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

John Gokongwei holding firm hikes capex to $1.033-billion for 2013

MANILA - JG Summit Holdings Inc has set a record capital expenditure budget for 2013 to finance the expansion of its businesses.

During the stockholders meeting of John Gokongwei's listed holding firm, its president Lance Y. Gokongwei said the capex will amount to $1.033 billion this year, a growth of nearly 12 percent from the $926 million spent in 2012.

Robinsons Land Corp will corner $320 million to bankroll the construction of four malls, two office buildings and three Go Hotels as well as the completion of at least eight residential buildings.

JG Summit will allot $300 million for the completion of its $700-million naphtha cracker plant in Batangas slated to begin commercial operations early next year.

Cebu Air Inc will get $275 million to finance the delivery of five Airbus-320s, while Universal Robina Corp will get $120 million for the expansion of its branded consumer food group.

JG Summit will allocate $18 million for Robinsons Bank, which aims to become a significant player in the banking industry over the next five years.

"Coming from the higher-than-expected economic performance in 2012, this year promises to be even better," Gokongwei said.

"Benign inflation, high foreign exchange reserves, sustained rising inflows of overseas Filipinos' remittances, strong BPO activities, rising tourist arrivals, election spending, revival in the manufacturing sector activities and low interest rates are springboard for a rosy outlook for 2013," he said.

Gokongwei reaffirmed JG Summit’s interest in the government's public-private partnership projects, especially airports because of its synergy with the group’s airline and property businesses.

It has partnered with Metro Pacific Investments Corp to bid for the rehabilitation, expansion, operations and maintenance of the Cebu-Mactan International Airport.

JG Summit has become a pan-Asean player, generating a third of its revenues in foreign currencies through the contribution of its food and beverage, airline and residential businesses.

"With these, we have not only successfully diversified the group's revenue base but also have currency hedge for any unforeseen weakness in the financial market," Gokongwei said.

JG Summit’s net income attributable to equity holders slipped to P4.86 billion in the first quarter from P4.91 billion in the same period last year. Revenues rose 8.4 percent to P38.43 billion from P35.46 billion in 2012.

source: interaksyon.com

HSBC sees BSP holding rates, remittances keeping economic growth within target

MANILA – HSBC on Tuesday said the resilience of remittances would enable the Philippine economy to grow within the government target of 5-6 percent this year.

“The acceleration of remittances is much stronger than expected, underpinning robust demand for Filipino workers as well the resilient nature of OFWs and their professions,” said economist Trinh Nguyen in HSBC’s latest research note issued a day after the release of official August remittance figures.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last Monday reported that money sent home by overseas Filipino workers in August had risen by 8 percent year-on-year to $2 billion, with the eight-month tally growing 6 percent to $13.7 billion.

“This pickup stands in stark contrast to August's export contraction of 9 percent year-on-year,” Nguyen said, pointing out that exports contribute 21 percent to Philippine gross domestic product as against the 9 percent for remittances.

“The statistics underscore Philippines becoming an even more service-based economy supported by private consumption,” she said.

In the first half of this year, consumer spending grew 5.4 percent on the back of a 5.1 percent increase in remittances.

“The recent acceleration of remittances points to robust 3Q private consumption growth. At the same time, fiscal spending is also supporting public spending and investment. Growth, therefore, is expected to reach the government's 5-6 percent target,” Nguyen said.

HSBC forecast Philippine GDP expansion of 5.7 percent, which is well within the government target. In the first six months of this year, growth settled at 6.1 percent, or at the top end of the full-year goal.

The bank expects no pickup in inflation until the first quarter of next year, when “an unfavorable base effect and an anticipated recovery from China” will kick in.

Consumer price increases averaged 3.2 percent in the first nine months of the year, or near the low end of the BSP’s full-year target range of 3-5 percent.

“As such, we expect the BSP to continue to support domestic spending by keeping rates at a historic low while remaining vigilant on inflation,” Nguyen said.

“With global demand weak and inflation expected to be on target for the rest of 2012, the BSP has room to hold rates low at 3.75 percent to further spur spending at its next meeting,” she said.

The BSP’s policy-making Monetary Board has two more rate-setting meetings left for this year.

Other market observers, such as DBS, expect the BSP to deliver another 25 basis points reduction in policy rates before the year ends.

The BSP has cut policy rates by a combined 75 basis points so far this year, sending the overnight borrowing and lending rates to record lows of 3.75 and 5.75 percent, respectively.

source: interaksyon.com

Xoom and Jollibee announce a special offer for Filipino remitters

SAN FRANCISCO – Xoom Corporation, a leading online consumer-to-consumer international money transfer company, has announced its partnership with Jollibee, the No. 1 fast food chain in the Philippines. First-time Xoom customers who send money to the Philippines between August 13-December 31, 2012 can receive a free $25 Jollibee gift card. The gift card can be used in any of Jollibee’s 27 stores in the US.

“Jollibee is a well-loved brand that is very much part of the Filipino culture,” said Julian King, Xoom’s Senior Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Development. “We are very excited to partner with Jollibee and offer customers this great incentive -- to discover how convenient, safe and fast it is to send money home with Xoom.”

Jollibee, with more than 750 stores in the Philippines, is one of the most recognized and highly preferred Filipino family brands. Jollibee has an additional 80 stores outside of the Philippines, with restaurants in the United States, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei.

“We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Xoom, a leader in the international money transfer market,” said Jonx Jongko, Marketing Manager for Jollibee, USA. “Xoom and Jollibee are both companies who value customer satisfaction, and Jollibee is happy to provide an incentive to reward new Xoom users who send money to their friends and family in the Philippines.”

For more information on this special offer, please visit the Xoom website.

Terms and conditions apply.

Press release and photo from Xoom Corporation

source: gmanetwork.com

Remittances Grow 5.5% In May

MANILA, Philippines — The central bank yesterday reported that remittances sent by overseas Filipinos grew 5.5 percent year-on-year to $9.26 billion as of the end of May.

For the month of May alone, personal remittances increased 5.2 percent to $1.97 billion from the same period last year, and 4.28 percent from April this year.

Last month, the BSP refined the treatment and computation of fund transfers from abroad to better capture the numbers and they now prefer to call it “personal remittances”. The BSP changed the way it looked at remittances data in line with the refinement measure recommended under the International Monetary Fund’s Balance of Payments and International Investment Position

Manual, 6th edition, which provides the framework for the compilation of the balance of payments.

The BSP has also started including remittances via the banking channels in its official announcements, which as of end-May amounted to $8.3 billion, up 5.3 percent year-on-year. The difference from the overall personal remittances data came from the informal channels. The BSP has always reported the numbers from both banking and non-banking channels but the non-banking channels are not included in the press statement.

In a statement, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said land-based Filipino workers with at least one-year contracts with their current employers sustained the steady growth in personal remittances. The sea-based OFWs with short-term contracts, in the meantime, increased their fund transfers by 14.7 percent to $1.9 billion compared to land-based workers’ 2.7 percent increase to $6.4 billion.

The BSP said the US continue to be the major country sources of cash remittances from land-based workers accounting for 28.9 percent, followed by Canada (10.1 percent), Saudi Arabia (7.6 percent), the United Arab Emirates (3.9 percent), Japan (3.4 percent), the United Kingdom (3.2 percent), and Singapore (3.1 percent).

“The continued stream of remittances emanated from the strong global demand for professional and skilled Filipino workers,” said the BSP. Based on preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, as of end-June the approved job orders totaled 395,336 and about 29.1 percent are processed job orders for service, production, and professional, technical, and related workers.

Majority of these processed job orders were recruitments for Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Taiwan. “Another contributory factor to the favorable trend in remittances is the continued expansion of banks’ remittance network abroad through additional partnerships with foreign banks, money transfer operators and other remittance agents,” said the BSP.

Tetangco said earlier that while forecasts for foreign exchange reserves and BOP have been revised lower for 2012, there are no plans of revising the five percent remittances growth forecast for this year.

The projection is still $21.1 billion. Last year, remittances grew 7.2 percent to P20.11 billion.

source: mb.com.ph