The Importance of OFW Remittances
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Of the 88.6 million Filipinos in the country as of the third quarter of 2007, there is an estimated five million overseas Filipino workers (OFW) abroad right now. Since the 1970’s, when the Philippines began deploying OFWs, many Filipinos followed suit year after year at an increasing rate. In 2006, POEA recorded 1,221,417 OFW contracts for employment overseas.
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What is the positive impact of the OFW migration?
Record-high
The Philippines received US$ 6,050,450,000.00 in remittances from OFWs in 2000, and in 2007, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported the remittances to have reached a whopping US$14,449,928,000.00.
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YEAR
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TOTAL OFW REMITTANCE
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2000
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US$ 6,050,450,000
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2001
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US$ 6,031,271,000
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2002
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US$ 6,886,156,000
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2003
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US$ 7,578,458,000
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2004
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US$ 8,550,371,000
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2005
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US$ 10,689,005,000
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2006
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US$ 12,761,308,000
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2007
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US$ 14,449,928,000
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From the lifestyles of the families of OFWs alone, it is perceived that they are better off in terms of purchasing power and property ownership than families without an OFW. A Social Weather Station (SWS) survey indicated that OFW families would always outnumber non-OFW families when it comes to owning such properties as mobile and landline phones, cable televisions, computers and motor vehicles.
Remittances also finance education, health, and entrepreneurship, according to Dilip Ratha’s policy brief, Leveraging Remittances for Development, for the Migration Policy Institute. Families who receive remittances can expect lower school drop-out rates, afford better health, and have available capital for small business ventures compared to those who are not recipients. It is to this extent that remittances influence the Philippine economy’s growth. Aside from improving on its human capital by having families that can invest in education, skills and health, the country also benefits from remittances by way of being capable of defraying national debt. By doing so, this improves the credit standing of the country.
That is why from the simple desire of the OFW to provide for his/her family’s needs, the private money he/she remits to the country redounds to the short- and long-term development of the country.
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