Dahilan kung bakit bawasan ang remittances – dahil ina abuso ng govt

Grassroots NGO lists 5 reasons vs $1-billion Philippine loan to IMF

Kampanya Para sa Makataong Pamumuhay (KAMP) lists five arguments against the $1 billion Philippine loan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF):

1. Filipinos need that money.

Many don’t live a life of dignity. Of the 90 million Filipinos, 60 million remain poor, 30 million live on less than $1 a day, 22 million go hungry, at least 12 million are without jobs, and at least 2.5 million are homeless in Metro Manila alone.

2. The amount can be spent on more pressing needs.

One billion dollars can build 105,000 socialized housing units at P400,000 per unit, hire 350,000 health workers receiving P10,000 a month for one year, and provide 700,000 elderly people a monthly pension of P5,000 for one year.

3. Filipinos were not consulted on this loan.

According to Central Bank Vice-Governor Diwa Gunigundo, the Philippines can afford to give out loans because it has a huge gross international reserve (GIR), currently at US$77 Billion, and the country has finished its debt payments to IMF since 2006. He also said the GIR cannot be used for purposes other than being a reserve, even funding government programs.

So what’s the Aquino policy on reserves? Who decides on what to do with the money? Why were the Filipino people not consulted on this critical decision? Not even indirectly through the budget process.

4. Filipinos are victims of IMF policies.

Many Filipinos have remained poor because of stringent IMF conditions when it lent (not gave) money to the Philippines. It required the deregulation and privatization of key industries at the expense of basic social services, and the liberalization of Philippine economy that allowed the massive exploitation of the country’s natural resources with little return to its citizens in terms of social protection programs. These policies have resulted in a stunted Philippine economy with huge under- and unemployment rates.

The country remains in deep debt, with P357 billion of the country’s P1.8 trillion 2012 budget allocated to debt servicing. Filipinos are thus asking, why is the victim supporting its tormentor?

5. The IMF-supported profit-driven system is a failure.

The collapse of the US and European economies shows that the economic system that puts profit above people and planet is a failure. And the affected citizens, through Occupy movements in the US and Indignants protest actions in Europe, are already looking for alternatives. So why is the Philippine government supporting the purveyor of the system that has failed us and even themselves?

What is KAMP?

The Kampanya para sa Makataong Pamumuhay (KAMP) is a network of grassroots organizations advocating for a rights-based approach to social protection, particularly for decent and affordable housing, food security, employment guarantees, universal health care, education for all, and pension for the elderly and persons with disability. KAMP leads in the formation of the Asia-wide Network for Transformative Social Protection (NTSP), which now has campaign partners in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, advocating for a life of dignity for all.

RESOURCE PERSONS
Ana Maria R. Nemenzo, KAMP lead convenor, 0918 903 8687
Wilson Fortaleza, KAMP coordinator, 0905 373 2185 and 0922 526 1138

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http://www.interaksyon.com/article/35632/grassroots-ngo-lists-5-reasons-vs-1-billion-philippine-loan-to-imf

OFWs expected to send more money to families

October 12, 2009 05:41:00

Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Remittances to the Philippines could grow 5 percent this year, higher than earlier estimates, as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) send more money home to help their families recover from the calamity wrought by recent storms and floods, a senior government official said at the weekend.

Remittances, a driver of consumer spending that fuels more than two-thirds of the country’s gross domestic product, have held up well despite the global economic crisis, growing 3.8 percent in the seven months to July from last year.

“(A) 5-percent (growth) is possible,” Augusto Santos, head of the National Economic Development Authority, told reporters. “OFWs are scattered worldwide and OFWs tend to send more during calamities.”

Santos said the expected global economic recovery would also push up remittance inflows.

He said stronger-than-expected remittance growth this year would likely offset the impact of recent typhoons and allow the Philippines to meet its 0.8-1.8 percent 2009 growth target.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has officially forecast remittances this year to match the record $16.4-billion inflow in 2008.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco earlier said 2009 remittances were expected to climb more than 3 percent.

“We are maintaining growth targets because typhoon damages are being offset by OFW remittances and spending on relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction,” Santos said.

Analysts expect remittances to grow 5.5 percent this year, higher than the International Monetary Fund’s 4-percent estimate.

Reuters

http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/remittance/view.php?db=1&article=2009101
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OFW remittances boost hometown development

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view/20090529-207725/OFW-remittances-boost-hometown-development

By Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: May 29, 2009

MANILA, Philippines—Who said remittances from overseas Filipino workers would plunge drastically due to the global financial crisis?

Today, more and more OFWs, aside from regularly sending money back home to their families, tend to band together to raise funds to help develop their hometowns.

The agricultural town of Pozorrubio in Pangasinan province, for instance, was cited in a recent study commissioned by leading global money transfer company Western Union as an example of a new phenomenon called “collective remittance.”

Because of the huge development potential of such inflows, especially in the Philippines which is one of the world’s largest recipients of remittances, Western Union said it planned to pilot-test in the country a project aimed at ramping up collective remittances.

“Migrant worker remittances are mainly family to family paying for basic necessities. But if remittances are pooled and invested in creating economic opportunities for the whole community, the impact would be greater,” said Western Union vice president Angela Heng, who was in Manila Thursday to host a one-day conference on collective remittance.

Ahead of the meet, Western Union commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to conduct a study on communal or collective remittances in different parts of the world, their impact, and what could be done to make them more effective.

Pozorrubio, which has about 10 percent of its population working overseas, was cited in the study for having a local government that was able to encourage its overseas residents to make collective remittances to support local public works projects.

Bright lights

Since 1986, town officials have been visiting Pozorrubians in California, Chicago, Hawaii, New York, Washington and Hong Kong to encourage them to form themselves into solidarity groups, elect officers, and identify projects and programs in their hometown that they could support monetarily.

“For example, Pozorrubio had no street lights, but after the mayor encouraged the migrant workers’ families to put up lampposts in front of their homes, the whole town lit up,” the EIU study said.

As the Pozzorubian migrants became better organized, the study said the local government began encouraging them to hand their donations directly to the beneficiaries, and invited them to return home to see for themselves the impact their remittances were having.

“Return migration was the theme of the 2002 town fiesta,” the study said.

It said Pozorrubian migrant communities were able to finance the construction of a park and library, and refurbish a high school’s English learning center.

The community hospital received an electrocardiograph, computer, stethoscopes, toilet, septic tank, window screens, electric fans, beddings and medicines.

On top of these, the hospital is visited annually by locally born doctors who perform medical missions.

Multiplier effect

“The multiplier effect of these remittances has been enormous. By 2001, this rural town of 56,000 had Internet cafés, car rental services for visiting migrants, video rental shops, and a rural bank with over $2 million in deposits and only a few borrowers,” the study said.

It also built 12 public and private irrigation facilities, 50 manufacturing establishments, six big private housing subdivisions and 32 day-care centers.

Different strokes

“This level of development is almost never seen in rural Philippines, even in the larger municipalities. Moreover, the town’s tax collection is one of the highest in the region, with most of the revenue coming from the busy public market,” the study said.

The EIU said other LGUs had taken different approaches to encourage their migrant populations to invest in local enterprises.

“The most visible example is the province of Bohol which set up an investment center and enacted a local investment code to assist investors in identifying, organizing and matching their resources with local partners,” it said.

The Island Garden City of Samal, near Davao City, passed a similar code geared toward developing local tourism, it noted.

Another area where migrants make collective remittances is charity.

Cited as an example was the Filipino community in South Puget Sound in Washington state which raised more than $200,000 that it remitted to a foundation in Bislig City in Surigao del Sur to finance rehabilitation and livelihood projects.