Press Release
January 26, 2006
Drilon hits govt failure to push for reduction of remittance fees collected from overseas Filipinos
Senate President and Liberal Party head Franklin Drilon deplored the
governments failure to rationalize the remittances fees collected
from overseas Filipinos despite a commitment made by US President
Bush during President Arroyos state visit to the United States in
May 2003.
During the Committee of the Whole budget hearing at the Senate
Wednesday, Drilon told Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo that
he was disappointed over apparent inaction of the executive
department in pushing for the reduction of charges on remittances
sent by Filipinos working in the United States to their families in
the Philippines.
"The rationalization of the remittance fees has been long overdue.
Malacañang
keeps on extolling our overseas Filipinos as unsung
heroes and with other pompous accolades but all these appear to be
paying lip service," Drilon said. "The fact is this government has
failed to help them on a matter that hit their pockets literally,
such as the high costs of remitting money."
Drilon recalled that during President Arroyos US state visit, the
Philippine government was able to secure a commitment from Bush that
the US government would "launch a project to facilitate the flow of
remittances from Filipino workers around the world back to the
Philippines."
In a joint statement, Bush and Arroyo declared the project would
"improve the lives of millions of Filipinos by lowering the costs of
remittance transactions and make it easier for funds to flow to the
Philippines from the United States and around the world."
Drilon noted that Filipino workers abroad could have saved as much
as an estimated $300 annually if the Philippine government was able
to push for the implementation of the Bush initiative.
"Despite the commitment of the highest US official, the Philippine
government has not been able to take advantage of the situation to
help our overseas Filipinos on the matter of reduced remittance
fees," Drilon lamented.
Drilon noted that during the Senate budget hearings, Banko Sentral
ng Pilipinas (BSP) Executive Director Celia Gonzales testified that
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remitted a total of $10.3 billion
to the Philippines in 2005 and paid over $500 million on remittance
fees.
An estimated eight million Filipinos work abroad and regularly remit
money to their families in the Philippines. Filipinos pay an average
of $5 for every $100 they remit through the banks or courier to the
Philippines, Drilon noted.
Both Romulo and Gonzales, Drilon said, admitted that the Arroyo
administration has not been able to push for the reduction of
remittance fees.
Romulo told Drilon that the Bush-Arroyo initiative to rationalize
the remittance fees for OFWs could not be implemented because the
Philippine embassy in Washington has yet to secure a clearance from
the UD Federal Bank and other federal agencies.
The Bush initiative called for the establishment of an official
mechanism in which Filipinos could send money to their relatives
through well-established banks or other safe and official channels
at reduced cost.
"This agreement was initiated for years ago but up to now the Arroyo
administration has not been able to do anything about it," Drilon
lamented.
In his testimony, Romulo said he would direct Philippine Ambassador
to the United States Alberto Del Rosario to explain why the
agreement between Bush and Arroyo to reduce remittance charges has
not been implemented.
"I will relay to him the unhappiness of certain people here about
this matter," Romulo said. To which Drilon replied: "This is not
only my concern. This is the cause of unhappiness for the over seven
million Filipinos abroad who pay high remittance charges."
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