My OFW Daughters and the Rising Peso

Today I am sharing with you the post of former Congressman and SBMA administrator Felicito C. Payumo in the Inquirer as it is very much related to my earlier post.

MANILA, Philippines- -MY THREE OFW daughters came home, briefly, for the wedding of their brother. Over breakfast, I asked Ani, who works in New York City doing structured finance for a financial guarantee company, if she thought that the United States is deliberately keeping the value of the dollar low. She said she didn't think so--not as matter of policy. "Because of the recession or its anticipation, the Fed is being
pressured to reduce interest rate to perk up the capital market. But as the interest rate is slashed, funds tend to leave the United States to seek higher interest rates elsewhere. As a consequence, the dollar falls, but it's not as if the United States has designed to keep it low."

"But isn't the recession caused by the deluge of manufactured goods from third world countries?" I countered. "China now swamps the US market with food, apparel, toys, electronics and hi-tech gadgets. This takes away jobs from Americans, so the United States now wants the dollar kept weaker vs. other currencies so that manufactured goods from other countries will be more expensive, that is, less competitive. So, it is
by design," I pontificated to end the argument.

"But if that is so, how come the Euro remains strong even though Chinese products are all over the stores in Europe," my other daughter, Ela, joined in. She works with a retail company in London, so she should know. I could only reply, "Maybe the Euro is getting strong because the dollar is getting weak."

All the while, my third daughter, Aileen, was listening but remained clueless in the discussion. She had dabbled in the theatre earlier but now works for a hip-hop magazine in Manhattan. All these were strange to her. "Ah, basta. What I know is my dollars now get me fewer pesos to buy gifts for my former yaya," Aileen, ended the argument...and the tutorial lessons.

I asked myself "if my daughter who has no dependents immediately felt the effect of the rising peso, what about the dependents of the rest of the 8.2 million overseas Filipino workers?" That's 10 percent of all Filipinos, and assuming they each have five dependents, they would number 41 million or nearly 50 percent of our total population. And the profile isn't pretty. Household and related workers category topped the list at 28 percent of land-based new hires. This was followed by construction workers (14 percent), and factory workers (14 percent). The rest are in the service industry with professional, medical and technical workers in the minority. An estimate of OFW money flows puts $11.2 billion (80 percent of total official remittance) for living expenses, medical and educational expenses, house construction and improvements, and consumables. The majority are unable to set aside for savings or investments. And this was before March 2004 when $1 exchanged for P56.36. Since then the peso has strengthened so that the OFWs and exporters have lost 26.5 percent of their income. Today, the value of the dollar is about P41. That means for every $100 they receive, OFW dependents now get P1,500 less.

But what about the cost of living? When I checked, the general price level had increased by 43.1 percent from March 2004 to October 2007, with year 2000 as a base. The sharpest increases were noted in fuel, light, water and services (79 percent), pushed obviously by the increase in crude oil price. Food and beverage prices which account for half of the consumer basket rose by 37 percent.

What do these all mean? It means that our OFWs and their dependents, which account for half of our population, are being hit by a double whammy of decreasing incomes and rising prices.

No wonder, everyone throws his two cents' worth on how to alleviate their plight--from having a fixed exchange rate for OFW remittances (in effect a subsidy, but who would bear the cost?), or a forward cover (which very few OFWs avail of), to prepaying and refraining from taking dollar loans and switching to borrowing in pesos, to suspending
collection of the EVAT for fuel, as suggested by Sen. Mar Roxas (which makes the most sense) as EVAT is directly borne by the end-consumers, that is, the masses.

The response from the government is, unfortunately, a tepid one—a one-percent reduction of the tariff on fuel imports by oil companies at certain trigger prices. Not only does it come too little, too late—it is misdirected. It is the oil companies who will benefit from the tariff reduction, as a militant labor group observed, so much so that President Macapagal-Arroyo will have to tell them to pass on the savings to the consumers. The Department of Finance opposes the suspension of the EVAT because that would mean P54 billion in foregone revenues. It fears that the budget deficit will increase and this may trigger increase in prices. But what can be worse as inflationary trigger than a direct tax such as the EVAT on rising oil prices borne directly by the masses? As to the concern on foregone revenues, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has lost that much amount already in defending the dollar!

Meanwhile, we can only cry with our OFWs. Yet we hail them as our heroes. But then, praise is cheap.

A Christmas Petition

The year 2007 saw the continuous decline of the US dollar against major currencies, including the Philippines peso. With the decline, the income of Overseas Filipinos (OFs) in the Middle East also depreciated in value. But the dollar’s decline against the peso was just one side of a double-bladed attack. At the jobsites, the cost of living – basic commodities, services, and apartment rent – also went up. The OFs in the Middle East were caught between two mountains, each trying to squeeze whatever is left out of their blood.

Back home, prices of basic commodities and services also continued to rise despite the government’s claim of a strong Philippine economy. This added more pressure on the OFs, who are trying to maintain the same amount of dollar remittance despite the increase in their own expenses, and their families back home who, with less peso remittance income received, also are trying to cope with the ever increasing cost of living.

Alarmed by this worsening situation, two appeals were sent by the OF community to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in August 2007. Both appeals urged the government to find ways and means to mitigate the impact of the dollar’s continuous decline on the income of Overseas Filipinos. No less than Vice President Noli de Castro himself accompanied the petitioners to the Office of the President. But after the photo sessions and a little media coverage, no result has yet come out of those petitions.

During the Christmas and New Year season, a group of over a thousand overseas Filipinos from the Gulf States greeted President Gloria Arroyo with yet another appeal, following up on the petition sent in August. The petitioners are aware that their appeal might again fall on deaf ears. Yet they also believe that the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo must be kept aware that the OFs in the Middle East are still waiting for their actions.

The Christmas-New Year Petition was led by the Economic Sector leaders of the Riyadh OFW Consultative Assembly. Members of the group and community leaders who played vital roles in the launch of the petition were Pete Vicuna of Saudi Telecom, Ed Estrada of National Food Industries, Julius Cordova of Dallah Hospital, Gil Mamaril of Faisaliah Group, Janice T. Banga of Hammadi Hospital, Jackie Mendoza of Oleya Medical Center, Willy Morden of Royal Saudi Naval Force, Joel Macaburas and Rodel Cansanay of Sabic, Florante Supapo of Mirnah Company, Rose Cansanay of Riyadh Military Hospital, Jubie Paner of King Khalid Eye Specialist Hospital, Jilbert Mejia of Rezayat, Earl Mateo of Picpa Riyadh and Tasnee, , Alan Caseres, Noel Lansangan, Marco Ibanez, and George Bocobo all of Saudi Telecom Company, Ernesto Santos of GHD Group in Qatar, Vic Candilanza of UAE, and Freda Contreras of Kuwait.

The petitioners hope that this document will not end up in some dark corner in Malacanang, or in the CD copies that were distributed to media and overseas Filipino organizations. They hope that this petition will spark the launch of a national discourse on other fundamental issues that affect the welfare of overseas Filipinos and their families, and for the overseas Filipinos themselves to engage in intense dialogue to find the will and leadership to mobilize their organizations and resources and participate actively in the much needed reshaping of the economic and political landscape back home.


Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
President, Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace, Metro Manila
Philippines

Thru: Honorable Ma. Lourdes P. Varona
Correspondent Secretary

Dear President Arroyo,

Last August, when the value of the US dollar dropped from P55 to P45, we sent you a petition seeking intervention of government in the alarming appreciation of the peso, and requested that the peso-dollar exchange rate be pegged at P50 to $1.

While so many suggestions on ways to control the peso’s hurting appreciation were floated by finance experts from both government and private sectors, the government failed to implement any that will help ease the our problem.

Meanwhile, during the five months that passed the dollar continued to decline and is now trading at almost P40 to $1. And there seem to be no end in sight to this down trend yet.

Therefore, we the undersigned overseas Filipinos in the Middle East are again appealing to you to please do what is needed to bring back the exchange rate to P50 to $1. Make this your gift to us, your heroes, this New Year.

Happy New Year, Madame President.

(Please see attached list of signatories)