DFA, Comelec to test e-voting

By Pia Lee-Brago
The Philippine Star 01/30/2007

 

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Commission on Elections for Overseas Absentee Voting (OAVS) signed an agreement yesterday to test Internet voting for 26,804 registered Filipino voters in Singapore.

Poll Commissioner Florentino Tuason, who is pushing for Internet voting in the May 14 elections, defended yesterday the online polls, saying it is the cheaper way to conduct overseas absentee voting.

Tuason pointed out that the Commission on Elections (Comelec)'s budget for online polls or e-voting in Singapore is only P23.5 million or P877 per voter, compared to the P91 million or P1,400 per voter the government spent for overseas absentee voting during the May 2004 elections. The P91 million included the purchase of machines.

"This is very cheap for a form of modern technology. And this includes the software, information dissemination and voters' education," Tuason said.

The United States, Australia, Canada and Italy were also considered for Internet voting but Singapore was chosen for pilot testing since the city-state has a high Internet link in the world with 60-70 percent Internet connection.

He expressed optimism that Internet voting will be implemented for the May elections as provided under Republic Act 8436 or the amendment to the election modernization law.

"Let's put it this way, 80 percent I'll implement it and 20 percent not, if I find serious legal obstacles then I'll resort to voting by mail," he said.

Tuason explained that Internet voting should not be connected to the modernization of the local polls, because it is different from absentee voting abroad.

"The setting in the local scenario is entirely different. The Filipino voters almost, always are residing far from the embassy and consulate. With Internet voting, you can vote in the Internet café, kiosk, the embassy and consulate," he added.

A total of 504,814 Filipinos abroad have registered as of Oct. 31, 2006 in 87 diplomatic posts in more than 50 countries. The 30-day voting will start on April 14.

"We're seriously considering Internet voting. With the passage of RA 8436 amending the modernization law, I'm studying the legal implication of the law in implementing the Internet voting," he said. "If there are no legal obstacles, I'll go on with the implementation."

Meanwhile, Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. said that Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos and the other commissioners cannot be impeached or dismissed from office if they refuse to implement the New Automation Law in the May 14 polls.

"They (Comelec officials) can't be impeached because they cannot be held liable for an impossible crime. It (automation law) has never been implemented and nobody impeached them," Locsin told reporters in a briefing.

Locsin, a lawyer-journalist before entering politics, is the chairman of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms. He was instrumental in the passage of the bill before it was signed into law by President Arroyo last Jan. 23.

Locsin agrees with the position taken by the Comelec that it can no longer implement the law due to time constraints because the election is just four months away.

"If it can't be done, it can't be done. I cannot even imagine how to do it. We can't force the Comelec to do something that the advisory council said it could not. I really feel that we should step back and make the Comelec decide," he said.

Locsin took a swipe at the Senate, where the poll automation was delayed before it was finally approved into law.

"The Senate delayed the bill so long that there is no more time to demonstrate. The fact that the Senate delayed the passage of the bill shows there's bad faith," he explained.

Locsin also wants the New Automation Law amended that would include neophyte but qualified bidders to participate in the process, where they will be given the chance to prove their worth and help automate the May 2010 presidential elections.

He lamented that senators, before the measure was signed by Mrs. Arroyo, inserted a provision in the law that only allows firms that have "track records" to join the Comelec bidding.

This developed as the Comelec said the P155 million is a very minimal amount to spend for the procurement of security papers to ensure tamper-proof elections.

Jose Tolentino, Comelec director for operations and also the poll body's Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chairman, admitted that the agency awarded the bid for the purchase of security papers to the bidder with the higher price but the company offered more safety measures.

"It is correct that Lamco Paper Products Corp. offered a higher price but the other bidder Advance Computer Forms failed to comply with our specifications," Tolentino explained.

He said the Lamco security paper has additional security features like the afterglow spots that appear in the dark when the paper is exposed to fluorescent light and chemical-sensitive features, which the paper from Advance Computer does not have.

Lamco's bid is P23,899 per ream of paper or a total of P310,543,600 compared to the Advance Computer bid of P14,999 per ream or a difference of P8,999 per ream.

The Comelec en banc approved the recommendation of the BAC in its resolution dated Jan. 23, 2007. The award was allegedly given to Lamco under questionable circumstances since no representative from the concerned bidders or any technical expert was present during the evaluation for the security features of the paper samples provided by Lamco and Advance Computer.

In another development, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. welcomed the Comelec's accreditation of the Parish Pastoral Council for responsible Voting (PPCRV) as the citizen's arm.

Pimentel said the accreditation of PPCRV is a significant step to realize the objective of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines to prevent widespread cheating in the polls.

Pimentel said the credibility of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), which had been the citizen's arm in the past, was severely eroded because of allegations that it demonstrated partiality for President Arroyo during the Operation Quick Count in the 2004 presidential elections. – With Delon Porcalla, Mayen Jaymalin, Marvin Sy

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200701300405.htm

 

OFW investments

 

 

By Fr. Emeterio Barcelon, SJ

FOR the country, OFW remittances are equivalent to positive export trade balance. The multiplier effect of this is as great as if we had exported goods. Some of our neighbors boosted their economies by focusing on exports. The remittances are just as good although we still have to endeavor to have a trade surplus. The remittances are normally intended for subsistence of the families the OFWs left behind. But there are also savings over and above daily needs of the family. The pasalubongs, from chocolate bars to karaokes, are just a small portion of savings, including the festivities of welcoming them home. Even for the non-executives, like seamen and household helpers, some savings, especially for the more thrifty ones, are still available. How to invest these savings to protect them and to make the most out of them is the question. This involves risk and how much risk these savings are capable of taking or should take. Of course, the immediate investment should be a house for the family, ideally bought on installment to allow for adequacy. Next is provision for the education of the children and some protection from unexpected health and accident problems. Savings above this, needs some consideration for investments.

The retail bonds of the national government are ideal because the risk is minimal or none at all. It also protects from getting eaten up by inflation. The next best thing, or sometimes better, are time deposits with rural banks that pay higher rates and the interest can automatically be reinvested at the regular rates. The advantage of this over the national bonds is that it gets to earn at compound interest. These time deposits are guaranteed by the PDIC up to R250,000 so that a family of six can have up to a million and a half fully protected by this government insurance. For those interested in helping their hometown, deposits in the hometown rural bank will help towards this purpose. There are also local municipal bonds that are being issued to leverage the local government income from their share of the tax revenue. But there are not too many of these but hopefully will be coming with institutions like Ercof trying to help the OFWs to earn at the same time help their kababayans.

Beyond time deposits and bonds, the risks become greater but the returns can also be greater. Half of these overseas workers would have an investment they know how to run. This is ideal of they have returned and can supervise it themselves. Entrusting the investment to somebody else increases the risk. Investing in the stock market is not advisable except in the highly stable stocks that they call "for widows and orphans." And there are only three or four of these in the local stock market. Ideally some mutual fund stocks were available backed up by some stable organization. But there are none of these in sight at the present. The advantage of such mutual funds, if well run, is that it will take advantage of the bull run that the present economy should have for the next five or so years. Direct investing is also possible but this is the riskiest. I know of an executive who came back from abroad with his retirement money but promptly lost most of it in three years. Looking back at his investments he came to the conclusion that his investment instincts were no longer Filipino. He was out of sync with dealing with people here. Of course, he might just have been unlucky and the general economy was on a down turn at the time of his investments. This also points to Filipinos and Filipino groups who are now coming back with investment capital. They also have to be helped to make the most of their opportunities. <emeterio_barcelon@yahoo.com>

http://www.mb.com.ph/archive_pages.php?url=http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2007/01/26/OPED2007012685548.html

We can't depend on OFWs forever

DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco
The Philippine Star 01/29/2007

 

The way our government spins the positive news about OFW remittances, they make it look like Ate Glue should get credit for all that. The worse part of it is the impression being made that sending our workers abroad is an important permanent pillar of Ate Glue’s economic program. If this is so, we have reason to worry simply because it is not sustainable. Sending workers abroad was supposed to have been a stop gap measure, something temporary while government works to get our domestic economy humming.

I have mostly considered the opinions of the Ibon Foundation a lot of leftist propaganda that cannot be relied on for real policy making. But this time, I completely agree with the view they expressed that "the growing dependence of the country’s economy on the money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has become alarming."

It is definitely alarming that the remittances of around $12.3 billion last year were roughly equivalent to 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. There are those who estimate the real figure at the $14-billion to $21- billion range, if other remittance channels are considered.

"The double digit mark makes the Philippines the most overseas remittance-dependent economy of any significant size in the world. This means that the economy continues to be kept afloat by the external and volatile OFW remittances, and not by a strong local economic capacity," an Ibon economist was reported to have said.

Government statements estimate that about two to three thousand Filipinos leave the country everyday to find jobs abroad. That is definitely a sign that government’s economic programs have failed to create jobs domestically. The scarcity of jobs indicates, as Ibon observes, "the economy lacks an internal dynamism that is able to productively harness and employ the Filipino workforce."

Quick cut to Vietnam, one of the fastest growing economies in the region today... According to the Financial Times, Vietnam is now experiencing a spectacular stock market boom. Interest from both Vietnamese and foreign investors fuelled a stunning market rally at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

Their one big problem however, is lack of qualified manpower. It is hard enough to teach communists the basics and the nuances of a strictly capitalist money making institution, they also have the general inability to communicate in English. I have a strange feeling that headhunters will soon be prowling the floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange to engage talent to help keep the bulls running in Vietnam’s stock market. We have some of the best analysts and traders in the region, after all.

The Financial Times article went on to say that unlike in many other Asian countries including ours, Vietnamese students abroad are starting to come home to provide the trained manpower to manage their country’s economic boom. But they don’t have the numbers their country needs. Our problem is, we have more than we need and many talented and trained manpower are merely fetching coffee or twiddling their fingers here while waiting for action.

Many of our bright young talents have grown tired of waiting and have joined the exodus abroad. This is also why OFW remittances have ballooned. The composition of our manpower export has started to shift from brawns to brains. They earn more and are sending back more. The danger however, is that this college educated types tend to assimilate well in their host countries and end up as permanent migrants... a total loss for our country.

Former banker Ramon "Ray" Orosa warned that in the long run, the " unfortunate consequence of their departure is to deprive our economy of the qualified labor needed in order to build a sustainable economy. The lack of qualified, competent labor has so grown that even foreign investors are now concerned whether to invest in the country due to the lack of qualified manpower."

Ray worries that "the declines in domestic investment implied a diminishing capacity to expand production and warned of a slowdown in the near future." In other words, go and enjoy their remittances now. But don’t get addicted to it. That’s just a short term benefit. Unless we are able to attract them to eventually come home and help rebuilt our country’s economy, we are going to be worse off in the future.

How do we get them to come home, or for that matter, keep them from leaving? According to a recent World Bank study, good governance will do the trick.

"What really helps putative migrants stay at home is not just higher wages but the prospect of fast, effective reform, bringing better public services and a dependable legal system." The final misconception is about what motivates migration, the World Bank study notes. " Everyone thinks it is all about income differentials, but actually it is all about expectations. Even in poor countries we can expect low levels of migration if people think that conditions there will improve," argues Brice Quillin, one of the report’s authors.

There are no ready-made solutions for effective migration policy, yet one possible route might be to combine short-term migration with incentives for return or circular migration. Circular migration could allow migrants to spend short periods of time abroad without creating new amounts of permanent migration.

Circular migration, the World Bank study asserts, will yield a ‘Triple Win’ for migrants and sending and receiving countries. Potential benefits of circular migration include: Receiving countries could fill labor shortages, increase revenue, and reduce social tensions related to undocumented and unmanaged migration; Sending countries would accumulate human capital that might otherwise be lost; and Migrants could increase their income, build human capital and financial savings, maintain links with their families, pay lower remittance costs, and create trade/investment linkages between countries.

Theoretically, returning OFWs constitute the great hope of our country for the future. Many of them have some savings that could spur countryside development. Their overseas experience has exposed them to more effective governance that would make them a force for improvement in our own governance as well.

Our big problem is how to get this circular migration going... how can we get our trained migrants back. As such, an effective OFW program should not be singularly focused on remittances but also on how we can use this phenomenon as an investment for our future, by getting our trained manpower back home.

The fast and easy answer is to get our government to drastically improve governance so that every Filipino will be so proud of his country and there would be no place in the world for him like home. But given the quality of our political leaders and the quality of our bureaucracy today, good governance is a dream. I want to think it shouldn’t be hopeless, unless we give up.

Economic forecasts

Albert Einstein dies and goes to heaven only to be informed that his room is not yet ready. "I hope you will not mind waiting in a dormitory. We are very sorry, but it’s the best we can do and you will have to share the room with others," he is told by St. Peter.

Einstein says that this is no problem at all and that there is no need to make such a fuss. So St. Peter leads him to the dorm. They enter and Albert is introduced to all of the present inhabitants.

"See, here is your first room mate. He has an IQ of 180!", says St. Peter.

"That’s wonderful!" says Einstein. "We can discuss mathematics!"

"And here is your second room mate. His IQ is 150!".

"That’s wonderful!" says Einstein. "We can discuss physics!"

Suddenly, another man moves out to capture Einstein’s hand and shake it. "I’m your last room mate and I’m sorry, but my IQ is only 80."

Einstein smiles back at him and says, "So, where do you think interest rates are headed?"

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com

 

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200701290711.htm

Best time for OFW-directed RTBs

Best time for OFW-directed RTBs

BSP OFFICIALS CITE LOW INTEREST RATES, SHARP INVESTOR SENTIMENT, BUT CRUZ CAUTIOUS

 

By Jun Vallecera

Reporter

CENTRAL bank officials believe that now or anytime soon is the opportune time to come out with a new retail treasury bond sale program for overseas Filipino workers, when interest rates are low and investor sentiment still sharp.

A senior monetary official said Treasury chief Omar Cruz’s ambivalence on it at present may sharpen appetite for the IOUs last issued in 2004. But the opportunity could pass soon and the national coffers would end up none the richer for it.

“It’s a pity. Now is the best time to do it when interest rates are better than borrowing overseas,” an official, requesting anonymity, said.

According to the official, while Cruz is correct in gauging the depth of the appetite first and on addressing among others tax and registry issues, the opportunity cannot last forever.

The planned RTBs are to be sold exclusively to OFWs and their families and the proceeds spent on infrastructure projects planned between now and 2010.

The matter of denominating the IOUs in local currency, in US dollars or in the European Union’s euro has not yet been determined.

An earlier report said the final choice will depend on where the greatest amount of interest will be, given that OFW concentrations can be found almost anywhere in the world.

According to the Department of Finance, the first RTBs were issued in 2001 and then again in 2002, and these together sold for a total P100 billion.

Later in 2002, three- and five-year RTBs were sold at a cost of 10.75 percent paid every quarter raising another P63 billion.

The last one was a five-year IOU issued in 2004 that cost the government significantly more at 7.28 percent versus only 5.875 percent some three years earlier.

Interest rates at present are still moving down, making the timing of the issuance of yet another batch of RBTs all the more important, according to officials.

Changes in the mode of paying RTB investors have also been adopted to pave the way for semiannual rather than quarterly payments, they added.

According to officials, OFWs are a potent force who’re able to send $12 billion worth of overseas earnings a year, or the equivalent of some 10 percent of total output of the gross national product.

Although less than 40 percent of OFW families actually save a part of their earnings in the form of bank deposit accounts, the number that do invest in more sophisticated financial instruments are much smaller. Still, some officials believe their ranks are swelling.

Deputy Bangko Sentral governor Diwa Guinigundo said the financial sophistication of OFWs has increased significantly over the past few years and the next hurdle was to get them to invest and to borrow in still higher numbers to take advantage of the multiplier effect.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/01292007/headlines01.html

 

Human exodus exacts a high price

 By Rommer M. Balaba

Reporter

FILIPINOS may be tremendously benefiting from $12 billion worth of annual remittances sent by relatives working abroad, but seen from a broader scale there could be blips that might weigh down on income equality, local employment and country competitiveness, a labor economist said Friday.

For a country whose outmigration rate is highest in the region, the Philippines' long-term risk of losing its skilled labor may be costlier than gains the economy gets from having higher foreign exchange inflows, Winfred M. Villamil, associate professor of the Economics Department of the De La Salle University, said in an interview.

"Labor migration is thought to alleviate poverty in the sending country by reducing the domestic supply of workers such that wages rise and consequently unemployment and underemployment fall. Migration therefore provides a safety valve for a country to ease pressures to provide employment to its labor force," Villamil commented.

The De La Salle University associate professor had a caveat, though: considering most of the almost one million Filipinos who leave yearly for overseas work are mostly the skilled ones, the country needs to compete regionally and globally.

"The gains may be large if those who leave are the unskilled and who belong to the low-income class… but those who leave are skilled. This might have dire consequences on the Philippines, which hopes to compete with low-wage countries such as China through industrial upgrading and shift to skills-intensive industries to increase productivity," he told BusinessMirror.

What may even be worse than the delay of structural transformation is the ensuing risk of "brain waste" wherein the educated and skilled Filipinos get employed for unskilled work, he added.

This, as Villamil pointed out, leads to another blip in terms of social and income inequity. "Most of migrants are skilled educated workers who are not necessarily poor… you have a situation where migration is substantially costly, so it is the relatively well-off who might have better opportunities for migration," he commented, and leaves those unable to finance their migration having to contend with their limited financial capability.

Remittances, which make up about 9.4 percent of gross domestic product, also have a tendency to slow down economic growth, Villamil claimed.

"Some families who receive substantial remittances either stop working, reduce their time working or take a longer time looking for work because they now have reservation wages or other sources of income," he said, thereby reducing potential household productivity.

Villamil noted there is even evidence of higher unemployment rates in households benefiting from overseas remittances.

On the contrary, the DLSU professor noted that remittances are also countercyclical in the Philippines' case, as proven after the 1997 financial crisis and the series of El Niño events in the country.

"We experience higher remittances when there is a downturn in the economy… this plays an important role to support stability in the face of an economic shock and in mitigating the effects of this economic shock," Villamil said.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/01292007/headlines02.html

 

Opinion: Fil-Am businessmen cry for representation

Some people say they are the latest version of the steak commandos of America, Victor S. Barrios and his California/Manila-based group, who are the prime movers of Global Filipino Coalition seeking for representation in the legislature under a new or revised Constitution in time for the next presidential or parliamentary elections.

The steak commandos of Vic Barrios are businessmen and professionals doing well in America who, according to the global coalition, feel that it is about time that global Filipinos take a bigger role in reshaping the Philippines' political and economic landscape.

Unlike the old steak commandos of Raul Manglapus who considered themselves as exiles, Barrios and his coalition are well-meaning citizens or permanent residents of America and other countries seeking for representation in the Philippine legislature, whether it is bicameral or unicameral.

"Since Philippine laws under the dual-citizenship concept allow overseas Filipinos to vote, why not give them also the right to be voted upon?" Vic asked when I met him in San Francisco just last week.

It's good Vic Barrios, a former Philippine banker-turned-international banker for the World Bank and other multilaterals, asked that question.

The colonies of North America, before they collectively became the United States of America, revolted against England, the Motherland, over the issue of taxation without representation. The United States won that war and became independent.

I am not suggesting anything similar because the US and the Philippines are two separate cases although there are groups in the Philippines who want the country annexed to the US or become a member of the union.

Taxation without representation was the famous battle cry during the American Revolution, but that issue is not being raised in the Philippine present context because double taxation is not an issue.

"Votation" without representation (votation is a native and unique Filipino English usage, by the way) might be the more appropriate battle cry because the right to vote carries with it the right to be voted upon, Vic insisted.

Which also reminds me of the propaganda years during the time of Jose Rizal and the other steak commandos based in Madrid and Barcelona. Rizal wanted representation in the Spanish Cortes, the parliament of Spain. He and his fellow steak commandos wanted to be members of the Parliament by converting the Philippines into a province or district of Spain.

Of course, Barrios and his group are not literally steak commandos. They are neither commandos nor steak eaters. The many days I spent in San Francisco were mostly spent with Vic, who is now chairman of Worldwide Capital Corp. of California. At the same time, he is also a highly compensated consultant of the World Bank. He and his "steak gang members" are mostly adobe eaters.

The coalition, according to Vic, the chairman of the ninth Philippine Business Conference who delivered a speech in Malacañang demanding reforms from President Ferdinand E. Marcos, wants to help the Motherland (the Philippines) progress in economic and political stature.

Ah, the Motherland! It may sound sexist but the male sector is not complaining. Other countries call themselves the Fatherland, some say, but that is another issue. There is no such thing as Father Nature, father tongue or computer father board. The Philippines was named after King Philip of Spain and America, Americus Vespucci, both males, probably.

But American Filipino representation in the Philippine legislative branch is another thing, according to those who oppose Barrios' gambit. Filipinos who are now American citizens by virtue of birth or naturalization have no business intervening in homeland political affairs.

Barrios pointed out that global Filipinos seek equality for all Filipinos, i.e., "at home and abroad, all Filipinos have the same rights."

Building on this principle, he stressed that global Filipinos should also be entitled to proportional representation on the same basis as onshore Filipinos. This idea expands the notion of the election district.

Vic argued that the Motherland should embrace all Filipinos—again, at home and abroad. The rapid march of globalization has spread out global Filipinos in more than 130 countries. What is important is not the soil where they stand but that they stand out wherever they are, he pointed out.

At the core of the sentiments of global Filipinos is the conviction that "once a Filipino, always a Filipino."  Accordingly, they seek to enshrine this principle in the Constitution, the implication being that one could only lose Filipino citizenship by formally renouncing it.

Would dual citizenship be inconsistent with unified commitment to the Motherland? Barrios pointed out that open societies, such as the US and the United Kingdom, tend to be progressive societies. There are no prohibitions for US dual citizens to run for US public office or public office abroad.

The Commonwealth of Nations (composed of 53 states) has a Commonwealth citizenship for its members' citizens. Some member states, e.g., UK, allow non-nationals who are Commonwealth citizens to vote and stand for election while resident there.

The notion of supra-national citizenship of the Commonwealth of Nations extends to the European Union, which has a membership of 25 nations. European Union Law has the concept of EU citizenship, which emanates from citizenship of a member state. EU citizens could aspire for seats in the EU Parliament.

Barrios strongly believes that the world is headed toward global openness and convergence of governance of different states.

Is Vic pursuing an elusive Quixotic quest? No matter: He thinks there is so much at stake behind the windmills. . . . 

E-mail: raulbvalino@yahoo.com.ph.

 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/01232007/opinion06.html

OFW remittances hit all-time high of $14B

Inquirer
Last updated 03:22am (Mla time) 01/27/2007

DOLLARS sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) through banks and other channels likely reached an all-time high of $14 billion in 2006, according to a new central bank estimate.

An earlier projection of the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), had placed OFW money inflows at $13.4 billion in 2006, from roughly $12.0 billion in 2005. It had expected the amount to reach $14.0 billion in 2007, including $13.5 billion through the banking system.

Now the likely 2006 total is $13-$14 billion, including $12-$13 billion coursed through the banking system, BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo told reporters Friday.

At $14 billion, the amount would be about 60 percent of the BSP’s foreign exchange reserves, which surged to an all-time high of $23 billion at end-2006.

In 2005, the BSP assumed in its computation of the balance of payments -- the measure of the country’s international financial transactions -- that 20 percent of OFW money inflows would come in through informal channels, such as OFWs’ friends and acquaintances or other travelers. This “leakage” dropped to 10 percent in 2006, and is expected to fall further to five percent this year, according to the BSP’s latest estimates.

Last November, OFW money remittances through banks exceeded $1 billion for the seventh straight month, bringing the total for the first 11 months of 2006 to a record-high $11.44 billion, up 17.6 percent from the same period in 2005.

The bulk continued to come from the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Taiwan.

Strong inflows of dollars from OFWs and from foreign portfolio investors last year helped to push the peso up by nearly eight percent against the dollar. With INQUIRER.net

http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=45948

1M Filipinos join diaspora

January 22, 2007
Updated 18:23:25 (Mla time)

Agence France-Presse

MANILA -- More than one million Filipino workers ranging from domestic helpers to doctors, engineers and pilots joined the growing army of Filipinos employed overseas last year, according to official data.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) says more than eight million Filipinos, about one tenth of the country's population of 86 million, were working overseas last year.

The Philippines has become one of the world's biggest exporters of workers, whose income now plays a central role in the country's economy.

In the 11 months to November last year remittances sent home by overseas workers totaled $11.44 billion, about 10 percent of gross domestic product, according to data from the central bank.

The Philippines has become one of the world's biggest exporters of workers and now constitutes one of the biggest sectors of the country's economy.

A recent Asian Development Bank report put the real figure (money not declared) in the $14 billion to $21 billion range -- which dwarfs the $2billion the country received last year in foreign direct investment.

Attracted by higher wages, the exodus is fast draining the Philippines of its skilled professional workforce such as teachers and nurses.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) nurses and other medical workers are leaving the Philippines at the rate of at least 15,000 a year for better-paying jobs abroad, threatening the country's health infrastructure.

WHO country representative Jean Marc Olive warned that the exodus was expected to persist until at least 2015, with annual demand for medical workers in the United States and Europe estimated to be about 800,000.

In sectors such as aviation, pilots and engineers are being poached to meet the demand of the world's rapidly expanding airline industry.

Some 250,447 Filipinos make up one of the biggest sectors of the world's merchant navy, while in countries like Hong Kong and Singapore they constitute the bulk of domestic workers.

The United States is the world's biggest employer with 2.7 million Filipinos, as of December 2004.

Figures for 2005 and 2006 have yet to be compiled.

The Middle East employed 1.6 million Filipinos, with one million employed in Saudi Arabia alone in sectors ranging from the oil and gas industries, to building, technology and health care.

According to government data, Filipinos are employed in 194 countries and territories around the world from tiny Palau in the Pacific to Equatorial Guinea in Africa.

Filipinos can be found dealing cards in the casinos of Macau and even the head cook in the White House is a Filipino.

http://services.inquirer.net/express/07/01/23/html_output/xmlhtml/20070122-44884-xml.html

OWWA rolls out new Internet-based service for Pinoy overseas workers

 

 

By JOEL D. PINAROC

The Overseas Workers and Welfare Aadministration (OWWA) has partnered with commercial bank RCBC and software firm Microsoft in the roll out of a new, Internet-based service platform expected to benefit Filipinos working abroad.

The service, called "Tele-OFW (Overseas Free Way)" allows workers abroad to communicate, remit money, and send messages anywhere around the globe using a Windows Mobile device, a mobile phone or a PC.

RCBC’s network of more than 200 branches abroad will be used for the service, the OWWA said.

OWWA administrator Marianito Roque claims the new service, which will also be rolled out in other countries where a large concentration of Filipino workers can be found, will help workers substantially reduce the money they spend on long distance calls, and remittance fees.

"Tele-OFW is a service which will allow our overseas workers to reduce costs when staying in touch with their loved ones," Roque said.

The official said the system will also allow the OWWA to disseminate information to users of TeleOFW.

"The system is a good way for the OWWA to send information and content to the millions of workers abroad. But the major goal is to allow workers abroad to communicate more easily with loved ones in the Philippines," Roque said.

Roque said other similar roll outs will soon be cosnducted in Singapore, Hong Kong, the Middle East, and Europe.

There are currently more than 8 million overseas workers, but industry estimates put the number even higher considering that some workers are not "documented."

RCBC president and COO Francisco Magsajo meanwhile added that the bank will be open to ‘financing’ schemes for overseas workers.

"Filipino workers abroad can avail of easy financing agreement in the purchase of a computer or a handset. But you can also avail of a bundled loan, where the PC and handset is already included in the package," Magsajo said.

Depending on the type of PC or handset, a worker can loan a PC and handset package for as low as R50,000, the executive said.

RCBC executives added that workers abroad and beneficiaries who open an RCBC TeleMoney account can request for the Tele-OFW service, which requires a dual-mode Windows Mobile device, and a computer with broadband access.

In the remittance arrangement, the recipient can then withdraw the amount using an ATM.

For its part, Microsoft will provide the solution, called One Follow Me, for the Tele-OFW service.

The solution allows instant messaging, VoIP calling, and online money management, anywhere across the globe, Microsoft executives claim.

 

http://www.mb.com.ph/INFO2007011984988.html

OFWs: RP's strongest economic fundamental

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sent home $11.44 billion in the first 11 months of 2006, an all-time high, up 17.6 percent from the same period in 2005, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

In November alone, OFWs’ remittances amounted to $1.14 billion, up 27.8 percent from a year earlier, keeping the monthly level at the $1 billion for the seventh straight month.

Thus, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that the full-year remittances would exceed the BSP’s $12.3-billion forecast. And that excludes money sent through informal channels like friends, relatives and door-to-door courier services.

“The strength of remittances during the 11-month period may be attributed to the continued preference for Filipino workers by host countries, and improved financial services made available by banks and other nonbank remittance channels,” according to BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr.

The remittances came mainly from countries with large communities of Filipino expatriates—the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Taiwan.

Tetangco said the number of OFWs deployed from January to November reached 1.04 million, up 12.8 percent from the same months in 2005. Land-based workers increased 13.8 percent to 786,687 and sea-based workers, 9.8 percent to 250,447, he said.

“It is expected that the demand for Filipino workers will continue to be strong given the country’s large pool of skilled and professional human resources,” Tetangco said.

Meanwhile, banks continued to serve as efficient and preferred channels of remittance transfer due to their introduction of innovative financial services, such as Internet/online banking, phone banking, bills payment arrangements, as well as their competitive service fees and conversion rates.

To attract more remittances, banks, private remittance companies and other formal remittance agents are focused on setting up improved infrastructure mechanisms to increase the number of remittance centers and strengthen tie-ups abroad.

“These initiatives are expected to facilitate faster and easier transfer of remittances by OFWs to their beneficiaries,” Tetangco said.

Through the years, OFW remittances have made the Philippine economy more resilient to shocks that could otherwise affect growth, inflation, external accounts and employment. In terms of employment, for instance, the ratio of jobless Filipinos would have doubled to 20 percent from the current 10 percent if all OFWs remained in the country instead.

In the first nine months of 2006, cash remittances from OFWs accounted for 17.8 percent of total current account receipts and about 10 percent of gross national product.

The bottom line is, OFWs, through their remittances do not only keep the economy afloat, but are now driving growth. Their role in the national economy has grown a lot from saving the country from collapse during the early 80s.

That’s the good news. The bad news, according to the Ibon Foundation is that the Philippines’ heavy dependence on remittances reflects a lack of domestic fiscal capacity and domestic employment opportunities.

“The sheer scarcity of jobs is already a sign that all is not well and that the economy lacks an internal dynamism that is able to productively harness and employ the Filipino workforce,” Ibon research head Sonny Africa said.

“The declines in domestic investment imply a diminishing capacity to expand production and warn of a slowdown in the very near future,” he pointed out.

Export of labor was a people’s initiative (not the recently junked people’s initiative to change the Constitution) launched during the ’70s when the Middle East countries discovered their oil-based power and their need for skilled manpower.

Today, OFWs are no longer considered as a phenomenon that will fade after a short while. It is still driven by the demand for skilled manpower in countries with a lot of cash but not a lot of skilled labor, but now, demographic changes come into the future. The aging populations in wealthy countries like Japan, which are suffering from zero or very low birth rates, are creating more demand for Filipinos in new job categories—nursing and care-giving—which offer higher salaries than domestic jobs or construction workers.

As long as the global demand for Filipino workers grow, our leaders need not worry about other adverse factors. The Philippines’ modern-day heroes will continue to fuel the national economy.

E-mail at raulbvalino@yahoo.com.ph.

 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0119&202007/opinion03.html

Think tank: Rising dependence on OFW remittances alarming

First posted 18:50:44 (Mla time) January 18, 2007
Delfin Mallari Jr.
Southern Luzon Bureau

MANILA, Philippines -- The growing dependence of the country’s economy on the money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has become alarming, the head researcher of the think tank Ibon Foundation Inc. said.

Sonny Africa said the OFWs had become the government’s biggest source of precious dollars, remitting $11.4 billion from January to November last year.

What is alarming, he said, is that the remittances were equivalent to 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

“The double digit mark makes the Philippines the most overseas remittance-dependent economy of any significant size in the world. This means that the economy continues to be kept afloat by the external and volatile OFW remittances, and not by a strong local economic capacity,” he said in a statement furnished the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

He added that the declines in domestic investment implied a diminishing capacity to expand production and warned of a slowdown in the near future.

Africa pointed to the glaring lack of decent jobs in the country as the main factor on the exodus of Filipinos seeking employment overseas.

According to an Ibon research, an estimated 3,000 Filipinos leave the country everyday to find jobs abroad.

“The sheer scarcity of jobs is already a sign that all is not well and that the economy lacks an internal dynamism that is able to productively harness and employ the Filipino workforce,” Africa said.

Ibon is an independent development institution established in 1978 and provides research, education, publications, information work and advocacy support on socioeconomic issues.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view_article.php?article_id=44209

Free training for 2-year overseas contracts

 

 

Did you know 1: With malls sprouting all over the place, the industry vacancy rate this year is predicted to go up to 15 percent. As a result, rentals have remained stable, although competition among lessees/franchisees have increased.               

Right now, for every P50 in sales grossed by a franchisee in Metro Manila, P15 goes to the franchisor and the mall developer.

Did you know 2: Since it looks like executive vice-president and chief actuary Henry Herrera will step up next month as  the next president and chief executive officer of SunLife Financials (Phils)., expect the company to give more preference to graduates of  the University of the Philippines.         

As it is, Herrera’s staff is predominantly from UP-Diliman and, like Herrera, graduated with honors.

Did you know 3: The Philippine Retailers Association headed by Manuel Siggaoat has put up a training arm that will export trained workers, initially to the Middle East.                

To be started in March, accepted applicants will be trained for free and will be given two-year working contracts by a Kuwait-based department store chain that specializes in clothes and toys for children until the age of 14. Oh yes, this chain of stores is also looking for staff who will man a day-care center, while the mommies shop until they drop.

***

It’s still not clear who will head Fresh N Famous Foods Corp., the company spun off from Jollibee Foods, which holds three fast food brands—Chowking, Greenwich and Delifrance.         

Maybe, just maybe, the top post will be held on a concurrent basis by Jollibee president and chief executive officer Tony Tan Catktiong.               

Chowking, the most profitable of the three, is headed by Rufino de la Rosa, who was Jollibee’s chief financial officer when the company went public. Greenwich is currently handled by former Procter & Gamble marketing hotshot and consultant for overseas expansion, Erwin Eliechicon.

***

Very quietly, the Social Security System (SSS) headed by Corazon de la Paz has increased at the start of the year the monthly contributions of employers, self-employed workers, and voluntary members such as overseas Filipino workers (some of whom prefer to be called global Filipino workers of GFW).   

Depending on how much they earn, this means OFWs will be contributing anywhere from P520 to P1,500 a month (up from the range of P470 to P1,410 in 2006) while professionals and self-employed SSS members will now contribute between P104 and P1,560.          

The contribution of employees remains unchanged while their employers will now contribute P10 more for the lowest salary credit of P1,000 to an additional P170 for the highest salary range of P15,000 and above.

 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0119&202007/companies05.html

SEC reaches out to OFWs

Comes now the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with a laudable financial program for the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to educate them on financial products available in the capital market. This plan could result in the increase in the savings rate, a key to the promotion of a vibrant economy.

The SEC program aims to tap other government entities, as well as the private sector, in pushing for the success of this program that seeks to encourage an awareness of the different financial products available to the OFWs.

Under the SEC plan, the principal financial regulators and the operators of key institutions would be tapped to intensify the program to educate the citizens on the benefits of savings and long-term investment in enterprises that are active in the Philippines. A vital component of this program is to alert citizens on the "red flags" that indicate pyramid-type schemes and to urge that they promptly report suspicious schemes to law enforcement agencies. Pyramid-type schemes still continue proliferating as long as the element of greed is present for every type of financial product that is offered.

The absence of a meaningful education program on financial products for Filipinos is the root cause of the continued success of Ponzi-type schemes that victimize even the OFWs. The rule of thumb is that a financial product that is too good to be true (like in the offer of high interest rates) is not good for the pockets of the OFWs.

Also, the OFWs should be wary of companies that offer huge returns for being members of supposed multilevel networks that actually operate as pyramids. The key to knowing the pyramid type is to determine whether the recruitment fees are what drive the earnings of the entrants.

The SEC move then is a whiff of fresh air especially for the newfound wealth of OFW families that continue to receive the remittances of their beloved family member toiling out there. It is these remittances that reach more than $10 billion a year that is behind the surge in the peso's rate vis-à-vis the dollar. The consumption-driven growth for the country is also believed attributable to the OFW remittances. But this growth could give way to an investment-driven growth that could be provided by this SEC program.

The recent bull run in the stock market has provided fresh insights on wealth creation that is available to thousands of OFWs, especially with the surge in the share price of PNOC-EDC's IPO (initial public offering). The stock has gone past P5 a share from its P3.20 offering price and this rewarding kind of savings for the OFWs is part of the SEC program of educating the OFWs.

From this, the SEC can then come up with other financial products that could be offered to the OFWs that would have the net effect of allowing for sophistication in the investment know-how of the OFWs.

This is laudable that even the Philippine Stock Exchange should support given the emphasis it places on the capital market development. The government should work closely with the private sector in working out a plan to educate the families of OFWs on the investment products available to them. The prospective savers should be well informed on the other investment/savings products available and the degree of risk that they are comfortable with.

SEC's program is the carrot approach to promoting capital market development. Public and private sectors should experiment with novel programs in disseminating basic knowledge about the financial markets and the virtues of savings/investing such as through radio programs. We are sure that radio stations would not mind being part of a great undertaking aimed at educating the big number of OFW families who have to depend on the earnings stream that could be provided by savings/investment products when they reach retirement age.

At a time of the emerging resurgence of the dollar inflows from millions of OFWs working in North America, Europe and Asia, the SEC plan is made more laudable by what it could provide. With it, OFW families would be able to squirrel away part of the remittances they receive and contribute toward capital formation. This, in turn, leads to the funding of the expansion plans of business or new small and medium enterprises that lead to heightened growth. With that, even the SEC benefits by way of increased fees from the incorporation of new companies or the capital increase of existing ones. SEC's plan, then comes full circle, and for the good of the economy.

E-mail: hugagni@yahoo.com.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/01172007/opinion05.html

11-month OFW remittances hit all-time high: $11.44B

MONEY - TOP STORIES

January 16, 2007
Updated 03:28:30 (Mla time)

Inquirer

OVERSEAS Filipino workers (OFWs) sent home $11.44 billion in the first 11 months of 2006, an all-time high, up 17.6-percent from the same period in 2005, the central bank reported Monday.

In November, the money remittances amounted to $1.14 billion, up 27.8 percent from a year earlier, keeping the monthly level at the $1 billion for the seventh straight month.

There is a strong possibility that the full-year 2006 total will exceed the central bank’s projection of $12.3 billion, said Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. of the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

“The strength of remittances during the 11-month period may be attributed to the continued preference for Filipino workers by host countries and improved financial services made available by banks and other non-bank remittance channels,” Tetangco said.

The remittances came mainly from the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Taiwan.

Citing preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration on new hires and rehires, Tetangco said the number of OFWs deployed from January to November reached 1.04 million, up 12.8 percent from the same months in 2005. Land-based workers increased 13.8 percent to 786,687 and sea-based workers, 9.8 percent to 250,447, he said.

“It is expected that the demand for Filipino workers will continue to be strong given the country’s large pool of skilled and professional human resources,” Tetangco said.

“Banks, meanwhile, continued to serve as efficient and preferred channels of remittance transfer due to their introduction of innovative financial services, such as Internet/on-line banking, phone banking, bills payment arrangements, as well as their competitive service fees and conversion rates,” the BSP chief added.

Tetangco said banks, private remittance companies and other formal remittance agents were focused on setting up improved infrastructure mechanisms to increase the number of remittance centers and strengthen tie-ups abroad.

“These initiatives are expected to facilitate faster and easier transfer of remittances by OFWs to their beneficiaries,” he said.

The increasing shift by OFWs away from informal channels, especially given the steady decline in remittances charges by banks, is also seen to further increase the flows coursed through the banking system.

In 2005, the BSP assumed in its computation of the country's international payments that 20 percent of OFW money remittances were done outside of the banking system and flowing instead through informal channels, defined as unlicensed or unregulated operations such as friends, acquaintances or other travelers. This so-called leakage in the OFW remittance flows dropped to 10 percent in 2006 and is expected to fall to five percent this year, according to the latest BSP estimates.

An earlier study on the Mexican experience showed that remittances held as deposits in the banking system would yield a beneficial multiplier effect of between two to three times as these could be channeled to investments, including small and microbusinesses. As such, the BSP is promoting the use of formal banking channels as a safer and more productive cash remittance system for millions of Filipinos working abroad.

Through the years, OFW remittances have made the Philippine economy more resilient to shocks that could otherwise affect growth, inflation, external accounts and employment. In terms of employment, for instance, the ratio of jobless Filipinos would have doubled to 20 percent from the current 10 percent if all OFWs remained in the country instead.

In the first nine months of 2006, cash remittances from OFWs accounted for 17.8 percent of total current account receipts and about 10 percent of gross national product. By Doris C. Dumlao, with INQUIRER.net

http://services.inquirer.net/express/07/01/16/html_output/xmlhtml/20070116-43627-xml.html

New service allows overseas workers to send money over Wi-Fi

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES

News

New service allows overseas workers to send money over Wi-Fi

Filipinos working overseas can now take advantage of Wi-Fi technology to send money back home, aside from chatting with their loved ones through the Internet or calling them on the phone through voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP).

Overseas workers now have the option of using Wi-Fi technology to send money back home.

The new remittance service for overseas Filipino workers or OFWs, "Tele-OFW One Follow Me," makes use of PDA (personal digital assistant) phones equipped with the Windows operating system for mobile devices, which allows users to connect to the Microsoft Live Communication Server within a Wi-Fi area and then manage funds in a bank account.

Microsoft Philippines and the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) launched the project last week at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Pasay.

OFWs can use the service by opening an RCBC TeleMoney remittance service account and then purchasing a phone equipped with Windows Mobile 5.0. With Wi-Fi access they can transfer funds from one account to another and send money to relatives in the Philippines.

They can also use the device to make VoIP phone calls and send instant messages to relatives in the Philippines.

Recipients of instant messages must have a computer with the Windows XP system and a broadband Internet connection.

The product was developed in the Philippines by an international team led by Randy Granovetter, Microsoft’s worldwide general manager for emerging markets. The Philippines is an "ideal" location for the product because of the large number of overseas workers and Filipinos’ strong family and community ties, Ms. Granovetter said.

"Our first target market is seafarers. We have already tested the phone on ships that have Wi-Fi in different parts of the world. Later on, as we expand to different segments, we can also provide additional content, such as educational services," she explained.

The service could soon provide information on government services and job-related training. Microsoft is set to demonstrate the product to Filipinos abroad, and if successful, it will be marketed to other countries with a large number of workers overseas, such as in Central and South America.

RCBC clients can purchase the phone and computer package for about P50,000. Clients of RCBC Savings Bank can also apply for personal loans to buy the package. Calls through the phone are charged based on local time use instead of international roaming charges. Remittances done through the service are subject to normal remittance charges.

OWWA administrator Marianito Roque said the service is a way for OFWs to maintain strong ties with their families.

Savings from communication costs can be used for other items, such as investments and savings, he said.

Mr. Roque said the service is being scheduled for a global launch. "This launch is to be replicated in several countries with a strong Filipino presence, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, the Middle East, and different parts of Europe." — Allan E. Lalisan

http://www.itmatters.com.ph/news.php?id=011607a