NEARLY 10 percent of the country’s 90 million people work all over the world, and the money they send to their families and loved ones is a key contributor in making the local economy resilient. In 2008, Filipinos working overseas sent a total of $16.4B in 2008, or 13.7 percent more than in 2007, amid the global economic downturn. And $7.8B came from Filipino workers and immigrants from the United States, while $1.8 came from Canada.
Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin confirmed the record growth of remittances during the 5th Annual Ambassadors, Consuls General and Tourism Directors Tour (ACGTDT) in the Philippines, where he was the keynote speaker. The ACGTDT is an event that gathers Philippine envoys assigned in the US, Canada, Northern and Latin America to help promote investments and tourism in the Philippines.
"The Philippines remains one of the most resilient countries in Asia with its high gross domestic product (GDP) growth and forward-looking economy. The economic resilience is due to the significant number of Filipino workers abroad with their remittances directly benefiting our people," Ebadalin said. He also noted that the total remittance of $16.4B is the highest in the last 10 years.
In past few months, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that remittances continued to grow at a robust pace despite of the recession in the US, which is home to many overseas Filipinos. This is because that most of them are employed in "recession-proof" sectors like healthcare according to the BSP.
The same goes for Filipinos in Canada. Philippine Ambassador to Canada Jose Brillantes said that Canada will be needing more highly skilled workers and nurses in the next few years and that "the demand for additional manpower is high." At present, there are 500,000 Filipino workers and immigrants in Canada, mostly whom are nurses and caregivers.
According to the BSP, more and more Filipinos now use banks and other formal remittance channels to send money to their families and loved ones. However, those sent from informal channels are not captured by their remittances data.
In 2008, Filipinos deployed abroad reached 1,376,823 according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). This figure was 28 percent higher from 1,077,623 the previous year. (AJPress)
( Published on July 17, 2009 in Asian Journal Orange County p. A1 )
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