Working abroad soon a matter of choice, not necessity - Arroyo

HONG KONG - One day, working abroad may just be another career option and not the only choice for Filipinos.

This is what President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said her administration is working for before more than 500 mostly Filipino guests who gathered at the Grand Hyatt’s Tiffin Lounge on Sunday evening for a cocktail reception in her honor.

“We are working for a strong and growing economy to pave the day when we no longer need to go abroad for a job," she said.

That day, she said, will come with the continued strength and stable growth of the Philippine economy which Mrs. Arroyo had attributed to the dollar remittances of the overseas Filipino workers.

“Tumutulong kayo sa pamilya ninyo, tumutulong kayo sa ating bansa. Maraming salamat sa inyo. Ngunit, hinahangad natin ang araw, gaya ng sabi ni Consul General (Alejandrino Vicente), na hindi na kailangang mangibang bansa pa ang isang mahirap na Pilipino upang maghanap ng trabaho."

As she spoke, some 1,000 protesters gathered across the hotel calling for her resignation.

One of the rally organizers, Eman Villanueva of the Gloria Step Down Movement – Hong Kong, scored the “lavish" reception, which he said was in stark contrast to the hardship experienced by many people in the Philippines.

Other speakers hit at the unresolved human rights killings in the Philippines under Mrs Arroyo’s watch, and the string of corruption cases linked to her supporters and her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo.

In her speech, Mrs Arroyo said going abroad for a job will be “just another career option, and not the only choice one has for a living."

She added that the strong economy has protected the OFWs’ families back home against higher oil price increases, and allowed them to pay lower interest rates for housing, among others.

But at the same time, it has led many overseas Filipino workers to demand income protection programs.

In response, the government launched various savings instruments and investment options tailor-made for OFWs.

Mrs Arroyo cited the “incomparable diligence, work quality, good manners and loyalty" of the 120,000 OFWs in HK before wrapping up her speech with an endorsement of the Development Bank of the Philippines’ hedging program, i-Net negosyo and other business initiatives aimed at helping OFWs maximize their savings and deal with the appreciating value of the peso.

The president of Galing Manggagawa Pinoy Abroad (formerly GMA Pa Rin Movement), Jojo Sapio, then took the stage to give testimony for DBP’s hedging program. - GMANews.TV

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