Gov't moves against illegal use of OFW Remittances

This story was taken from www.inq7.net

Gov't moves against illegal use of OFW remittances
Posted 06:39pm (Mla time) May 16, 2005
By Veronica Uy, Maila Ager
INQ7.net

(2nd UPDATE) MALACAÑANG and the House of Representatives are taking steps to stop "jueteng lords" from using the remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for their money-laundering activities.

“The government will not tolerate that. We will find a way to stop this,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told radio station dwIZ on Monday. He did not elaborate.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman said the House special committee on overseas workers affairs, which he heads, invited representatives from various overseas and migrant workers groups, the Philippine Bankers Association, Anti-Money Laundering Council, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, Central Bank of the Philippines), and the Department of Labor and Employment to testify in a hearing set for Wednesday.

Lagman said the congressional inquiry could come up with proposals that would:

· Insulate OFW remittances from corrupt practices;
· Encourage OFWs to remit their dollar earnings through official channels;
· Reduce the transaction fees for dollar remittances of OFWs;
· Determine the legality of requiring that no portion of OFW earnings be deposited in a foreign bank not doing business in the Philippines and/or be deposited in the name of a third party not previously listed as the OFWs' beneficiary; and
· Enact and/or amend laws to address the problem.

The Inquirer reported over the weekend how operators of the popular illegal numbers game used OFW remittances in foreign banks to allegedly launder their ill-gotten wealth.

At least two big-time "jueteng" operators are behind the scheme, which involves a “point man” serving as the link between the OFW and the "jueteng lord," the report said.

The point man advises the "jueteng" operator, through a text message, on the amount the OFW wants to remit to his family, then the "jueteng lord" will ask his legman to deliver the peso equivalent of the sum to the family, the report said.

Lagman cited a BSP report, which said that in 2004 alone, OFWs remitted a total of 8.5 billion dollars.

The lawmaker said the figure might be “much, much bigger” if remittances through informal channels were accounted for.

“The Philippines has the most number of overseas workers deployed all over the world and is ranked as the third country with the highest volume of remittances, after Mexico and India,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, labor officers abroad will warn OFWs about the scheme, Acting Labor Secretary Manuel Imson said Monday.

"In this case, our OFWs are clearly misled and made to believe that their remittances are directly sent to their families in the Philippines where in fact their money are kept by jueteng lords in foreign banks through their point man," said Imson.

"What we can do for the moment is to [ask OFWs to] be cautious in dealing with remittance agents who, according to reports, normally do not charge fees which is already something extraordinary,” he said.

Imson said that he would issue a directive to the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) to immediately inform OFWs about the scheme.

“With the scheme, it appears that what actually reaches the family of OFWs are jueteng money and not the foreign currency that they give to the point men of these jueteng operators,” he said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was ousted on allegations that he pocketed kickbacks from the illegal numbers game.

Members of the First Family -- First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, and Pampanga Representative Jose Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, and the First Gentleman's younger brother, Negros Occidental Representative Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo, were accused of benefiting from “jueteng” operations.

The Arroyo's have denied the allegations as they dared their accusers to show evidence of their alleged “jueteng” links.