Office of the Vice President : Press Release

Ms. Ronadale Zapata
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I DREAM OF THE DAY WHEN FILIPINOS SEE OWN COUNTRY AS MOST ATTRACTIVE PLACE TO LOOK FOR JOBS – KABAYAN
10 November 2005

Vice President Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro, also the concurrent presidential adviser for overseas Filipino workers (OFW), hoped for the day when a Filipino worker would see the Philippines as the best place to look for work that would sufficiently address the needs of his family. Someday, the Filipinos would no longer have to leave their family behind to seek greener pasture elsewhere.

Vice President Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro lauded the Department of Labor and Employment led by Secretary Pat Sto. Tomas (2^nd from left) for bringing together the major players in the international labor market to tackle new opportunities for Filipino workers around the globe during the First International Labor Opportunities Forum held yesterday at the Phillippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City. Touring the Vice President at the Labor Expo are POEA Administrator Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz (left), DOLE Secretary Pat Sto. Tomas, and OWWA Administrator Marianito Roque (behind in white barong). (OVP Photo by Egay Montaña)

This is the shared sentiment of Vice President De Castro when he spoke before delegates and government officials at the First International Labor Opportunities Forum at the Philippine International Convention Center yesterday.

The Vice President’s wish was anchored on the steep social cost that overseas jobs entail on family ties and values of OFW families the overseas Filipino workers compared against the benefit of newfound economic abundance that these families are bound to enjoy.

As presidential adviser for overseas Filipino workers, I am also equally concerned with the social costs involved. I am concerned with how the families they leave behind cope with their absence.

The Vice President expressed confidence, though, that with a strong partnership between government and the private sector, he is sure that the lives of Filipinos would markedly improve and a better tomorrow would be achieved.

VICE President Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro expressed confidence that with a strong partnership between government and the private sector, the lives of Filipinos would markedly improve and a better tomorrow would be achieved in his keynote address during the First International Labor Opportunities Forum at the Philippine International Conventin Center (PICC). As concurrent presidential adviser for OFWs, VP Kabayan hopes that someday, the Filipinos would no longer have to leave their family behind to seek greener pasture elsewhere. (OVP Photo by Egay Montaña)

In the same speech, Vice President De Castro also acknowledged that the estimated 2 million OFWs now constitute a very important segment of our economy and has become one of the sectors responsible for strengthening the peso over the past few weeks. Undeniably, he contended, our OFWs, are not only our new heroes but also the new drivers of economic growth and the new foundations of economic stability.

To illustrate his point, the Vice President stated that total remittances from them have now amounted to 7 billion dollars for the first eight months of 2005 and may reach 10 billion dollars at the end of the year. Another point he cited was that in the 1980s, these remittances, accounted for only 1 percent of our gross national product or GNP. Today, he continued, these remittances amount to approximately 8 percent of our GNP.

With these positive developments from the overseas labor front, Vice President De Castro at the same time lauded the Department of Labor and Employment led by Secretary Pat Sto. Tomas for bringing together the major players in the international labor market, such as recruitment agencies, training centers, and overseas employment allied agencies, in a forum that would tackle new opportunities for Filipino workers in Asia, the Americas, Oceania, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Europe, and the luxury cruise industry.

Ref no. VPMEDIA 05-171