Cai U. Ordinario, 05/04/2011
MANILA, Philippines - If the Philippine economy did not receive remittances from overseas Filipinos, around 2 million to 3 million more Filipinos would have fallen below the poverty line.
In a presentation at a multistakeholder forum on Channeling Collective Remittances for Development, Ernesto Pernia, a former chief economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said remittances were able to reduce the country’s poverty incidence by 3 to 4 percentage points, which translates to around 2 million to 3 million Filipinos.
The reduction in the number of poor Filipinos would have been higher, Pernia said, if not for the “inequality” effect that was observed among households receiving remittances. Usually, he said, richer households get the bulk of overseas remittances every year.
“Most OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] originate in the Philippines’ more developed regions [and] smaller shares [come] from poorer regions. Likewise, the bulk of remittances go to the richer regions [and] smaller shares [go] to the less-developed regions. Hence, richer regions develop faster than poorer ones, worsening regional imbalance or inequality,” Pernia explained.
As such, to better take advantage of these remittances and broaden the base of economic growth in the Philippines, Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said there is a need to set up a roadmap for the utilization of these funds, which can be drafted by various stakeholders like government agencies, the academe, civil society and even financial institutions, like banks.
In the same forum, Tetangco said a roadmap would help increase the number of OFW families who are not only saving but are investing their remittances. This, Tetangco said, will have long-term impacts not only for OFW households but for the economy as well.
“If economic growth is coming from a bigger number of sectors or agents or bigger number of players, that will make it more broad-based and [make] the economy less susceptible to external shocks,” Tetangco said.
Apart from the roadmap, Pernia also said there is a need to diversify the skills of OFWs to bring in more remittances. He said admittedly, OFW skills are similar with Philippine merchandise exports in the sense that these are still low-paying.
Based on 2006 data, Pernia said the bulk of OFWs, or around 144,321, are still engaged in service provision-related jobs abroad. Filipinos engaged in high-paying professional or technical jobs abroad number only reached 41,258.
“[We need to] move away from exporting low-priced labor toward more sophisticated or higher technical-skill manpower—similar to shifting from raw materials exports toward high-value products,” Pernia said.
Other changes or improvements include obtaining quality data that can be used by policymakers in crafting better programs to help uplift or improve the lives of OFWs and their families.
Based on Pernia’s findings, as much as 50 percent of international remittances are sent to the three richest regions in the country. The National Capital Region (NCR), the country’s richest region, accounts for 18 percent to 27 percent of total remittances from 1995 to 2004.
The other regions are Southern Tagalog, which accounts for 18 percent to 22 percent, and Central Luzon, which accounts for 12 percent to 15 percent of total remittances between 1995 and 2004.
Pernia explained that households belonging to the poorest quintile get the lowest share, or around 5 percent of international remittances, while 40 percent goes to households from the richest quintile.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/05/03/11/remittances-saved-2-3m-pinoys-poverty
MANILA, Philippines - If the Philippine economy did not receive remittances from overseas Filipinos, around 2 million to 3 million more Filipinos would have fallen below the poverty line.
In a presentation at a multistakeholder forum on Channeling Collective Remittances for Development, Ernesto Pernia, a former chief economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said remittances were able to reduce the country’s poverty incidence by 3 to 4 percentage points, which translates to around 2 million to 3 million Filipinos.
The reduction in the number of poor Filipinos would have been higher, Pernia said, if not for the “inequality” effect that was observed among households receiving remittances. Usually, he said, richer households get the bulk of overseas remittances every year.
“Most OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] originate in the Philippines’ more developed regions [and] smaller shares [come] from poorer regions. Likewise, the bulk of remittances go to the richer regions [and] smaller shares [go] to the less-developed regions. Hence, richer regions develop faster than poorer ones, worsening regional imbalance or inequality,” Pernia explained.
As such, to better take advantage of these remittances and broaden the base of economic growth in the Philippines, Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said there is a need to set up a roadmap for the utilization of these funds, which can be drafted by various stakeholders like government agencies, the academe, civil society and even financial institutions, like banks.
In the same forum, Tetangco said a roadmap would help increase the number of OFW families who are not only saving but are investing their remittances. This, Tetangco said, will have long-term impacts not only for OFW households but for the economy as well.
“If economic growth is coming from a bigger number of sectors or agents or bigger number of players, that will make it more broad-based and [make] the economy less susceptible to external shocks,” Tetangco said.
Apart from the roadmap, Pernia also said there is a need to diversify the skills of OFWs to bring in more remittances. He said admittedly, OFW skills are similar with Philippine merchandise exports in the sense that these are still low-paying.
Based on 2006 data, Pernia said the bulk of OFWs, or around 144,321, are still engaged in service provision-related jobs abroad. Filipinos engaged in high-paying professional or technical jobs abroad number only reached 41,258.
“[We need to] move away from exporting low-priced labor toward more sophisticated or higher technical-skill manpower—similar to shifting from raw materials exports toward high-value products,” Pernia said.
Other changes or improvements include obtaining quality data that can be used by policymakers in crafting better programs to help uplift or improve the lives of OFWs and their families.
Based on Pernia’s findings, as much as 50 percent of international remittances are sent to the three richest regions in the country. The National Capital Region (NCR), the country’s richest region, accounts for 18 percent to 27 percent of total remittances from 1995 to 2004.
The other regions are Southern Tagalog, which accounts for 18 percent to 22 percent, and Central Luzon, which accounts for 12 percent to 15 percent of total remittances between 1995 and 2004.
Pernia explained that households belonging to the poorest quintile get the lowest share, or around 5 percent of international remittances, while 40 percent goes to households from the richest quintile.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/05/03/11/remittances-saved-2-3m-pinoys-poverty
No comments:
Post a Comment