Ducky Paredes

“(A)n OFW who used to remit $300 monthly will now have to send $405 to maintain his family’s current living standard.”

by Ducky Paredes

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are asking the government to give them a special exchange rate for their dollars. They make a reasonable argument as one OFW explains in an e-mail:
“1) While our salaries during the last few years remained the same, our cost of living here in the Kingdom, like anywhere else, have increased. This means less income available for remittance to our families back home;
“2) The situation became worse when the peso appreciated from 55 to 45 versus US dollar during the last ten months. The continued peso appreciation effectively reduced the value of our remittances by an average of 18%;
“3) On the other hand the rising prices of commodities back home, which ironically should have decreased due to the strengthening of the peso, aggravated further the already worsening situation;
“4) We estimate that with the 18% reduction in the value of our remittances plus, say a 10% increase in household expenses of families back home, an OFW who used to remit $300 monthly, will now have to send $405 to maintain his family’s current living standard. To be able to do this, he will have to work longer hours and/or tighten his belt.
“5) For those of us who have planned to go back home for good within the next couple of years, will now have to reconsider our plans, and might have to extend our stay here in the Kingdom for a few more years.”
This one suggests the following: “A special exchange rate for OFW remittances; Peg the Peso - Dollar exchange rate at P50 to $1; Creation of an OFW Stabilization Fund, like the one proposed for the export sector.”
While we can sympathize with them, how about the rest of us who are actually in the same boat – not making any more than we were making before but faced with increased prices of practically everything?
There are also veterans and retirees with dollar incomes and exporters. Should all of them be given special treatment because the dollar is falling everywhere in the world?
In truth, it is not the peso that is improving; it is the U.S. Dollar that is losing value in all foreign exchange markets. For many of our OFWs who are paid in the local currency where they are, they could actually be making more (dollar-wise) just as those earning Philippine pesos are making more dollar-wise because of the current exchange rates.
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Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales undergoes dialysis treatment two to three times a week. If he knows what its good for him, he ought to undergo a kidney transplant. We do transplants now on a regular basis in this country. The problem is that Raul is not keen on the operation. He ought to ask any number of former kidney sufferers who had transplants about kidney transplants. Many of them are in the government,
On the other hand, if Raul just goes the dialysis route, how long will it be before the treatment no longer works for him? The use of the dialysis machine is a temporary cure for what ail kidney patients. This is not something that they can avail of forever.
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Like a good follower, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales sent in his resignation letter to Pope Benedict XVI who immediately replied that he wanted the Cardinal “to continue your ministry ‘donec aliter provideatur.’” This means that the Cardinal will continue as Cardnal and Archbishop of Manila as long as Pope Benedict wants him to.
Rosales filed a resignation letter with the Vatican last June as is customary with bishops nearing the retirement age of 75. Rosales is 75 today.
This is probably the right decision since the Cardinal has proven that his one day of prayer can produce heavy downpours for four whole days.
By the way, the lad Jaime Cardinal Sin produced much the same effect when he prayed for rain some years back.
When one reflects on it, praying for rain is a leap in faith by our Cardinals. Imagine if no rain came the week after the public prayer for rain. They prove – again and again — that prayers do truly work.
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Former Tarlac Congressman Gilberto Teodoro Jr. has taken on a huge job as Secretary of Defense. Considering the state of the military whose capability as a fighting force is suspect and whose image as a government institution is tainted with suspicions of widespread corruption, it may have been a foolhardy act on the part of the former congressman to take on the job.
The good thing about it is that if anyone can do anything with the job it is probably Gilbert. We need a good man at the helm of the DND and the former congressman may well be the man for the job.
Teodoro announced that President Arroyo has instructed him to pursue the Philippine Defense Reform (PDR) program initiated by former Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. that outlined major structural changes in the DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). He was also told by the President to, as Gilbert told it, “get his feet wet” in the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).
Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, besides being a congressman for three terms, is also a colonel in the reserves and thus is familiar with the military organization and counts a lot of personal friends among the officer corps and even among soldiers.
He cautions against expecting too much from himself as a novice in the field: “I am coming in as a new official. A good manager should first determine what the facts are. We must proceed with care and discretion.”
Give Gilbert Teodoro the time he needs to prove himself. Like many of those who served with him in Congress, I believe that he will be a standout at whatever he does. Good luck on your new job, Gilbert!
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Hvp (08.09.07)