MANILA, 1 November 2007 — Exasperated by the continued decline of the value of their remittance to the Philippines, a group has called on overseas Filipinos to boycott the sending of their money to their families for five days.

A group of families in the Philippines said it was supporting the boycott that was scheduled for today until Nov. 5.

In a statement being circulated via the Internet, the Migrants Association in Saudi Arabia (MASA) said they are now “in crisis” as the peso-dollar exchange rate continues to decline while prices of basic commodities continue to go up.

The statement said that the value of an OFW’s SR1,000 monthly pay, for instance, used to be P15,000 last year, but is now reduced from eight to 21 percent, or equivalent to only P11,784.

It further disclosed that a skilled worker in Saudi Arabia earns an average of $400 monthly while those in the service sector earn a monthly pay of $260 only. MASA said that OFWs have been hard up in sending more money to their families despite decline in the cost of living in the country because the migrants’ salary do not increase.

Vivencio Fuentes, President of Kapamilya ng Migranteng Manggagawa said that they are supporting the OFWs’ call for a boycott because they have already been suffering for long.

“Matagal na kaming naghihirap (We have long been suffering),” he said. He referred to the OFW families who regularly receive the monthly remittance and have been trying to augment the low income as prices of basic commodities are spiraling high.

Filipino families suffer in silence as prices of food, tuition, medical expenses and other basic services have been continuously increasing.

MASA explained that the value of dollar was P48-P56 per dollar in 2006; today’s peso-dollar exchange rates is P43.85 to a dollar and is expected to continuously decrease until P40 per dollar come December.

Overseas workers are pleading with their families to understand and bear with them for five days, saying they want to see if their protest action would have any positive effect on their income.

MASA said that since the government claims that high dollar remittances strengthen the peso, they might as well control its supply to the country.

“Let us do it by not remitting even for only a few days. Let us avoid going to the banks and remittance centers,” the statement said in Filipino.

It further called on sustained non-remittance in the future to really see its effect on the peso-dollar exchange rate.