Former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo praised Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) on Thursday, March 17, 2025, for their sacrifice as they committed to joining the zero remittance week out of “love and respect” for former President Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER file photo
MANILA, Philippines — Former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo praised Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) for their sacrifice as they committed to joining the zero remittance week out of “love and respect” for former President Rodrigo Duterte.
READ: Duterte death in detention may lead to VP Sara presidency – Panelo
Some OFW groups in Europe threatened not to remit earnings to their families from March 28 to April 4 in sympathy with Duterte, who is now in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity through his so-called drug war.
READ: Zero remittance week: JPE warns pr0-Duterte OFWs
“If you don’t remit money sa pamilya mo, ang maaapektuhan ang pamilya mo kaya (to your family, your family will be affected so) they’re taking that sacrifice to express their protest over what they did to former President Duterte that they love and respect so much,” Panelo said in a media forum in Manila.
Panelo also called such moves “peaceful” and “restrained” and was much more preferable than an uprising.
“Ang isang bagay na nangangailangan ng mahalagang atensyon ay hindi mawawala ang pagsasakripisyo. Palagay ko yung isang linggo na hindi pagbibigay ng pera sa kani-kanilang mga pamilya, habang totoo na ito ay makakaapekto sa araw-araw eh kusa nilang ginagawa upang ipakita nila ang matinding pagsalungat sa ginagawa ng administrasyon,” Panelo said.
(For things that require important attention, sacrifice will always be there. I think a week of not giving money to their families, while it’s true that it will affect [their families] day-to-day, they’re still doing it willingly to show their strong opposition against the actions of this administration.)
“Sa akin, okay iyon, kaysa mag-alsa ang sambayanan laban sa gobyerno, tama na yung mga ganung kalmado, mahinahon, at sakripisyo para sa kanila,” he added.
(To me, that’s okay, rather than the people revolting against the government, such a calm, restraint, and sacrificial move for their part is enough.)
READ: Most OFWs won’t join Duterte backers’ ‘zero remittance week’ – Palace
After Duterte’s arrest, several protests were also mounted by OFWs in the Netherlands and other parts of the world.
During his administration, Duterte, who will celebrate his 80th birthday on March 28, launched a drug war that claimed at least 6,000 lives, according to official government data.
But human rights watchdogs and the ICC prosecutor estimated the death toll to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019, as they noted that many of these incidents were extrajudicial killings.
Duterte was arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on March 11 and detained at Villamor Air Base the same day. He has since arrived in The Hague, where he is currently being held.
The former president had his pretrial hearing on March 14, while his confirmation of charges is scheduled for September 23, and he may appeal for an interim release before that date.