remittance centers
By Recto L. Mercene
AN official of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center on Monday urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to start discussions with 14 countries that threaten to stop the operations of remittance companies being used by Filipino workers, owing to suspicions that these are being used to launder money to fund terrorists.
The aim is to help the Filipinos send back as much money to their loved ones and not be subjected to onerous exchange rates.
Susan Ople said the center has been calling the government’s attention since 2013, when only four countries were involved—the United States, Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom, which have large Filipino populations.
“The [Blas F.] Ople Policy Center has been calling the government’s attention about this problem since 2013, the year these four countries have shut down remittance firms, ngayon dumami na,” Ople said at the Kapihan sa Manila news forum.
She said aside from the four countries named above, the newcomers include: Hong Kong, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Cyprus, Papua New Guinea and Saipan. Ople, who heads the center, said her office is joining the private sector to address the problem and is in touch with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), “but they can’t initiate bilateral talks, that should be the Department of Foreign Affairs.”
Ople’s concern was forwarded to Foreign Spokesman Charles C. Jose, who remained mum on the issue. Ople said Filipino workers abroad have been complaining that the countries involved in the closure of remittances have offered their respective banks to send the Filipinos’ cash back home.
However, the workers complained that these bank charge higher fees but offer lower exchange rates as compared to private remitting agencies.
“Yes, they charge higher [service fees] but the conversion is smaller,” she said, adding that the Middle East countries are not involved.
“We suspect that these countries have used the excuse of terrorism, so their respective banks can take over the business of remitting the Filipinos’ cash, which is actually an economic boost to these countries considering the amount of money involved,” Ople said.
When the issue surfaced in 2013, the Philippine remittance industry called on the Aquino administration and multilateral agencies to intervene. Specifically, the banks in these countries are closing the accounts of money-transfer operators, restricting the flow of remittance from these nations.
In 2014 the cash remittances of Filipino workers abroad amounted to $24.3 billion, increasing by 5.9 percent, from the $22.9 billion of money transfers. While 2014 was a banner year for remittances, money transfers were up by 2.4 percent in the first two months of 2015—the slowest pace in years.
This could be the result of lower oil income and scaling down of projects in the Middle East, where a significant number of Filipino workers are based. Continued economic weakness in other countries, especially developed nations, may have also placed a drag on the pace of money transfers to the Philippines, according iMoney Philippines.
Last year Filipinos worldwide sent home $26.92 billion (P1.20 trillion) back to the Philippines, up 6.2 percent from $25.35 billion (P1.13 trillion) in 2013, according to the BSP. It was record high, the bank said.
Land-based workers remitted $18.7 billion, while seafarers transferred $5.6 billion.
The Philippines was third, after India and China, in terms of the amount of remittances received in 2014, according to World Bank data.
Remittances contributed as much as 8.5 percent to the GDP last year.
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