OFW families enjoy weaker peso

MANILA, Philippines — Happy days are here again for families of overseas Filipino workers as the peso continues to weaken against the US dollar, a financial analyst said on Thursday.

“Beneficiary sila (OFWs) kasi nag-weaken ang peso. So mas marami silang pera ngayon. In fact baka samantalahin nila ‘yan kasi alam nilang bababa ‘yan kapag malapit nang magpasko," financial analyst Boyet Ayes said in an interview aired over GMA News 24 Oras.

From the exchange rate of P40.33 - $1 last February 27, the peso weakened to P47.20-$1 on September 16. That means a $100 bill last February was equivalent to P4,033 as against P4,720 on Sept. 16, or an increase of almost P700.

On Thursday trading, the peso slightly recovers at P46.96 -$1.

Mary de Martin, a factory worker in Quezon City, for one, earns a minimum wage only but has more cash now because of the the weakening of the peso.

This is because her husband, who works in Alberto, Canada, sends her dollars regularly.

“Masaya kasi lumalaki ang value (ng dollar) na ipinapadala rito," Martin said in the same report on Thursday.

Analyst Ayes, however, said the peso is expected to recover against the dollar in December once the Christmas season begins and the dollar remittances of overseas Filipinos peak.

Scrap remittance charges

Meanwhile, the militant Migrante Internation reiterated its call to the government to scrap all remittances charges.

In a statement, Connie Bragas-Regalado, chairperson of Migrante, said the $15 to $22 charges and fees of government and private banks and other money couriers are raking in billions of dollars at the expense of OFWs.

“All these money-making institutions keep paying lip service to serving the country’s ‘Bagong Bayanis.’ But what they really mean is how much more money they can squeeze out from us," she said.

“The remittances alone being sent through banks, even without the charges or fees, already provide a huge boost to a bank’s financial standing. We believe that the government and the banks should put their money where their mouth is and declare the sending of remittances to be free of charge. That would be truly a service to OFWs," she stressed. - GMANews.TV*

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