Recruitment agencies in Kuwait fear OFW remittances to go down amid deployment ban


By TED CORDERO, GMA News
The Philippine Association of Agencies to Kuwait (PHILAAK) fears that remittances from Filipino workers in the Middle-Eastern country would go down further amid the total deployment ban imposed by the government.
"Pangamba ng PHILAAK na kung magtatagal ang ban ng bagong deployment at kung marami pa ang uuwi na OFW mula Kuwait ngayong 2018, maaaring mas malaki pa sa $50 million ang ibababa ng OFW remittances mula Kuwait," the recruiters association said in a statement on Friday.
"Malaking bagay iyan sa mga naghihirap na pamilyang Pilipino at ekonomiya ng bansa. Masakit iyan para sa mga pamilyang umaasa lamang sa mga padala ng OFW sa Kuwait," it said.
Citing a data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), PHILAAK said that remittances from Filipino workers in Kuwait declined by $50.23 million or 5.9 percrnt in 2017 at $806.484 million from $856.715 million in 2016.
"Sa tingin ng PHILAAK, ang 5.9 percent o $50.23 million dollars na ibinaba ng halaga ng mga padala mula Kuwait ay epekto paghina ng ekonomiya ng Kuwait dahil sa pagbagsak ng presyo ng langis sa world market mula sa kataasan nitong $100 dollars per barrel noong 2015," the group said.
"Ngunit ayon sa mga ekonomista, makakabawi ang ekonomiya ng Kuwait sa 2018," it said.
On Monday, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III ordered a total ban in the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait, days after the body of a Filipina was found in a freezer in an abandoned apartment unit. 
Prior to the total ban, the government has suspended the deployment of OFWs to Kuwait following reports of abuses, some of them resulting in deaths.
"Kung mayroon man, kaunti lang ang naging epekto ng  naging gusot sa pagitan ng Kuwait at Pilipinas dahil sa pagaabuso at pagkamatay ng pitong Pilipino roon. January 2018 na kasi nang suspindihin ng DOLE ang bagong deployment ng OFW papuntang Kuwait," it added.
An estimated 250,000 Filipinos are working in Kuwait, 75 percent of which are household service workers.
"Kaya naman, sana maresolba agad ng mga pamahalaan ng Pilipinas at Kuwait ang kasalukuyang suliranin. Umaasa ang PHILAAK na magbubunga nang mabuti at sa lalong madaling panahon, ang mga solusyon nina President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, at Special Envoy Eduardo Manalo," PHILAAK said.
Duterte has asked Filipino workers in Kuwait who are distressed or wish to return home to take advantage of the free flights that will be afforded them in 72 hours.
Malacañang, meanwhile, has said that Filipinos already working in Kuwait may stay if they have no complaints about their employers. — RSJ, GMA News

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