01/13/2008 | 04:07 PM
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/76307/Bulatlat-Congress-oversight-of-OWWA-funds-sought
http://www.bulatlat.com/2008/01/congress-oversight-owwa-funds-sought
BY AUBREY MAKILAN, BULATLAT
A migrant group supported a senator's call for congressional oversight of the P10 billion ($246,305,418 at an exchange rate of $1=P40.60) Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) funds - which is being sourced from membership fees levied on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) - to avoid misuse and prevent the repeat of the $25 membership fee overbilling.
Oversight
Senate President Manny Villar has called for "stringent oversight" of the P10-billion OWWA funds to ensure that it is used properly and to avoid "lapses" such as the recent overbilling of the $25 fee collected from each departing worker.
The supposed overcharging of OFW membership fee of $25 was reportedly implemented by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA). The overcharging emanated from the computation of the POEA, which based the fees to be collected on an exchange rate of P51 to $1. Senate President Manuel Villar Jr questioned this and said the fees should be based on the prevailing exchange rate of P41 to $1, thus, amounting to only P1, 025 instead of the current P1, 275 being collected. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said that it reduced the membership fee being collected from OFWs to P1, 044 since January 1, 2008. This, they said, is based on the preceding month's average peso-dollar exchange rate.
"We have to make sure that the fund for overseas workers really works for the improvement of the conditions of our OFWs," said Villar, noting that a system that could check its performance should be in place.
Villar’s proposal is being supported by the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (Unifil-HK). Unifil-HK chairperson Dolores Balladares said that their money in the OWWA should go through serious scrutiny and that the "plundering" of their money must stop.
The Senator said that the OWWA is classified as a government corporation with a budget outside congressional budget review.
"The President, for all her powers, has to go to Congress for money but OWWA with all membership contributions coming from OFWs is exempt (from going through Congressional budget allocations)," he said. "It can allocate and spend its own money without congressional authorization."
The Senate President said that the OWWA funds, at the least, should pass congressional scrutiny like in the case of the National Power Corporation, also a government corporation. The NPC submits its budget to Congress even if the latter does not approve it, he said.
"This way we will have an idea and it becomes part of public record how much of every peso OWWA earns goes to direct services to OFWs and how much goes to overhead expenses, "he said.
Anomalies?
But aside from the congressional review, migrant group Unifil-HK also called for the scrapping of the OWWA Omnibus Policies. The policy implemented in 2003, said migrant leader Balladares, "further constricted the funds allocated to the welfare of Filipino migrant workers while, at the same time, strengthening the stranglehold of the government to the funds." She added that the OWWA Omnibus Policies implemented a mandatory per contract collection of membership fee, suspended programs such as the General Financial Assistance Program, and gave the president the opportunity to place more of her people inside the agency governing board.
"The OWWA Omnibus Policies was created for the sole reason of increasing the collection of OWWA and giving freer rein for GMA to dip her hands into the fund, she said, noting that the policy never included provisions to improve services to OFWs who had to go through numerous loops to get assistance from this office.
Balladares said that almost P1 billion ($24,630,541) goes to the OWWA Fund annually but argued that its fund allocation has remained minimal. Worse, she said, the allotment for OFW direct services is greatly overshadowed by its cost of operations.
OWWA started as a "welfare and training fund for overseas workers" created by former President Marcos in the late 1970s. It has grown into an agency with total audited assets of P9.95 billion ($245,073,891) as of end 2006. In 2005, it collected P1.258 billion ($30,985,221) from 994,191 about-to-be-deployed workers with the promise that for a $25-fee, a member will receive up to P100, 000 ($2,463) in disability benefits and P200, 000 ($4,926) in accidental death benefits.
But Villar said that this year, total payout in insurance benefits reached only P163 million ($4,014,778), an amount dwarfed by OWWA's payroll and operating expenses. The argument for stricter "executive and legislative oversight" of OWWA, he said, was put forward after audit observations made by the Commission on Audit for fiscal year 2006.
Balladares noted that only $2 from every $25 that migrant workers pay is allocated to direct services to OFWs, while the big chunk of the money goes to operational expenses, controversial investments and unaudited appropriations, citing the Smokey Mountain Rehabilitation Project and the Middle East Preparedness Team funds for the evacuation of Filipinos from Iraq that allegedly never happened.
Balladares also said that the transfer of the OWWA Medicare Fund to PhilHealth was also anomalous. In February 2003, she said, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Executive Order 182 ordering the transfer following a letter by then PhilHealth president Francisco Duque allegedly saying that the transfer will have a significant bearing on the 2004 elections.
"The government's handling of the OWWA fund stinks to high heavens and must be addressed as soon as possible," she said.
In the proposed congressional review of the OFW money, Unifil-HK encouraged the Congress to involve OFW groups in uncovering the alleged "mismanagement and misappropriation of the OWWA Fund and eventually, in instituting reforms in the OWWA that can genuinely benefit OFWs," such as a system of check and balance in the management of the OWWA fund and placing more OFW representatives recommended by OFW organizations to the OWWA board of trustees.
Negligence
Aside from the possible misappropriations, Villar said, uncaring foreign post personnel also aggravate the plight of distressed OFWs.
Villar called for the identification and punishment of embassy and consular officials and personnel who refuse assistance or display incompetence in extending help to Filipinos, which further aggravates the condition of distressed OFWs around the world.
The Senate President received a letter from the Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA) accusing some members of the diplomatic corps of bad attitude, negligence and incompetence in attending to the cases of Filipino migrant workers in distress.
CMA cited the case of Teresita Santos, a sewer who was gang raped in August 2005 by five Saudi nationals. The perpetrators were found guilty and were sentenced to four years of imprisonment and 500 lashes each. But Santos accused Philippine consulate personnel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia of depriving her of proper legal advice that allegedly almost caused her to lose her case.
In a letter-complaint submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Santos said it was only through the help of fellow OFWs that she was able to file a case against her perpetrators. Moreover, she accused Assistance to Nationals personnel of blocking the hearings.
Villar also cited the case of Julian Camat, Hermilo Ramos and Napoleon Fabregas, who worked for a cargo handling company in Jeddah. They were sentenced by a Saudi court to one and a half years of imprisonment for stealing computers in January, 2003. But, Villar said, the three actually served four years and four months in detention because of the alleged negligence of the Consulate General in Jeddah.
"The seeming insensitiveness and indifference of a number of our diplomatic and consular officials and personnel have been reported and they are destroying the image and dignity of a larger, more committed, devoted and excellent public servants in foreign service," Villar said.
CMA also presented the case of Esnaira Angin, a Muslim woman from Maguindanao, who was one of the four OFWs in Dubai whose house was broken into by three Emirati and one Omani national in November, 2005. She was stabbed on her chest and back while trying to resist her attackers. Angin, an undocumented OFW, said she sought the help of the Assistant Labor Attache for her repatriation to the Philippines before the incident took place but was allegedly denied help and shelter at the labor office because she lacked money to pay the necessary fees.
"The mindset and thinking of our corps of foreign service must be changed to realize that their existence in countries where they are detailed and stationed is a gift to our citizens, particularly the OFWs. They must show compassion, which OFWs richly deserve," Villar asserted.
With these reports, Villar filed Proposed Resolution No. 248, urging the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to conduct an inquiry on allegations of bad attitude, negligence and incompetence in handling cases of distressed OFWs by some Philippine embassy and consular personnel stationed in various countries.
He also filed Senate Bill 1879, which seeks to amend Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. SB 1879 seeks to impose penalties on Philippine consular officials and other government personnel who fail to act on complaints of, or to give assistance or render service to migrant workers, their families and overseas Filipinos in distress.
"Over a decade after its enactment, RA 8042 has not entirely lived up to its intended purpose," said Villar, noting that Filipinos abroad continue to suffer under abusive employers, inhumane working conditions and various human rights violations.
Under SB 1879, officials and personnel who fail or refuse to render service and/or assistance will be punished with suspension from office of not less than 30 days to dismissal from the service with forfeiture of retirement and other benefits depending on the gravity of the offense, and shall be disqualified from holding any other government office in the future.
Villar has earlier filed Proposed Resolution No. 189 urging the Senate Committee on Labor and Employment and Foreign Relations to conduct an urgent omnibus inquiry on the plight of detained Filipino workers in various countries in order to formulate remedial measure and devise a package of assistance to protect OFWs.
"An assessment of the legal and social remedies being afforded by our embassies and consular offices to our kababayans (countrymen) detained abroad for various offenses is imperative to ascertain sufficiency of assistance for the protection of OFWs," said the Senate President. - Bulatlat
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
DUE TO STRONG PESO: OFWS LOSE P700 PER $100 REMITTED
10 January 2008
IBON
The strengthening peso has resulted in a sharp cut in overseas Filipino
workers’ (OFWs) incomes, costing them over P700 per $100 remitted,
according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.
From January to December 2007, the exchange rate of the peso to the
dollar has strengthened by almost fifteen percent. This means that over
the period, the family of an OFW who remitted $100 in January were able
to exchange it for P4,891. By December this had fallen to P4,174 or a
decline of P717.
Such a reduction is especially painful given the increasing prices of
basic goods and services in the country. For example, from January to
November 2007 the cost of an 11-kg liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
cylinder increased by P76.94 to almost P600. Manila Water also recently
implemented a rate hike that will cost consumers who consume 30 cubic
meters per month an additional P60 on their bills.
“Overseas workers were forced to tighten their belts and remit more of
their income to make up for the lost value,” said IBON research head
Sonny Africa. Monthly remittances grew 26% from P1.1 billion in January
to P1.4 billion in October.
The strengthening peso and its effect on OFWs’ incomes reveals the folly
of the government’s labor export policy and its continuing reliance on
migrant workers’ remittances. (end)
IBON
The strengthening peso has resulted in a sharp cut in overseas Filipino
workers’ (OFWs) incomes, costing them over P700 per $100 remitted,
according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.
From January to December 2007, the exchange rate of the peso to the
dollar has strengthened by almost fifteen percent. This means that over
the period, the family of an OFW who remitted $100 in January were able
to exchange it for P4,891. By December this had fallen to P4,174 or a
decline of P717.
Such a reduction is especially painful given the increasing prices of
basic goods and services in the country. For example, from January to
November 2007 the cost of an 11-kg liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
cylinder increased by P76.94 to almost P600. Manila Water also recently
implemented a rate hike that will cost consumers who consume 30 cubic
meters per month an additional P60 on their bills.
“Overseas workers were forced to tighten their belts and remit more of
their income to make up for the lost value,” said IBON research head
Sonny Africa. Monthly remittances grew 26% from P1.1 billion in January
to P1.4 billion in October.
The strengthening peso and its effect on OFWs’ incomes reveals the folly
of the government’s labor export policy and its continuing reliance on
migrant workers’ remittances. (end)
Friday, November 02, 2007
Migration no guarantee out of rural poverty -WB
ISAGANI DE LA PAZ, OFW Journalism Consortium
11/02/2007 | 03:36 PM
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/66919/Migration-no-guarantee-out-of-rural-poverty--WB
MANILA – Contrary to popular beliefs, migration, despite the volume of money it brings, has neither brought rural folks out of poverty nor is it a sure fire way for farm people to clamber aboard the prosperity wagon.
“Where migration is more or less permanent, income from migration depends on the success of the migrant and the reason for migration. So migration is not a guaranteed pathway out of poverty," the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in its recently released report, debunking several myths on agricultural development.
The Washington, United States-headquartered IBRD, popularly known as The World Bank, cited in its 386-page report that “despite massive rural-urban migration, rural poverty will remain dominant for several more decades in Asia."
The bank’’s World Development Report 2008 that focused on identifying ways for governments to lift some 600 million rural people from extreme poverty has said that while this has been achieved, it is not due to migration.
“More than 80 percent of the decline in rural poverty is attributable to better conditions in rural areas rather than to out-migration of the poor," the report titled “Agriculture for Development" said.
“So, contrary to common perceptions, migration to cities has not been the main instrument for rural (and world) poverty reduction," it added.
In fact, authors of the World Bank report noted that out-migration of people from rural areas has even contributed to the constant rate of poverty rate in cities.
The report, released October 19, noted that while the poverty rate of US$1-a-day has been declining in developing countries –from 28 percent in 1993 to 22 percent in 2002- , this “has been mainly the result of falling rural poverty (from 37 percent to 29 percent) while the urban poverty rate remained nearly constant (at 13 percent)."
The report also noted that during the period under study, 1993-2002, there was an 81-percent reduction in rural poverty worldwide. But this is “ascribed to improved conditions in rural areas; migration accounted for only 19 percent of the reduction."
Migration, the report said, “lifts some of the rural poor out of poverty but takes others to urban slums and continued poverty."
Notional
Even remittances from abroad are downplayed by the report on contributing to national poverty rate declines.
While the report acknowledges that there are “indirect effects of urbanization on rural poverty through remittances and rural wage changes," this is “through tighter rural labor markets."
But this argument, the report’s authors said, has a conservative but unlikely assumption: all rural-urban migrants are poor.
The bank computed migration’s contribution to rural poverty reduction using the US$2.15 poverty line rather than the US$1.08 extreme poverty line “because it is unrealistic to think that all migrants are extremely poor."
Even so, using the same assumption that all those who migrate are poor, the report noted that reduction in rural poverty would still hit 81 percent, “not to migration."
“Indeed, almost all the decline in South Asia and East Asia is because of a genuine decline in poverty in rural areas. Even when China is excluded from the sample, 67 percent of the reduction in rural poverty is from causes other than migration," the report said.
According to data compiled by the Institute for Migration and Development Issues (Imdi), there is no direct correlation between the number of Filipinos going overseas for temporary or permanent work and stay, and the poverty incidence levels.
For example, the National Capital Region, composed of more than a dozen cities, has posted a 4.3-percent poverty incidence level in 2003. In an eight-year period beginning 1998, almost a million overseas Filipinos came from this region.
However, the data that the nonprofit group Imdi compiled couldn't cite if these Filipinos just used the NCR as temporary residence prior to going overseas or which rural area they came from if they, indeed, migrated from farm villages.
It is difficult to determine so since the NCR is the reservoir of major government agencies processing the export of Filipino labor as well as the receptacle for the air travel and remittance industries.
Likewise, despite Davao del Sur, for example, posting a 24-percent poverty incidence rate and having recorded 55,117 Filipino migrants, Batanes island posted only a 9.2-percent poverty incidence level despite only 72 of its residents having left that fishing and farming province that’s the tip of the Philippines.
Another example is Pampanga, President Gloria Arroyo's home province, which posted a six-percent poverty incidence level. It is second to the NCR for having the most number of Filipino migrants at 125,226. Compare this to Pangasinan, home province of former President Fidel V. Ramos, which had 111,029 of its citizens migrating in the eight-year period ending 2005. Still the province posted a poverty incidence level of 18.6 percent, more than double neighboring Pampanga’s.
With the exception of Batanes, 14 provinces have poverty incidence levels above the national average of 25.7 percent.
“The high poverty levels of these provinces can perhaps explain why citizens from these areas cannot easily migrate overseas," the Imdi scoping study on migrant philanthropy released last August said.
Impacts
Even the World Bank report admits it is difficult to establish migration’s direct impact on rural poverty reduction levels.
“Migration can be a climb up the income ladder for well-prepared, skilled workers, or it can be a simple displacement of poverty to the urban environment for others," the report noted.
The report also cited that while remittances from migrants back to the farm household “can relax capital and risk constraints, the relationship between migration and agricultural productivity," for one, is “complex."
“The (temporary) absence of household members reduces the agricultural labor supply. Agricultural productivity can therefore fall in the short run but rise in the long run as households with migrants shift to less labor intensive, but possibly equally profitable, crops or livestock," the report said.
Remittances, the report noted, “often drastically change the composition of the rural population" and “can pose (their) own challenges for rural development, because migration is selective."
“Those who leave are generally younger, better educated, and more skilled. Migration thus can diminish entrepreneurship and education level among the remaining population," the report said.
Likewise, the report cited there are evidence suggesting migration “is most accessible for the wealthiest and best educated of the rural population, as moving requires means to pay for transportation and education to find a good job."
“Moreover, better-educated migrants are the most likely to have a successful migration outcome," the report added.
It particularly cited the Philippines as having more female migrants to urban areas faring better than the less-educated males.
The report estimated some 575 million people migrated from rural to urban areas in developing countries over the past 25 years.
Of these, it said, “400 million lived in transforming countries, where migration flows increased to almost 20 million a year between 2000 and 2005."
Migration flows as a share of the rural population have been traditionally highest in urbanized economies, but they have fallen over 2000–05 to an annual rate of 1.25 percent. In transforming and agriculture-based economies, the annual flow of out-migration steadily increased to 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent of the rural population, respectively.
The report also noted that international migration out of rural areas is male-dominated in Ecuador and Mexico, but female-dominated in the Dominican Republic, Panama, and the Philippines. - OFW Journalism Consortium
Note: To download the complete World Development Report 2008, go to this link: http://siteresoruces.worldbank.org/INTWDR2008/Resources/2795087-1192111580172/WDROver2008-ENG.pdf
11/02/2007 | 03:36 PM
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/66919/Migration-no-guarantee-out-of-rural-poverty--WB
MANILA – Contrary to popular beliefs, migration, despite the volume of money it brings, has neither brought rural folks out of poverty nor is it a sure fire way for farm people to clamber aboard the prosperity wagon.
“Where migration is more or less permanent, income from migration depends on the success of the migrant and the reason for migration. So migration is not a guaranteed pathway out of poverty," the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in its recently released report, debunking several myths on agricultural development.
The Washington, United States-headquartered IBRD, popularly known as The World Bank, cited in its 386-page report that “despite massive rural-urban migration, rural poverty will remain dominant for several more decades in Asia."
The bank’’s World Development Report 2008 that focused on identifying ways for governments to lift some 600 million rural people from extreme poverty has said that while this has been achieved, it is not due to migration.
“More than 80 percent of the decline in rural poverty is attributable to better conditions in rural areas rather than to out-migration of the poor," the report titled “Agriculture for Development" said.
“So, contrary to common perceptions, migration to cities has not been the main instrument for rural (and world) poverty reduction," it added.
In fact, authors of the World Bank report noted that out-migration of people from rural areas has even contributed to the constant rate of poverty rate in cities.
The report, released October 19, noted that while the poverty rate of US$1-a-day has been declining in developing countries –from 28 percent in 1993 to 22 percent in 2002- , this “has been mainly the result of falling rural poverty (from 37 percent to 29 percent) while the urban poverty rate remained nearly constant (at 13 percent)."
The report also noted that during the period under study, 1993-2002, there was an 81-percent reduction in rural poverty worldwide. But this is “ascribed to improved conditions in rural areas; migration accounted for only 19 percent of the reduction."
Migration, the report said, “lifts some of the rural poor out of poverty but takes others to urban slums and continued poverty."
Notional
Even remittances from abroad are downplayed by the report on contributing to national poverty rate declines.
While the report acknowledges that there are “indirect effects of urbanization on rural poverty through remittances and rural wage changes," this is “through tighter rural labor markets."
But this argument, the report’s authors said, has a conservative but unlikely assumption: all rural-urban migrants are poor.
The bank computed migration’s contribution to rural poverty reduction using the US$2.15 poverty line rather than the US$1.08 extreme poverty line “because it is unrealistic to think that all migrants are extremely poor."
Even so, using the same assumption that all those who migrate are poor, the report noted that reduction in rural poverty would still hit 81 percent, “not to migration."
“Indeed, almost all the decline in South Asia and East Asia is because of a genuine decline in poverty in rural areas. Even when China is excluded from the sample, 67 percent of the reduction in rural poverty is from causes other than migration," the report said.
According to data compiled by the Institute for Migration and Development Issues (Imdi), there is no direct correlation between the number of Filipinos going overseas for temporary or permanent work and stay, and the poverty incidence levels.
For example, the National Capital Region, composed of more than a dozen cities, has posted a 4.3-percent poverty incidence level in 2003. In an eight-year period beginning 1998, almost a million overseas Filipinos came from this region.
However, the data that the nonprofit group Imdi compiled couldn't cite if these Filipinos just used the NCR as temporary residence prior to going overseas or which rural area they came from if they, indeed, migrated from farm villages.
It is difficult to determine so since the NCR is the reservoir of major government agencies processing the export of Filipino labor as well as the receptacle for the air travel and remittance industries.
Likewise, despite Davao del Sur, for example, posting a 24-percent poverty incidence rate and having recorded 55,117 Filipino migrants, Batanes island posted only a 9.2-percent poverty incidence level despite only 72 of its residents having left that fishing and farming province that’s the tip of the Philippines.
Another example is Pampanga, President Gloria Arroyo's home province, which posted a six-percent poverty incidence level. It is second to the NCR for having the most number of Filipino migrants at 125,226. Compare this to Pangasinan, home province of former President Fidel V. Ramos, which had 111,029 of its citizens migrating in the eight-year period ending 2005. Still the province posted a poverty incidence level of 18.6 percent, more than double neighboring Pampanga’s.
With the exception of Batanes, 14 provinces have poverty incidence levels above the national average of 25.7 percent.
“The high poverty levels of these provinces can perhaps explain why citizens from these areas cannot easily migrate overseas," the Imdi scoping study on migrant philanthropy released last August said.
Impacts
Even the World Bank report admits it is difficult to establish migration’s direct impact on rural poverty reduction levels.
“Migration can be a climb up the income ladder for well-prepared, skilled workers, or it can be a simple displacement of poverty to the urban environment for others," the report noted.
The report also cited that while remittances from migrants back to the farm household “can relax capital and risk constraints, the relationship between migration and agricultural productivity," for one, is “complex."
“The (temporary) absence of household members reduces the agricultural labor supply. Agricultural productivity can therefore fall in the short run but rise in the long run as households with migrants shift to less labor intensive, but possibly equally profitable, crops or livestock," the report said.
Remittances, the report noted, “often drastically change the composition of the rural population" and “can pose (their) own challenges for rural development, because migration is selective."
“Those who leave are generally younger, better educated, and more skilled. Migration thus can diminish entrepreneurship and education level among the remaining population," the report said.
Likewise, the report cited there are evidence suggesting migration “is most accessible for the wealthiest and best educated of the rural population, as moving requires means to pay for transportation and education to find a good job."
“Moreover, better-educated migrants are the most likely to have a successful migration outcome," the report added.
It particularly cited the Philippines as having more female migrants to urban areas faring better than the less-educated males.
The report estimated some 575 million people migrated from rural to urban areas in developing countries over the past 25 years.
Of these, it said, “400 million lived in transforming countries, where migration flows increased to almost 20 million a year between 2000 and 2005."
Migration flows as a share of the rural population have been traditionally highest in urbanized economies, but they have fallen over 2000–05 to an annual rate of 1.25 percent. In transforming and agriculture-based economies, the annual flow of out-migration steadily increased to 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent of the rural population, respectively.
The report also noted that international migration out of rural areas is male-dominated in Ecuador and Mexico, but female-dominated in the Dominican Republic, Panama, and the Philippines. - OFW Journalism Consortium
Note: To download the complete World Development Report 2008, go to this link: http://siteresoruces.worldbank.org/INTWDR2008/Resources/2795087-1192111580172/WDROver2008-ENG.pdf
Monday, October 22, 2007
RP is 4th largest recipient of overseas remittances in Asia - UN
10/22/2007 | 03:52 PM
The Philippines ranked as fourth top recipient of overseas remittances in Asia, receiving $14.65 billion in 2006, a United Nations report showed.
The report, released in time for the Oct 19 opening of the International Forum on Remittances in Washington DC, said the $14.65 billion remittances sent to the Philippines was based on "a conservative estimate."
The amount includes the $12.8 billion remittances coursed through the banks, as reported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, plus OFW earnings sent through informal channels such as door-to-door delivery.
The report titled, "Sending money home: Worldwide remittances to developing countries" by the United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) listed India on top of the list, receiving $24.5 billion, followed by Mexico with $24.2 billion and China with $21 billion.
Russia, with $13.7 billion, ranked next to the Philippines.
Lower remittance charges
The report prompted Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate committee on economic affairs, urged the government to “quickly draw up and execute a roadmap toward purposely driving down excessive remittances charges."
"We have to consciously bring down burdensome remittance fees. This is the single most efficient way for us to truly make full economic use of remittance inflows," Legarda said.
The senator lamented that migrant workers spend a staggering total of up to $1.72 billion every year to pay for remittance fees, or 13.5 percent of the $12.8 billion that they sent home through banks in 2006.
Legarda said her estimate was based on a study by the International Monetary Fund, which pegged at 13.5 percent the average transaction cost of remittances to the Philippines, with OFWs paying anywhere from $15 to $26 in transfer fees for a typical $200-remittance.
"If we reduce by half the amount spent by OFWs to pay for remittance charges, this would easily translate into an additional $860-million worth of inflows every year. This is a lot of extra money coursed through the pockets of their families here and the economy," she said.
Remittances, the bulk of which go to poor families in the rural areas, could contribute to prosperity in the countryside, according to the IFAD report.
The IFAD is a special UN international financial institution dedicated to fighting poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. - GMANews.TV
The Philippines ranked as fourth top recipient of overseas remittances in Asia, receiving $14.65 billion in 2006, a United Nations report showed.
The report, released in time for the Oct 19 opening of the International Forum on Remittances in Washington DC, said the $14.65 billion remittances sent to the Philippines was based on "a conservative estimate."
The amount includes the $12.8 billion remittances coursed through the banks, as reported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, plus OFW earnings sent through informal channels such as door-to-door delivery.
The report titled, "Sending money home: Worldwide remittances to developing countries" by the United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) listed India on top of the list, receiving $24.5 billion, followed by Mexico with $24.2 billion and China with $21 billion.
Russia, with $13.7 billion, ranked next to the Philippines.
Lower remittance charges
The report prompted Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate committee on economic affairs, urged the government to “quickly draw up and execute a roadmap toward purposely driving down excessive remittances charges."
"We have to consciously bring down burdensome remittance fees. This is the single most efficient way for us to truly make full economic use of remittance inflows," Legarda said.
The senator lamented that migrant workers spend a staggering total of up to $1.72 billion every year to pay for remittance fees, or 13.5 percent of the $12.8 billion that they sent home through banks in 2006.
Legarda said her estimate was based on a study by the International Monetary Fund, which pegged at 13.5 percent the average transaction cost of remittances to the Philippines, with OFWs paying anywhere from $15 to $26 in transfer fees for a typical $200-remittance.
"If we reduce by half the amount spent by OFWs to pay for remittance charges, this would easily translate into an additional $860-million worth of inflows every year. This is a lot of extra money coursed through the pockets of their families here and the economy," she said.
Remittances, the bulk of which go to poor families in the rural areas, could contribute to prosperity in the countryside, according to the IFAD report.
The IFAD is a special UN international financial institution dedicated to fighting poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. - GMANews.TV
Monday, August 13, 2007
Asia's labor force to grow by 200 million, says ILO
Agence France-Presse
Last updated 08:20am (Mla time) 08/13/2007
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=82183
GENEVA -- Asia's economies face the challenge of finding jobs for an extra 200 million workers between now and 2015, according to a new International Labour Organization (ILO) report out Monday.
It said the region will have its work cut out to improve the quality of jobs on offer and ensure the benefits of Asia's future economic growth are distributed more evenly as the labor force, currently 1.8 billion, increases.
"One thing is clear: doing business as usual is not sustainable over the long term," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "Asia is experiencing unprecedented growth and development.
"At the same time, vulnerabilities arising from environmental pressures, economic insecurity, shortcomings in governance and unequal income distribution pose a threat to the region's future development."
"Visions for Asia's Decent Work Decade: Sustainable Growth and Jobs to 2015", has been presented to an ILO Asian Employment Forum in Beijing running from Monday to Wednesday.
Government representatives, trade unionists and employers from some 20 countries in Asia and the Pacific will attend.
The report said the service economy would be the main source of new jobs and by 2015 would have become the biggest single sector employer, representing about 40.7 percent of the region's jobs.
It also predicted the share of industrial jobs would rise from 23.1 percent of the total jobs market in 2006 to 29.4 percent in 2015.
By contrast, agricultural jobs would by 2015 have declined to 29.4 percent of the market from 42.6 percent, said the report.
And that trend from rural to urban jobs would create greater wage inequalities between the classes of workers, part of a broader wage gulf between the extremely poor and other workers.
In fact the report identified the problem of the working poor -- those living on less than two US dollars (1.5 euros) a day -- as one of the major challenges facing the region.
More than one billion -- 61.9 percent of the workforce -- still worked in the informal "black" economy with little or no social protection.
While this was down from 67.2 of the workforce a decade earlier, it was still a cause for concern, said the report, especially since it was not expected to fall much further by 2015.
The report identified a number of other challenges facing the region including:
-- an ageing labor force, which in some countries meant that as many as one in four people would be over 65 by 2015;
-- increasing migration that would see millions of workers quitting Asia in search of jobs;
-- the inability of wage growth to keep pace with labour productivity in some countries;
-- long working hours becoming the norm in many parts of Asia.
"Meeting the challenges facing the region will require far-sighted thinking and careful planning," said Somavia.
"We all need to work together to make globalization and economic growth more inclusive."
Last updated 08:20am (Mla time) 08/13/2007
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=82183
GENEVA -- Asia's economies face the challenge of finding jobs for an extra 200 million workers between now and 2015, according to a new International Labour Organization (ILO) report out Monday.
It said the region will have its work cut out to improve the quality of jobs on offer and ensure the benefits of Asia's future economic growth are distributed more evenly as the labor force, currently 1.8 billion, increases.
"One thing is clear: doing business as usual is not sustainable over the long term," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "Asia is experiencing unprecedented growth and development.
"At the same time, vulnerabilities arising from environmental pressures, economic insecurity, shortcomings in governance and unequal income distribution pose a threat to the region's future development."
"Visions for Asia's Decent Work Decade: Sustainable Growth and Jobs to 2015", has been presented to an ILO Asian Employment Forum in Beijing running from Monday to Wednesday.
Government representatives, trade unionists and employers from some 20 countries in Asia and the Pacific will attend.
The report said the service economy would be the main source of new jobs and by 2015 would have become the biggest single sector employer, representing about 40.7 percent of the region's jobs.
It also predicted the share of industrial jobs would rise from 23.1 percent of the total jobs market in 2006 to 29.4 percent in 2015.
By contrast, agricultural jobs would by 2015 have declined to 29.4 percent of the market from 42.6 percent, said the report.
And that trend from rural to urban jobs would create greater wage inequalities between the classes of workers, part of a broader wage gulf between the extremely poor and other workers.
In fact the report identified the problem of the working poor -- those living on less than two US dollars (1.5 euros) a day -- as one of the major challenges facing the region.
More than one billion -- 61.9 percent of the workforce -- still worked in the informal "black" economy with little or no social protection.
While this was down from 67.2 of the workforce a decade earlier, it was still a cause for concern, said the report, especially since it was not expected to fall much further by 2015.
The report identified a number of other challenges facing the region including:
-- an ageing labor force, which in some countries meant that as many as one in four people would be over 65 by 2015;
-- increasing migration that would see millions of workers quitting Asia in search of jobs;
-- the inability of wage growth to keep pace with labour productivity in some countries;
-- long working hours becoming the norm in many parts of Asia.
"Meeting the challenges facing the region will require far-sighted thinking and careful planning," said Somavia.
"We all need to work together to make globalization and economic growth more inclusive."
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Filipino workers in Iraq deceived, abused - report
Filipino workers in Iraq deceived, abused - report
07/27/2007 | 05:58 PM
Filipino workers promised jobs in Dubai hotels were deceptively recruited and trafficked to Iraq for a massive US Embassy construction project in Baghdad, two former American civilian contractors of a Kuwaiti company testified at the US Congress on Thursday.
The foreign workers, including Filipinos, experienced physical abuse and substandard working conditions, said John Owens, an American citizen who worked for First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting Co. as a construction foreman for six months.
The Kuwaiti firm was awarded the $592-million contract for the construction of the US Embassy in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad. This was said to be the largest US diplomatic mission in the world.
“Conditions there were deplorable, beyond what even a working man should tolerate," Owens said in his testimony before the House committee on oversight and government reform on allegations of waste, fraud and abuse in the construction project.
“Foreign workers were packed in trailers tight. There was insufficient equipment and basic needs – stuff like shoes and gloves. If a construction worker needed a new pair of shoes, he was told, ‘No, do with what you have’ by First Kuwaiti managers," Owens said based on a transcript of the congressional proceedings.
“The contract for these workers said they had to work 12 hours a day 7 days a week, with some time off on Friday for prayers," he said.
Rory J. Malberry, also an American who worked as emergency medical technician at the embassy site under a subcontract, said First Kuwaiti managers asked him to escort 51 Filipinos through the Kuwait airport and onto a flight to Baghdad.
“I was given my flight information to Baghdad. At this time, First Kuwaiti managers asked me to escort 51 Filipino nationals to the Kuwaiti airport and make sure they got on the same flight that I was taking to Baghdad. Many of these Filipinos did not speak any English," he told US congressmen.
"I wanted to help them make sure they got on their flight OK, just as my managers had asked. We were all employees of the same company after all. But when we got to the Kuwait airport, I noticed that all of our tickets said we were going to Dubai. I asked why? The Kuwaiti manager told me that because Filipino passports do not allow Filipinos to fly to Iraq, they must be marked as going to Dubai," Malberry said.
Washington Post reported on Friday that US State Department officials disputed the testimonies of Owens and Malberry.
It quoted Howard J. Krongard, the State Department’s inspector general in charge of investigating the project, saying that he conducted a “limited review" on the conditions of foreign laborers at the construction site in Baghdad and did not find reasons to substantiate the claims.
The inspector general of the US-led military force in Iraq also conducted inquiries, he said.
“Nothing came to our attention that caused us to believe that trafficking-in-persons violations or other serious abuses occurred at the construction workers’ camp at the new embassy compound," Krongard told the committee.
The Filipinos worked at the embassy construction site with laborers from India, Pakistan and Sierra Leone.
Malberry said he had read Krongard’s report. “It's not worth the paper it's printed on. This is a cover-up. I'm glad that I have this opportunity to set the record straight," he told the committee.
Malberry said the workers were told they would be working in hotels in Dubai, not in Baghdad.
According to him, the First Kuwaiti managers even instructed him specifically not to tell the Filipinos they were being taken to Baghdad.
“As I found out later, these men thought they had signed up to work in Dubai hotels. One fellow I met told me in broken English that he was excited to start his new job as a telephone repair man. They had no idea they were being sent to do construction work on the US embassy," Malberry said.
"Mr. Chairman, when the airplane took off and the captain announced that we were headed for Baghdad, all you-know-what broke lose on that airplane. People started shouting. It wasn't until a security guy working for First Kuwaiti waved an MP-5 in the air that people settled down," he said, addressing Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the oversight committee.
"They realized they had no other choice but to go to Baghdad," he said. “Let me spell it out clearly. I believe these men were kidnapped by First Kuwaiti to work on the US Embassy," Malberry said.
According to the Washington Post report, the US Department of Justice is also investigating First Kuwaiti’s labor practices, particularly the allegations that foreign workers were brought into Iraq under false pretenses and were unable to leave because the company had confiscated their passports.
The Kuwaiti firm was awarded the contract because no US company met the terms for the construction project, the committee was told. Company officials declined the congressional panel’s invitation to testify.
The report also said foreign workers came from countries in South Asia and the Philippines because of the difficulty of hiring Iraqis to work inside the heavily fortified Green Zone.
In the transcript of Thursday’s proceedings, Malberry testified that he “witnessed" the trafficking of the Filipinos.
“When flying from Kuwait to Baghdad, I saw a bunch of workers with tickets to Dubai. Mine was the only one that’s for Baghdad. When I asked the First Kuwaiti manager, he said, ‘Shhh, don’t say anything. If the Kuwaiti customs knows they’re going to Iraq, they won’t let them on the plane’," Malberry said.
When the plane landed on Baghdad, the workers were then taken away in buses to the construction site.
Malberry said First Kuwaiti assigned him as “security liaison, among other tasks" at the construction site although he claimed to have “more experience with building
embassies than anybody else on that site."
“I think the American people might understand what was going through my head over there as I watched this abusive and unprofessional practice taking place. I kept thinking it would get better. I kept telling myself that it would get better, and after more time had passed and things didn't get any better, I felt so bad all the time and I realized it was time to resign and speak up for those who do not have a voice," he said.
Waxman, a Democrat congressman from California, remarked: "It does not help matters that there are only three career State Department officials on site to oversee this massive project. Everyone else is a private contractor." - GMANews.TV
07/27/2007 | 05:58 PM
Filipino workers promised jobs in Dubai hotels were deceptively recruited and trafficked to Iraq for a massive US Embassy construction project in Baghdad, two former American civilian contractors of a Kuwaiti company testified at the US Congress on Thursday.
The foreign workers, including Filipinos, experienced physical abuse and substandard working conditions, said John Owens, an American citizen who worked for First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting Co. as a construction foreman for six months.
The Kuwaiti firm was awarded the $592-million contract for the construction of the US Embassy in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad. This was said to be the largest US diplomatic mission in the world.
“Conditions there were deplorable, beyond what even a working man should tolerate," Owens said in his testimony before the House committee on oversight and government reform on allegations of waste, fraud and abuse in the construction project.
“Foreign workers were packed in trailers tight. There was insufficient equipment and basic needs – stuff like shoes and gloves. If a construction worker needed a new pair of shoes, he was told, ‘No, do with what you have’ by First Kuwaiti managers," Owens said based on a transcript of the congressional proceedings.
“The contract for these workers said they had to work 12 hours a day 7 days a week, with some time off on Friday for prayers," he said.
Rory J. Malberry, also an American who worked as emergency medical technician at the embassy site under a subcontract, said First Kuwaiti managers asked him to escort 51 Filipinos through the Kuwait airport and onto a flight to Baghdad.
“I was given my flight information to Baghdad. At this time, First Kuwaiti managers asked me to escort 51 Filipino nationals to the Kuwaiti airport and make sure they got on the same flight that I was taking to Baghdad. Many of these Filipinos did not speak any English," he told US congressmen.
"I wanted to help them make sure they got on their flight OK, just as my managers had asked. We were all employees of the same company after all. But when we got to the Kuwait airport, I noticed that all of our tickets said we were going to Dubai. I asked why? The Kuwaiti manager told me that because Filipino passports do not allow Filipinos to fly to Iraq, they must be marked as going to Dubai," Malberry said.
Washington Post reported on Friday that US State Department officials disputed the testimonies of Owens and Malberry.
It quoted Howard J. Krongard, the State Department’s inspector general in charge of investigating the project, saying that he conducted a “limited review" on the conditions of foreign laborers at the construction site in Baghdad and did not find reasons to substantiate the claims.
The inspector general of the US-led military force in Iraq also conducted inquiries, he said.
“Nothing came to our attention that caused us to believe that trafficking-in-persons violations or other serious abuses occurred at the construction workers’ camp at the new embassy compound," Krongard told the committee.
The Filipinos worked at the embassy construction site with laborers from India, Pakistan and Sierra Leone.
Malberry said he had read Krongard’s report. “It's not worth the paper it's printed on. This is a cover-up. I'm glad that I have this opportunity to set the record straight," he told the committee.
Malberry said the workers were told they would be working in hotels in Dubai, not in Baghdad.
According to him, the First Kuwaiti managers even instructed him specifically not to tell the Filipinos they were being taken to Baghdad.
“As I found out later, these men thought they had signed up to work in Dubai hotels. One fellow I met told me in broken English that he was excited to start his new job as a telephone repair man. They had no idea they were being sent to do construction work on the US embassy," Malberry said.
"Mr. Chairman, when the airplane took off and the captain announced that we were headed for Baghdad, all you-know-what broke lose on that airplane. People started shouting. It wasn't until a security guy working for First Kuwaiti waved an MP-5 in the air that people settled down," he said, addressing Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the oversight committee.
"They realized they had no other choice but to go to Baghdad," he said. “Let me spell it out clearly. I believe these men were kidnapped by First Kuwaiti to work on the US Embassy," Malberry said.
According to the Washington Post report, the US Department of Justice is also investigating First Kuwaiti’s labor practices, particularly the allegations that foreign workers were brought into Iraq under false pretenses and were unable to leave because the company had confiscated their passports.
The Kuwaiti firm was awarded the contract because no US company met the terms for the construction project, the committee was told. Company officials declined the congressional panel’s invitation to testify.
The report also said foreign workers came from countries in South Asia and the Philippines because of the difficulty of hiring Iraqis to work inside the heavily fortified Green Zone.
In the transcript of Thursday’s proceedings, Malberry testified that he “witnessed" the trafficking of the Filipinos.
“When flying from Kuwait to Baghdad, I saw a bunch of workers with tickets to Dubai. Mine was the only one that’s for Baghdad. When I asked the First Kuwaiti manager, he said, ‘Shhh, don’t say anything. If the Kuwaiti customs knows they’re going to Iraq, they won’t let them on the plane’," Malberry said.
When the plane landed on Baghdad, the workers were then taken away in buses to the construction site.
Malberry said First Kuwaiti assigned him as “security liaison, among other tasks" at the construction site although he claimed to have “more experience with building
embassies than anybody else on that site."
“I think the American people might understand what was going through my head over there as I watched this abusive and unprofessional practice taking place. I kept thinking it would get better. I kept telling myself that it would get better, and after more time had passed and things didn't get any better, I felt so bad all the time and I realized it was time to resign and speak up for those who do not have a voice," he said.
Waxman, a Democrat congressman from California, remarked: "It does not help matters that there are only three career State Department officials on site to oversee this massive project. Everyone else is a private contractor." - GMANews.TV
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Gulf states threaten to ban Filipino workers
05/31/2007 | 10:08 PM
The Gulf states -- Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman – may no longer accept Filipino workers unless the Philippine government take steps to clarify its policy imposing $13 daily penalty on foreign employers who would not pay their workers on time and at a minimum of $400 a month.
The Committee for Importing Foreign Workers of the Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC) unanimously agreed in a meeting on Thursday to stop importing Filipinos until Philippine labor laws are clarified, Dylan Bowman of Kuwait New Agency reported.
GCC, also known as the Cooperation Council of the Arab States in the Gulf, is a trade bloc involving six Arab Gulf states with many economic and social objectives, including the formulation of similar regulations in various fields such as economy, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation, and administration.
The report acknowledged that the Philippine government raised the minimum salary of its workers overseas was intended to improve the standard of living of its citizens.
“Participants agreed to submit this recommendation [to stop importing Filipinos] to the decision-makers in the GCC and expressed hope that this recommendation would be implemented as soon as possible," Abdel-Aziz Al-Ali, head of Kuwait's domestic labor offices, told the Kuwait News Agency.
“We understand the important international implications of this issue and we are dealing with it accordingly," Al-Ali said.
Based on POEA data, the six GCC member-states employ 435, 190 Filipinos as of December-2006, and this is broken down into: Saudi Arabia – 223, 459; UAE – 99, 212; Kuwait – 47, 917; Qatar – 45, 795; Bahrain – 11, 736; and Oman – 7, 071.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar are among the top 10 popular destinations of OFWs.
The new regulations issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) partially took effect on December 15, 2006, was fully implemented beginning March 1, 2007 pegged the minimum salary for Filipino domestic workers, including stay-in care givers, at $400, up from $200.
Foreign employers are also required to sign a declaration stipulating they would pay a fine of around $13 a day if they do not pay their Filipino workers on time, and at the prescribed rate spelled out in the labor contract.
The minimum salary regulations are not binding on any of the GCC’s six member states, but if employers do not agree to them then the Filipino government will not process their staff’s contracts, Kuwait News Agency said.
Asaad Derbas, head of the Kuwaiti delegation to the meeting of the GCC Committee, said the decision to stop importing Filipinos was taken because the Philippine government “used the issue as a political tool in its recent general election."
He said the issue had a negative impact on the countries importing Filipino workers. - GMANews.TV
The Gulf states -- Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman – may no longer accept Filipino workers unless the Philippine government take steps to clarify its policy imposing $13 daily penalty on foreign employers who would not pay their workers on time and at a minimum of $400 a month.
The Committee for Importing Foreign Workers of the Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC) unanimously agreed in a meeting on Thursday to stop importing Filipinos until Philippine labor laws are clarified, Dylan Bowman of Kuwait New Agency reported.
GCC, also known as the Cooperation Council of the Arab States in the Gulf, is a trade bloc involving six Arab Gulf states with many economic and social objectives, including the formulation of similar regulations in various fields such as economy, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation, and administration.
The report acknowledged that the Philippine government raised the minimum salary of its workers overseas was intended to improve the standard of living of its citizens.
“Participants agreed to submit this recommendation [to stop importing Filipinos] to the decision-makers in the GCC and expressed hope that this recommendation would be implemented as soon as possible," Abdel-Aziz Al-Ali, head of Kuwait's domestic labor offices, told the Kuwait News Agency.
“We understand the important international implications of this issue and we are dealing with it accordingly," Al-Ali said.
Based on POEA data, the six GCC member-states employ 435, 190 Filipinos as of December-2006, and this is broken down into: Saudi Arabia – 223, 459; UAE – 99, 212; Kuwait – 47, 917; Qatar – 45, 795; Bahrain – 11, 736; and Oman – 7, 071.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar are among the top 10 popular destinations of OFWs.
The new regulations issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) partially took effect on December 15, 2006, was fully implemented beginning March 1, 2007 pegged the minimum salary for Filipino domestic workers, including stay-in care givers, at $400, up from $200.
Foreign employers are also required to sign a declaration stipulating they would pay a fine of around $13 a day if they do not pay their Filipino workers on time, and at the prescribed rate spelled out in the labor contract.
The minimum salary regulations are not binding on any of the GCC’s six member states, but if employers do not agree to them then the Filipino government will not process their staff’s contracts, Kuwait News Agency said.
Asaad Derbas, head of the Kuwaiti delegation to the meeting of the GCC Committee, said the decision to stop importing Filipinos was taken because the Philippine government “used the issue as a political tool in its recent general election."
He said the issue had a negative impact on the countries importing Filipino workers. - GMANews.TV
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)