Sea-based OFW inflows seen at over $4 billion this year

MANILA, Philippines – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said it expects Filipino sailors’ remittances to surpass $4 billion this year “amid resilient global demand for their services.”

“The Philippines has secured its position as the world’s preferred supplier of able ship staff,” said TUCP secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera, whose labor center includes the Philippine Seafarers’ Union.

According to Herrera, the number of Filipino seamen registering for the first time with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has been growing by some 3,500 every month.

Because of this, he noted the government should concentrate on deploying abroad sailors and other highly skilled surplus professionals such as nurses.

“The drawback of unskilled or semi-skilled laborers such as domestic helpers is that, because their talents are easy to replace, they are exceptionally exposed to potential mistreatment by employers,” he added.

In the first seven months this year, Filipino seamen contributed $2.433 billion to the country’s economy, 14.13 percent or $301 million higher than the $2.132 billion they remitted through banks during the same period in 2010.

Herrera maintained that the remittances wired by Filipino sailors has been growing three times faster than those sent home by land-based workers.

Sailors accounted for close to one-fourth of the 1.4 million Filipino workers deployed abroad in 2010.

A TUCP statement showed that POEA had processed for deployment a total of 280,348 sea-based workers in the first seven months of this year, up 5.5 percent from 265,656 over the same period in 2010.

“In 2010, a total of 347,150 Filipino sailors were deployed to 2,496 foreign ships. This was 16,726 or five percent greater than the 330,424 sailors set out to 2,340 boats in 2009,” the statement showed.

Filipino seafarers are usually hired as licensed senior members of the deck department of merchant and passenger ships while others are hired as rated technicians in the engine department, bosuns and messmen. –Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)