Philippine job losses from unrest in the Arab world and the Japan quake have had little overall impact on the amount of money the huge Filipino overseas workforce sends home, the Central Bank said yesterday.
Cash transfers rose 6.2 percent from a year earlier to $7.9 billion in the five months to May, slightly down from its 6.6 percent growth in the same period last year, it said in a statement.
May transfers rose 6.9 percent year-on-year to $1.7 billion.
“Data… showed that Filipino workers continued to be deployed abroad, offsetting the job losses resulting from social unrest in the Middle East and North African region and the disasters that occurred in Japan,” it said.
About 26,000 Filipino workers fled Libya’s civil war this year.
The Philippine government also ordered its 1,400 citizens last month to leave Yemen.
Remittances by sailors surged 21.4 percent in the first five months, while land-based workers’ remittances grew by a slower 3.6 percent, the Central Bank said.
The bank said moves by Saudi Arabia, which hosts 1.3 million Filipinos, to transfer more jobs to its citizens should also likewise have minimal impact on those employed by big firms.
“Only (Filipinos) who are employed by small establishments will likely be most affected, as they have largely been non-compliant with the program to-date,” it added.
Manila also plans to negotiate with Saudi Arabia after the kingdom stopped granting work permits to Filipino domestic workers last month amid a dispute over a $400 minimum monthly pay demand.
About nine million Filipinos live or work abroad out of a total population of 94 million, remitting a record $18.76 billion last year.
The cash injections provide a massive boost to a struggling domestic economy in which a fifth of the labour force is chronically unemployed or stuck in low-paying, part-time jobs. AFP
September 18 –
International Equal Pay Day
“Increase wages now,
more than other cost items.
For widespread, practical equality!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #TakePicturesVideos
October –
Monthly Observances:
Industry and Commerce Safety Month
National Statistics Month
Local Government Month
Consumer Welfare Month
Cooperative Month
National Quality and Productivity Improvement Month
National Health and Wellness Tourism Month
National Indigenous Peoples Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Elderly Filipino Week
Week 2: National Health Education Week
Local Government Week
National Mental Health Week
October 17-23:
National Week for Overcoming Extreme Poverty
October 18 – 24:
United Nations Week
Last Week:
Nurses’ Week
Consumers’ Protection Week
Week of the 4th Sunday:
Barrio Farmers’ Week
Daily Observances:
First Monday (Oct 4): Universal Children’s Day i
n the Philippines
Oct 5: National Teachers’ Day
Oct 10: Local Government Day
Third Thursday (Oct 14): Conflict Resolution Day
Oct 21: Tenants’ Emancipation day
Oct 24: United Nations Day
Oct 29: National Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Day
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