Pinoy Life Abroad

Peso?s Gain Is OFWs? Bane

MANILA, Philippines ? In a remittance slip, there was an additional US$50 that Cesar Dimasupil?s daughter Arlene sent from London. But he remained stoic. ?That [money] would just even things out,? Dimasupil says of the dilemma that most families of overseas Filipino workers are facing under a stronger peso and a record-low inflation rate.

Dimasupil, like most Filipinos brought up in a male-as-strong society, says he doesn?t know if he should celebrate for getting the added money from something he said he shouldn?t have asked from his daughter in the first place. ?But what can I do? They say the strong peso could lead to lower prices. That hasn?t happened in the past months,? Dimasupil said.

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Philippines: BPI joins fray to capture remittance from Pinoys in Europe

by WILLIAM ALZONA
www.ofwjournalism.net

MAKATI CITY, Philippines –BEFORE sliding to third position in the Philippine banking industry, Ayala family-led Bank of the Philippine Islands set its eyes on the profitable remittance market that Philippine National Bank previously dominated.

But with its shareholder hobbled by regulations in the United States, where bulk of remittances from some eight million overseas Filipinos go through, BPI settled for the United Kingdom.
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Philippines: IMF team affirms weak link between OFW money, investments

by JEREMAIAH M. OPINIANO
www.ofwjournalism.net

MANILA, Philippines ? A team from the International Monetary Fund observed that remittances from an estimated eight million Filipinos abroad have not led to increased investments.

Ever since the country?s investment ratio has steadily declined since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, increasing remittances ?has not increased investment,? IMF?s Ayako Fujita and Srikant Seshadri wrote in a policy analysis paper of selected Philippine economic issues done by a six-person IMF team.

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Remittances from Philippines, Other Countries Help Foil Another Asian Financial Crisis: WB Study

by ISAGANI DE LA PAZ
www.ofwjournalism.net

MANILA, Philippines ? Across the East Asia region sweeps the wind of prosperity and cash remittances as well as knowledge capital by migrant workers has helped economies become more robust a decade after a devastating crisis.

Aside from the Philippines, the World Bank cited remittances from workers overseas also helped other countries like Vietnam and Mongolia to beef up cash reserves. Hence, remittances could soften and may even foil a repeat of the 1997 Asian crisis ?if ever there would be one in the near future.
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US Filipinos get involved in Philippines election through text messaging

Hundreds of Filipino-Americans started a massive campaign of sending
cell phone text messages containing the message:

“KUNG MAHAL MO ANG BAYAN
PANDARAYA LABANAN.
POL KILINGS TUTULAN!
SA TRAPO WAG PALOKO
PROGRESIBO IBOTO.
VOTE KABATAAN PARTY!
PLS FWD TO 10 PPL.
FROM TEXT BACK-USA”
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