Petition for special exchange rate for OFWs

[explorer]

ako ay isang ofw pero HINDI ako sangayon dito

tama, nabawasan na ng 18% ang halaga ng dolyar (mulaP55/1USD bumaba sa P45/1USD), pero di naman ako nagbabayad ng tax. kung sa pinas ka nag-work, maliit na sweldo mo may tax pa. isipin nyo na lang na yan ang "tax" natin, ang tulungan ang economy ng bansa na makaahon sa utang. isipin, pag mas mababa ang dolyar mas mabilis na mababayaran ng bansa ang utang sa labas. wag na natin ipasa pa ang utang na yan sa ating mga apo, bayaran na natin habang nabubuhay pa tayo.

saka kung hindi nangyari yung asian financial crisis nung 1998, e 'di sana ngayon P25/1USD pa din ang palitan ng dolyar. bakit nung biglang naging P55/1USD e ang saya-saya nating mga OFW. biglang bagsak ang economy nuon pero masaya tayo. o di ba, aminin! pero ngayon nakabawi na ang economy, malunkot ka, magrereklamo ka? dat's unfair! (with matching taas ng kilay yan, makuha ka sa tingin!)

lahat tayo dapat sama-sama sa pag-tayo ng "bahay" natin, ang bansang pilipinas. hindi pwede na walang sakripisyo. yung mga nagtratrabaho sa pilipinas nagsasakripisyo sila na nagbabayad ng tax. tayo din sakripisyo din dapat. tax free tayo, pero ang ating kontribusyon sa bansa ay ang pagpapadala ng dolyar na kelangan ng bayan para mapagawa ang mga bagay na kasama din naman tayo na nakikinabang.

isa pa, kung isa kang ofw, e di alam mo na hindi lang naman mga overseas pinoys ang apektado nito kundi lahat. kahit anong lahi ka pa, kahit isa ka pang amerikano, apektado ka dahil mas mababa ang halaga ng dolyar mas konti ang mabibili mo. ang mga ibang lahi na nagtratrabaho sa labas ng kanilang bansa, dolyar din ang sweldo, bumaba din ang palitan sa kanilang mga bansa. kaya ano ba ang naiba sa dugo mo at dapat exempted ka sa katotohanan sa mundo?

hindi po pwede ang puro sarap. nawala na kasi yung "bayanihan" sa atin e. kung sama-sama tayo na tutulong, sama-sama din tayong aahon.

yun lang po. baw.

amen to that....+ 1 here.....i'm also an OFW....indeed very few OFWs understand the full effect of weak peso...most are just after their own interest...exception from the income tax is already a big incentive.

ang problema kasi sa karamihan ng OFWs...ang yayabang pa-uwi ng pinas...one day millioner...tapos kahit pamasahe pabalik abroad wala na at utang na naman...

[sea.piper]

[SIZE=4]Kabayan not in favor of fixed forex rate for OFWs[/SIZE]

08/09/2007 | 08:07 PM

Email this | Email the Editor | Print | Digg this | Add to del.icio.us

Pegging the peso-dollar rate at P50:$1 for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) won’t be easy to implement, according to Vice President Noli De Castro, concurrently the presidential adviser on OFWs.

Instead of having a special foreign exchange rate for OFWs, a section of society who bear the brunt of a strong peso, De Castro suggested that concerned government agencies take a look at other options to help OFWs and their families mitigate the impact of the peso appreciation.

A group of OFWs based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has initiated an online petition for overseas Filipinos asking President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to fix the peso-dollar rate at 10 percent premium above the market rate or peg it at P50:$1.

“Mukhang mahihirapan tayo d’yan. Nagtanong na kasi ako sa mga concerned agencies tungkol d’yan at ang sabi nila mahirap ‘yan kasi exchange rate ‘yan, hindi kontrolado ng gobyerno," de Castro said in a phone interview with GMANews.TV.

“Kasi ang proposal yata is to fix the exchange rate at P50: $1. ‘Yung balance papaano? Subsidize ng government? Magkano ‘yon (subsidy), they should tell us," the Vice President said.

De Castro said he thought of asking the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to reduce bank charges on remittances from Filipinos abroad.

“However, I was informed that it is not necessary because of the stiff competition on the dollar remittance services, a lot of these establishments are already offering much lower rates," he explained.

“Pero ang sabi ko nga pag-aralan pa rin kung ano pa ang pwedeng magagawa natin para matulungan ang mga kababayan nating OFWs dahil sa paglakas ng piso," he said.

Because of the strong peso, the purchasing power of OFWs and their relatives dependent on remittances from abroad depreciates.



Turning down the idea of a “special" forex rate, BSP Governor Amado M. Tetangco Jr. has reiterated the government’s policy of allowing the market to determine the currency exchange rate. - Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV

Niloloko ba tayo ni Kabayan Noli De Castro? Nabasa kaya nya na pwede natin syang ilukluk bilang pangulo sa 2010 kung Tayong mga OFW's ay magkaisa kaya nya ngayon todo suporta sya sa atin?
Kaya nya nagawa ito.

[SIZE=3]De Castro backs fixed forex rate for OFWs
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Vice-President Noli de Castro has agreed to endorse a letter from overseas Filipino workers to President Arroyo that seeks to establish a preferential foreign exchange rate for legitimate OFWs that is above the 10-percent prevailing market value.

Based on the proposal, OFWs want a fixed P50:US$1 rate for migrant workers instead of the varying daily market price. The peso ended at 46.57 to the dollar on Monday.

Primary signatories to the letter were Ronnie Abeto, an OFW based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and former overseas financial analyst Miguel Bolos. The two said the petition was also signed by 15,000 OFWs worldwide.

The petition was circulated in the Internet for maximum exposure.

Abeto, the senior action officer of V-Team -- Advocacy and Community Service, said the group is proposing that the Philippine government put up a stabilization fund to address the peso-dollar exchange rate fluctuation.

It added that the government should also enter into a collective "Forward Contract or Currency Options" with financial institutions to peg the peso-dollar exchange rate at 50:1.

De Castro said he would endorse the letter to the President and would monitor the progress of the request.

He also said he would will look into the possibility of the group's proposal for the government agreement with financial institutions. The viability of the proposal depends on the volume of the transaction and their ability to organize themselves, he said.

He said that as early as last year, he has been pushing for plans to alleviate the plight of OFWs by urging the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to study his proposal to lower bank charges on OFW remittances.

BSP junks proposal
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita earlier said the administration was studying the proposal to have a fixed exchange rate for OFWs.

Ermita said the matter is being addressed by the Department of Finance and the central bank.

The President's chief aide said Mrs. Arroyo and senior economic officials planned to meet with local and foreign businessmen to discuss the impacts of the strong peso and other pressing concerns.

“We would be explaining to them the implications of the strong peso and what the government is doing to cushion its effects especially to exporters and importers,” he said in an Arab News report.

OFW groups are pushing for a fixed rate of P50:US$1, saying that the steep rise of the peso has resulted in a 20 percent reduction of their earnings.

Ermita’s remarks has helped assuage OFWs' concern by reactions of Mrs. Arroyo’s economic and finance officials opposed to the proposal, among them Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. who thumbed down the proposal as “costly and impossible to implement.”

“That proposal is fraught with difficult questions and issues,” he said, explaning that such a program would require huge amounts of public funds because the difference between the market-determined foreign exchange rate and the fixed exchange rate would have to be subsidized.

“Who would bear the cost of that subsidy?” Tetangco asked, adding that if the current exchange rate of P45.7 to the dollar is offered to OFWs at, say P50:US$1, with the difference of P4 would have to be paid by someone.

'It's impossible'
With OFW remittances expected to reach at least $14 billion this year, such a program would cost over P60 billion annually, assuming a market rate of P45.7 to the dollar and the fixed rate of P50:US$1.

The amount would be over 85 percent of the total national government budget deficit for 2007 alone.

Tetangco also said access to such a program would be administratively impossible to implement.

“Who will be given this benefit? Just OFWs?” he said.

“If you offer such a facility to one sector, why not open it to all the other sectors that also contribute to the economy and are just as affected by the appreciation of the peso.”

The BSP has been on the spot since the peso started to appreciate as a result of strong dollar inflows combined with the effects of an inherently weakening US dollar.[/SIZE]