Bishop contradicts Aquino: Number of OFWs up

Calling government data “questionable,” a Catholic bishop on Thursday raised doubts over President Benigno Aquino III’s claim before a Filipino community in Japan that the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) dropped down in recent years.

In an interview with Radio Veritas, Fr. Resty Ogsimer, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)-Episcopal Commission on Pastoral Care for Migrants and Itinerant People, said the increasing amount of dollar remittances proved that more Filipinos were seeking jobs abroad.

“Those figures are questionable because, one indicator is, how would you explain the the increasing remittances every year? For example in 2014, it exceeded $25 billion,” he said, adding that dollar remittances reached $2.1 billion in March.

In the sidelines of his state visit on Tuesday, President Aquino told Fipinos in Japan that the number of OFWs dropped from 10 million in 2010 to 8 million in 2014 based on Department of Foreign Affairs data.

The President said the reported decrease was a sign of improved quality of living for many Filipinos, owing to an inclusive economic growth: “For me, this is a good indication of our countrymen being able to see that life here in the Philippines is indeed getting better.”

Citing airport departure data gathered by CBCP, Ogsimer said around 5,000 to 6,000 newly hired Filipinos leave the Philippines every day for greener pastures in other countries.

“It is not decreasing. It is, in fact, increasing, and I don’t know the President’s reference. But as far as newly hired OFWs are concerned, daily departure is increasing,” he added.

While saying he was happy for the success of Filipinos abroad, the President said he was also saddened that they found progress not in their own country.

There are more than 200,000 Filipinos in Japan, 75 percent of which are women with Japanese and foreign spouses.

READ: President Aquino meets with Filipino community in Japan

OFW remittances, one of the primary drivers of the country’s domestic economy, account for 9 percent of the country’s annual economic output.

Aquino started his four-day state visit in Japan on Tuesday, and is set to return on Friday. RC

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