Global recession feared, return of overseas Filipino workers eyed



March 03, 2019

By

Edd Reyes

People's Journal
IF elected for a fifth term in the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections, former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said that one of his priority measures will be to boost opportunities for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to work in the Philippines so that they can return to their families and amid an impending global recession which may leave many OFWs jobless.
“I will advocate a revision of the constitution to remove all barriers to foreign investment in the country so that we can create massive number of jobs to solve the problem of Filipino families broken because some members will have to go overseas to earn a living,” Enrile said in an interview.
A staunch advocate for the welfare of OFWs, Enrile authored Republic Act No. 8424, also known as the Comprehensive Tax Reform Law, which exempted OFWs from paying income taxes in the Philippines.
“I was the one who exempted all of these people from paying taxes on their income abroad under Philippine law when I revised the internal revenue code in 1997,” he explained.
Under the same law, he also sponsored a provision exempting all Filipinos residing abroad from payment of Philippine income tax on income earned abroad. In the previous Tax Code, this income was taxed in the Philippines even if it had already been subjected to tax abroad.
The former Senate President has also warned that boosting opportunities for OFWs in the local job market will be a necessity due to an impending global recession which may leave many OFWs jobless.
In a separate interview, Enrile said, “There will be a reduction in available jobs in Europe, the Middle East, and in other parts of the world because there will be a recession. The economies of these countries are slowing down. They are reducing (migrant workers). They are closing down.”
“The OFWs who lose their jobs will be sent back to the Philippines. This is the problem that we are faced with and we need to be ready for it so that, when our OFWs return, they have jobs to depend on,” he added.
“This is why I said we should open the country to foreign investment so that they will have jobs here in case they lose their jobs abroad,” the veteran lawmaker warned, adding, “This is why we need capital. You cannot create industries, commerce, businesses, and jobs without capital.”
In November 2018, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) composite leading indicator fell to 99.3 points. The indicator is at its lowest since October 2017 and is expected to fall further.

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