Euro zone debt crisis worrying Filipino seamen

MANILA, Philippines – Money sent home by Filipino seamen in the first quarter grew by 11% from a year ago to $888.95 million, but a prolonged economic crisis in Europe could hurt future remittances, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said on Sunday.

From January to March,  remittances by seamen outpaced the nearly 6% growth in money sent by land-based overseas workers to their families in the Philippines.

“We remain bullish overall about the potential growth in remittances from Filipino sailors in the months ahead,” said former Senator Ernesto Herrera, who is now secretary-general of the TUCP.

He said that remittances from seamen based in Greece, the center of Europe’s brewing financial crisis, still rose by 18% in the first quarter to $34.7 million compared to $29.3 million a year ago.

TUCP  however, noted that remittances from Filipino sailors based in Norway, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden declined by nearly 21% in the first quarter.

“We are deeply worried about Greece’s lingering debt crisis, which could depress economic conditions as well as shipping activity in Europe,” added Herrera, whose labor center includes the Philippine Seafarers’ Union.

Hundreds of billions of euros were earmarked by the European Union (EU)  in recent weeks to contain the euro zone debt crisis and prevent its member, Greece from avoiding a debt restructuring in the next five years.

EU’s finance ministers are calling for tougher financial regulation which many fear would curb economic recovery, while markets are worried that Greece’s debt woes would swirl to other indebted nations, dragging down Europe’s economy and curtailing trade to the United States and Asia.

The top 10 sources of Filipino sailors’ remittances are the United States, Japan, Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Greece, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Cyprus, according to Herrera.

Of the 10 biggest sources of remittances from Filipino sailors, six are European countries, Herrera said.

Last week, the central bank or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported that total remittances from all migrant Filipino workers, whether based on land or at sea, reached $4.339 billion in the first quarter, up 6.96%  from $4.057 billion over the same period in 2009.

In 2009, Filipino seamen remitted a record $3.4 billion, up $366 million or 12.1% from $3.034 billion in 2008.

Remittances from seamen have more than doubled since 2005, when they sent home $1.669 billion. –abs-cbnNEWS.com