OFWs remitted $8 B in 1999, labor chief says

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga -- Some $8 billion was remitted by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the country last year through banks, Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said yesterday.

He said OFWs have also brought in an undetermined amount of dollars through other means like "door-to-door" couriers or handcarrying the money themselves.

Laguesma, at the same time, allayed fears that the employment status of 120,000 OFWs in Taiwan would be affected by the government ban on Taiwanese airlines flying to the Philippines.

At a press briefing in this former US air base, he said that Hou Zheng Chan, chief of Taiwan's Council for Labor Affairs, assured him during their meeting recently that Taiwan will continue to recruit Filipino workers.

"Taiwan depends heavily on Filipino labor," he said.

Laguesma said that Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Taiwan will remain the major destinations of OFWs, adding that Saudi Arabia continues to employ some 700,000 Filipinos.

But he explained that other countries have started to nationalize their labor force.

"While the government's thrust is to provide Filipinos jobs in their own country, there is still the need to work out ways for Filipinos to land jobs abroad despite labor nationalization in other countries."

In Hong Kong, more workers from mainland China are starting to fill in the labor demand in the territory, he added.

Laguesma also urged maritime schools to upgrade their facilities to make them at par with the International Maritime Organization.

The maritime industry worldwide would likely offer Filipinos the best job opportunities, he added.

He said that about 193,000 Filipino seamen are presently employed in many foreign vessels and that the demand for their services is expected to increase in the coming years.

"The plus factor is that Filipino seamen have a better mastery of the English language," he said. "Maritime job opportunities in Scandinavia and Japan are expected to remain open for Filipinos."

Laguesma also said that job opportunities in information technology are also available for Filipinos in Canada and the United States.

"We can also look forward to more jobs in Japan where the population is aging and will have to be replaced." -With Sandy Araneta