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BURIIT]I llTW$
By Ryan Ponce Pacpaco Ihe additionai P83.2 billion everv vear would qo
lon g way,in
a
enabling rni lli ons of remi'ftirnce-d epenjent
OVERSEAS Filipino workers {OFWs) are oroiected Fibpino families td acquire new homes, ."ia tf,"ii
to pay up to $3.2 billion in ban-k renittanci clirrr".
thi_s year to oend home 929.8 bi ion in cash, Aiii_
clxldren to college,
children colleqe, buy
buv health and
and life i".
lifp insurance pro-
tection,
Eon, or to starl sma I I r terpriset Bertiz pointedbut.
start smallen
OFW partylbt said on Sundav. lhe United
the Uruted Nations
Nationshas
"Pii Lippine banks and thef foreign has aJsocial
social develdpment
devekinment ooal
soal
corres ponden ts
are ta king unreasonably hjgh cu ts o tit the cjsh w ired
to red uce Lhe globa Ia verage p rice of a remi ti*." t"'i".i
of perceniof
three percent of the amo-unt sent, *f,if"
lhe amo""lri while if,"-CZO
the C20 has fi
nome by migrant filipino worlerr', said ACTS_OFW "u"t,to five percent.
committed to help lower the cost
Kep. Aniceto Bertiz Tu.
Ci ting the World Bank,s periodic Remi ttance prices _ Banks capture up to 85 percent of the'remittances
from OFWs.Jhe rest is piiked r..rp by postal offices,
-_
Worldwide Report, Bertiz s;id that in the firstouarre;
money transferoperator, (MTOsiand mobilemonev
ol 2019, bar*s remained the most expensive tv.oe of ser.vicelroviders, said Bertiz.
service prouider, charging an averagebf l0 eO pi:keni
BerhL said postal offices charged an erage of 7.26
ot tne amount smt. percent in rcmittance fees in thA first quartEr. while
av

OfWs- to-send home an aggregate of MTOs such as The Westem U nion Co. and Mone'vCiari
"_"[q,,"1nu.t
b29.8 billion in cash via the bankinq systefr"thi"s vear_ ln tema fi ond I lnc. collected an average of6.06 pi,rcen t.
up tluee percen I fiom $28.g]iuionii2ti18,"said B6ftiz:
-' I otlansfer
.be torking the entjre g29.8biuion home, OFWswijl . "Mobile money'service
clleapest, charging
providErs remaiied the
out 1o.gop_ercen r, or some g3.2 biilion, to pay
an average of only 2.92 percent,
Bertiz said-
tor ban* fees," said Bertiz.
_.Remittances represent a huge source of income for
,. The Philip pines raaks No. 4 arnong the world,s loo
nve remittance recipients, recejving ;n estimated $3?
nurxonsof t ilipino families, and a key driver ofnation al
economrc gtowth. according to Bertiz.
billion in 2018, according to the "World Bar*. The
amount Lncludes some$5 billion coursed through non-
,bl. "Ifwe caIrgetbanls to sla"sh theirremittance
one-half, this would
prices bank channels.
mean an extra $1.6 dil[on
(P.83.2 b.illion) flowing into
low- and middle-incorne _ Jhe -qthgr top remittance recipients in 2018 were
rndia ($79 billion), China (967 billionl, Mexico ($16
f rpmo hous€holds and into the economy,,,Bertiz said. bilion) and Egypt ($29 bi ion). . trecz