'Make investors of OFWs, not buyers of goods'

By Estrella Torres, BusinessMirror
MANILA, Philippines - The head of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) said the annual $23 billion in remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) should translate into investments generated instead of the money being spent on consumer goods.
CFO Secretary Imelda Nicolas said the Philippines is now at the “tail end of the fourth decade of massive migration phenomenon” but there has not been concrete economic gains besides the remittances, which continue to buoy the country’s economy amid the global financial crisis.
She told delegates to the High-Level Discussion on Migration Policy held recently at Sofitel hotel in Pasay City that the government should begin to develop a “sunset” provision or an exit strategy on the massive migration phenomenon.
“We can start by transforming a critical mass of migrant households from consumer units to production units, from a pattern and behavior of remittance utilization that is geared toward consumer spending usually on non-essential and non-productive activities to a mindset of production and investment in viable enterprises and economic initiatives anchored on local development plans and toward wealth generation,” Nicolas said.
The CFO will host the second Global Summit of Filipinos in the Diaspora to be held in Manila from February 25 to 27 to explore options to translate OFW remittances into new businesses in the country.
Nicolas said the government, through the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and key agencies on migration, should start financial literacy and financial education training to help the OFWs and their families learn entrepreneurship and business development.
According to her, the Philippines has established legal and institutional infrastructure to deploy people abroad but has not managed to “respond to complexities and challenges of international migration.”
The World Bank estimates the Philippines receives $21 billion to $23 billion in OFW remittances annually, considered as the world’s third-largest next to India and China.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more