what should the government do when ofw's decides to go home??

**VtEC** · November 5th, 2007 06:46 AM

what will be the possible contingency plan of our government when the $ xchange rate becomes 1:20 or lesser and thousands or millions of ofw's decides to go home?is the government ready for that day??

**uls** · November 5th, 2007 09:15 AM

First, OFWs arent sent abroad by the govt to help the country. OFWs went abroad on their own free will, and they definitely DID NOT go abroad FOR THE COUNTRY. they went abroad to pursue their OWN goals.

No OFW said "Mag aabroad ako para makatulong sa Pilipinas"

It just so happened that the money they send home kept the country's economy afloat. And the govt declared OFWs modern day heroes. Apparently, that has gotten into the heads of many OFWs and they think they deserve special treatment apart from the rest of us locals... like a special exchange rate...

If all OFWs decide to return home, the govt cant do anything about it.

Labor isnt our only export. Though it is a big dollar earner, the country has other sources of export income. Without OFWs, the country can still cope.

**170kphlang** · November 5th, 2007 02:44 PM

uhmm.. yeah, what he said.. ^

**theveed** · November 5th, 2007 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by uls

First, OFWs arent sent abroad by the govt to help the country. OFWs went abroad on their own free will, and they definitely DID NOT go abroad FOR THE COUNTRY. they went abroad to pursue their OWN goals.

No OFW said "Mag aabroad ako para makatulong sa Pilipinas"

It just so happened that the money they send home kept the country's economy afloat. And the govt declared OFWs modern day heroes. Apparently, that has gotten into the heads of many OFWs and they think they deserve special treatment apart from the rest of us locals... like a special exchange rate...

If all OFWs decide to return home, the govt cant do anything about it.

Labor isnt our only export. Though it is a big dollar earner, the country has other sources of export income. Without OFWs, the country can still cope.

Excellent "real-world" response...

**shadow** · November 5th, 2007 02:56 PM

^^^ditto....

**5Speed** · November 5th, 2007 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by uls

First, OFWs arent sent abroad by the govt to help the country. OFWs went abroad on their own free will, and they definitely DID NOT go abroad FOR THE COUNTRY. they went abroad to pursue their OWN goals.

No OFW said "Mag aabroad ako para makatulong sa Pilipinas"

It just so happened that the money they send home kept the country's economy afloat. And the govt declared OFWs modern day heroes. Apparently, that has gotten into the heads of many OFWs and they think they deserve special treatment apart from the rest of us locals... like a special exchange rate...

If all OFWs decide to return home, the govt cant do anything about it.

Labor isnt our only export. Though it is a big dollar earner, the country has other sources of export income. Without OFWs, the country can still cope.

:bokmal: yup....I agree......

**meledson** · November 5th, 2007 03:00 PM

I totally agree.

**chua_riwap** · November 5th, 2007 03:20 PM

Sige na nga.......oo na rin ako.

**Altis6453** · November 5th, 2007 03:34 PM

Maybe the threadstarter was inquiring from the macro-economic view.

To put it simply, I don't think the government is quite ready. OFW remittances average about US$ 11 to US$ 14 Billion for the past 3 years. It's hard to imagine what exports we have which can approximate that figure year after year.

If we can't modify the economic provisions of our Constitution to ease ownership restrictions on land, businesses and practice of certain professions, you can be sure that economic growth will be headed for a slowdown, if not a free fall. When we gave out incentives to foreign investors, the government more or less shot itself in the foot by giving away income tax holidays for 5-10 year periods like it was going out of style. Bad, bad move since you now had to increase consumption taxes to cover up for the government's tax leaks.

**XTO** · November 5th, 2007 03:44 PM

But I think many of our OFWs will not go home that easy just because the dollar–peso exchange dives in… wiser OFWs will still consider other benefits they could achieve in foreign soil primarily for their families rather than that.

I’m sure the gov’t will continue doing their part in promoting the Filipino workers abroad.