MANILA, 7 November 2003 — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) shrugged off the decrease in the number of Filipinos sent to work abroad, noting that dollar remittances is in an upswing.

Latest statistics from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from January to August reached $5.06 billion, up 4.79 percent from $4.83 billion in the same period last year.

Acting Labor Secretary Manuel Imson said OFW remittances this year should surpass last year’s $7.189 billion.

“We are expecting our workers abroad to send more money to their relatives back home because of the favorable exchange rate,” he told reporters, adding that the coming Christmas season would also be a factor. The Muslim celebration of Eid’l Fitr, the end of the Ramadan fast, is also just weeks away.

In the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Imson was quoted as saying it had become a kind of “tradition” that Filipino workers would remit more money when the peso falls vis-à-vis the dollar.

Told that the business sector thinks the peso’s plunge was a bad omen, Imson said it also has a positive side: “For one, we are expecting our workers abroad to send more money instead of buying products outside because of the favorable peso-dollar exchange rate,” Imson said.

He said there have been years when the country recorded a drop in deployment of OFWs but still posted dramatic growth in remittances from Filipinos abroad.

Imson said the rise in dollar remittances in the first eight months of the year (January to August) came despite a 5.7 percent drop in OFW deployment from January to October from the same period last year. Imson said the drop in deployment was “not substantial.”

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said 709,065 Filipinos got foreign job contracts from January to Octobercompared with 752,272 in the same period last year.

Imson said the drop in OFW deployment was recorded in Asia, not in Europe or America, where the bigger income group of OFWs are employed.

“Our workers who are getting higher pay and sending more money to their relatives back home were not affected by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic that has affected Asia, he said.

Based on available data, the US remained the main source of remittances from 1985 to 2002. During this period, remittances from the US grew by $3.45 billion from $339 million in 1985 to $3.682 billion last year.

Remittances also increased from OFWs in Japan, Hong Kong and Britain.