Hong Kong-based Philippine bankers say the city's Filipino community has significantly reduced remittances home as the global recession bites deeper into the local economy. Remittances to the Philippines from the millions of Filipinos working worldwide hit a record US$14 billion in 2007, with economists agreeing they have propped up the Philippine economy through successive financial crises in the region. Hong Kong, which has 126,000 Filipino domestic helpers and about 10,000 professionals or residents, is among the top sources of remittances to the Philippines. Last year, Filipinos sent home a total of US$383.1 million through official banking channels, according to Philippines central bank data. Many Filipinos often use unofficial remittance centres or door-to-door money transfers not reported to the central bank. But bankers and workers' leaders told the Sunday Morning Post that the good days were over, judging by the amount of money Filipinos sent home last month for Christmas. Ponciano Duldulao, operations officer at DBP Remittance Centre Hong Kong, said Filipinos' remittances last month dropped in value by 14 per cent compared with the previous month. The number of remittances also fell 20 per cent. DBP centre is a subsidiary of the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). Still, the figures for the DBP for the whole of last year registered a 50 per cent increase on the amount of money remitted to the Philippines in 2007. '2009 will be more difficult,' Mr Duldulao said. 'Many employers [of domestic helpers] from the finance sector lost their jobs. The second reason is the growing number of Indonesian domestic workers in the city.' Immigration Department figures show 122,900 Indonesian helpers in the city as of November last year, compared with 125,850 Filipino helpers. Edwina Santoyo, of the Mission for Migrant Workers, said she had talked to several workers and found that many had remitted less money home than at previous Christmases. 'For example, if one used to remit about 8,000 pesos [HK$1,300] for the holidays, [now] she would remit 6,500 pesos,' she said. And people at home were scrimping to make the cash go as far as possible. She said Filipinos were astounded to hear Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo claiming in a speech last month in Hong Kong during the Clinton Global Initiative Asia that the Philippines was insulated from the global crisis. Rodelo Landicho, senior assistant manager of PNB Remittance Centre, said the amount of money remitted during the whole of last year was 'almost the same' as 2007. 'But we might start feeling [the pinch] this year,' Mr Landicho said. 'We know that this year will have an effect, everybody knows that. If employers lose their jobs, it follows that the helpers will lose theirs.' Cash lifeline Remittances from overseas Filipinos globally Jan-Oct 2008: US$13.7b Hong Kong: US$339.4m Singapore: US$427.6m United States: US$6.59b Saudi Arabia: US$1.17b SOURCE: BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS (CENTRAL BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES)
