Western Union pledges $220,000 for nationwide financial literacy campaign

MANILA – The philanthropic arm of Western Union and its agents Petnet and eBusiness Services last week helped launch a nationwide financial literacy campaign with a $220,000 pledge.

In a statement, Western Union Foundation said “Peso-sense” is meant to increase financial literacy by promoting productive expenditure, greater savings and entrepreneurship among recipients of remittances. The campaign, which started with the “Peso-Sense at Christmas” module, will target students, young adults, entrepreneurs, homemakers and retirees.

“Western Union’s consumers are ambitious and resourceful and their most important aspiration is to secure their financial future, increase their standard of living and improve their level of education,” said Western Union Foundation president Patrick Gaston.

“However, for too many, their dreams are delayed or out of reach. What they lack is the encouragement, training and tools to accelerate their aspirations through innovation and new ways of thinking. The Western Union Foundation’s mandate is about empowering people to reach their destination through education and knowledge. Our funding of Peso-Sense is about making the journey easy to inspire individual innovation and entrepreneurship,” he said.

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas will implement the campaign with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme.

 “Our overseas Filipinos deserve their financial freedom considering the blood, sweat and tears they have invested while working and living outside the country.  Collaborative initiatives between the government of the Philippines, corporate sector and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations are crucial to helping them achieve their individual goals and we thank Western Union for initiating this multi-stakeholder campaign,” said Commission Secretary Imelda Nicolas.

According to research conducted by Ipsos and sponsored by Western Union, two-thirds of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who send money home were unsatisfied with how their beneficiaries spend the remittance, most of which ends up paying for food, education and debt. The study further showed that nine out of 10 respondents agreed that a financial literacy campaign would benefit them.

“Financial literacy is an essential component of access to inclusive financial services. It can assist in developing inclusive financial markets by empowering the poor to evaluate options and take responsibility for their financial decisions by choosing products and services best suited to their capacities and needs,” UNDP Philippines country director Toshihiro Tanaka said.

“Growth becomes inclusive when the poor participate in the growth process and share the benefits. With financial literacy, this participation in the growth process can become a reality as the poor develop their capacity to save and invest”, he said.

source: interaksyon.com

OFWs to hold Zero Remittance Day on Sept. 19 to protest corruption

MANILA - For four decades they've been called the anchor of the Philippine economy, but for one day, on Sept. 19, overseas Filipino workers will stop doing the one thing they're praised for: remit funds back home.

The gesture, dubbed “Zero-Remmittance Day,” is meant to send a message to the government that the workers are serious about the move to abolish the pork barrel system and end corruption.

In a statement, Migrante International's Gary Martinez said Wednesday 112 Filipino migrant organizations all over the world are coordinating their protest and will not send remittances to their families in the Philippines on September 19. It is meant as a blow against widespread corruption, patronage politics and social injustice.

“Filipino immigrants from all over the world will once again send a united message against the pork barrel system. Our remittances that keep the economy afloat are being plundered by greedy officials,” Martinez said.

Through the Zero Remittance Day, OFWs want to pressure the government to re-channel funds from PDAF to programs directly promoting the people’s interest, "including more efficient services and welfare assistance to OFWs in distress,” he added.

The first Zero Remittance Day was launched on October 29, 2008 in protest against the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) which was held in Manila. The ZRD criticized the GFMD and the Philippine government’s promotion of what it called "modern-day slavery" through the labor export policy. It was supported by more than 112 Filipino migrant organizations all over the world, resulting in hundreds of millions lost in remittances.

The second ZRD protested former Pres. Gloria Arroyo’s attempts to implement charter change through a constitutional assembly on July 26, 2009.

source: interaksyon.com

Forex rate touches P40:$1 level

The peso-US dollar rate has breached the psychological barrier of P41:$1 to reach a level not seen since February 2008, with the local currency's appreciation eating into the buying power of the overseas Filipino worker's beneficiaries back home.

At the Philippine Dealing System, the local currency firmed up to 40.87 against the greenback, from Monday's close at 41. The peso-dollar pair traded between 40.85-41, with total trades rising to $899.515 million from the previous day's $655.094 million.

A trader said the peso-dollar pair tested the P40.80:$1 level on Tuesday in the wake of the Greece bailout deal forged between European finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund early Tuesday.

Metrobank said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was in the market, providing strong support for the greenback, with the peso-dollar pair trading within a two-centavo range for most of the day.

Other traders said the peso could strengthen to as high as P38.50:$1 in one or two months as foreign capital flows into the Philippines unabated. This is several centavos shy of the P37.84:$1 record seen in May 1999.

“It looks possible that the appreciating trend will continue. The currency market could be vulnerable in one to two months,” Jonas Ravela, market strategist at Banco de Oro said.

Data from the BSP showed that the average OFW sends home $300 a month.

With the exchange rate averaging P41.149:$1 - or down from P43.619:$1 at the start of the year - the P13,085.7 equivalent in January likewise has gone down to P12,344.7 in recent weeks, or an erosion in the order of P741.

In an email, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. admitted the peso has appreciated faster than the Thai baht or the Indonesia rupiah, but said the 6 percent volatility rate for the local currency “has been maintained at the middle of the range.”

“There are several factors that have caused the peso appreciation, including the seasonal remittances and positive news out of the EU on the Greek deal. We remain watchful of market conduct,” he said.

source: interaksyon.com

Ahead of Christmas rush, Customs warns OFWs, balikbayans on 'unrealistic' freight forwarding prices

MANILA – Unrealistic cutthroat prices by cargo forwarders are to blame for the spate of undelivered 'balikbayan' boxes, the Bureau of Customs said on Monday.

Commissioner Rufino Biazon told InterAksyon.com that freight forwarders are driving down their rates to attract more customers, who end up not receiving their packages because the cargo handlers are unable to settle taxes and duties due on the shipments.

He said many cargo forwarders failed to settle the taxes and duties on their container shipments starting last year, as most of these firms engaged in price undercutting so they can attract more overseas Filipino workers to avail of their services.

The standard fee for a balikbayan box is $100, inclusive of taxes and duties, but some cargo forwarders have been offering their services for as low as $50 a box, Biazon said.

"Then when the cargoes arrive at the ports, the forwarders have no money to pay the taxes and duties because they are charging unbelievably low [rates] to their customers. The cargo forwarder's failure to pay the taxes and duties is the reason why they are blacklisted," the Customs chief said.

"As a policy, the containers may only be released once the consignees have paid the corresponding taxes and duties of these containers. We don’t release unless the consignee fulfills its obligation. These cargoes, which include balikbayan boxes, are consolidated in one container, and the basis of the taxes and duties is per container and not per box," he said.

The consignee, which is the cargo forwarder, has 30 days to settle the taxes and duties, failing which Customs would forfeit the shipment in favor of government and auction it off.

InterAksyon.com earlier reported that the Department of Trade and Industry-Philippine Shippers' Bureau has blacklisted a number of cargo forwarders and their foreign partners because of consumer complaints on undelivered balikbayan boxes.

The blacklist was released just as OFWs began shipping home balikbayan boxes for the Christmas season.

The DTI-PSB has since revised the blacklist, removing some forwarders that addressed customer concerns and adding others that are the subject of similar complaints.

source: interaksyon.com

Scores Of Opportunities For OFWs

The chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education saw “scores of opportunities” that would expand the Philippines’ socio-economic and investment ties with 27-nation European Union.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, who just concluded his five-day working sojourn to Europe last weekend, said that the Philippine government should further improve and strengthen its ties with the regional bloc not only to ensure the country’s solid economic footing, but also to promote the interest of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Europe.

“Certainly, there are many opportunities for greater interaction and cooperation in trade, investment, and opportunities for Filipino workers in certain parts of the EU that are less affected by the present financial crisis,” Angara said.

Angara is the first Filipino legislator who was invited by the EU to participate in its nearly four-decade old Visitors Programme.

He visited European cities of Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg from June 11 to 15 where he met with members of the 754-man European Parliament (EP) and representatives of EU’s key institutions, including the European Court of Auditors and the European Investment Bank (EIB), both based in Luxembourg.

“I was able to observe firsthand some of the European institutions developed over the years since the development of the community since the 1950s like the Parliament, the European Court of Auditors, European investment bank among others. I also had a chance to speak first hand to elected members of the parliament as well as members of the larger EU bureaucracy,” Angara said.

During his five-day program, he met Dr. Werner Langen,German member of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and the chairman of the Delegation for relations with the countries of South East Asia and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and United Kingdom’s Emma McClarkin, member of the Group European Conservatives and Reformists and a member of the Committee on Culture and Education of the EP. (Charissa M. Luci)

source: mb.com.ph

SSS Eyes More OFW Deals

MANILA, Philippines — The Social Security System (SSS) is set to enter into bilateral agreements within the year with three countries in an effort to protect the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) even after the expiration of their contracts.

SSS Senior Vice President Judy Frances A. See said in an interview they are set to start negotiation with Japan, while it is already about to sign an agreement with Portugal. SSS has also ongoing negotiation with Denmark.

“We’re going to negotiate with Japan by the second semester, so we’re expecting a visit from them in the second half,” See said.

The deal with Japan should benefit more OFWs as the increase in the entry of nurses in Japan is part of the Philippines Japan Economic Partnership Agreement entered by both countries in 2006.

“There is also a clamor from our Filipino community in Denmark because without the agreement, the benefits will not be exportable to that country. If we have an agreement, and if they decide to come home, they will have a fallback,” See said.

Foreign countries are traditionally hesitant about entering into this agreement since bilaterals benefit OFWs more than their foreign nationals considering they usually have fewer nationals in the Philippines. But the government is expecting positive responses for this move since OFWs legitimately contribute to the social security system of these countries along with the payments of their employers.

Among countries, SSS has difficulty seeking negotiations with Middle East countries where there are more than one million OFWs.

To date, SSS has existing bilateral agreements with the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, the independent province of Quebec, and Switzerland.

The bilateral agreements should have four provisions. These are equality of treatment — whatever treatment to other foreign workers in a country should be accorded to OFWs; export of benefits — a benefit of a Filipino OFW should be remitted to the Philippines once his contract expires; totalization of benefit or a benefit should be granted to an OFW pro rata for the period of time for which he has rendered service even if he has not completed a pre-agreed period of entitlement; and mutual administrative assistance.

Susie Bugante, SSS vice president, said the pension fund has a plan to introduce a new program for returning OFWs particularly to finance livelihood or entrepreneurial program.

“DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) has brought up a proposal to finance a program for OFWs like the Sulong program that we have had even before,” said Bugante. “We will have more returning OFWs who are bringing home a set of skills that they have used abroad, and we have to support them.”

Sulong or the SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) Unified Lending Opportunities for National Growth is a financing program of SSS and other government financial institutions for SMEs.

SSS has started promoting membership to OFWs specially those that are just under contract as it considers them the most vulnerable to financial difficulties compared to immigrants.

Recently, SSS awarded raffle prizes to nine OFWs as part of its promotion to get more members. Three prizes were allocated for those working in the Asia Pacific, three for the Middle East, and three for the rest of the world.

SSS is targeting a total OFW membership to 500,000 by end this year from the 200,000 at the start of the year.

source: mb.com.ph