MANILA, Philippines - A migrant workers advocacy group on Wednesday said that the exorbitant fees being collected from overseas Filipino workers (OFW) will not go to the national budget but to the pockets of corrupt politicians.
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Migrante International chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado told GMANews.TV in an interview that the government is intensifying its collection tactics to earn more from our workers overseas.
Private cash transfer firm Western Union Co. has already begun collecting documentary stamp tax from money sent home by OFWs.
Patricia Riingen, regional vice president for Western Union, said in a recent briefing that this is not part of their company’s remittance charges and that the revenue will actually be remitted to the national government.
Section 181 of the Tax Reform Act of 1997 says that a documentary stamp tax of thirty centavos for every P200 shall be collected from money coming from a foreign country.
Regalado said that revenue from the stamp tax is supposed to go back to the Filipino people in the form of services. “The problem is that the priority of government officials is different – their own pockets," she said.
“While government and big business rake in gargantuan profits, OFWs are left with almost nothing. The $200 monthly remittance their families receive have radically shrunk and continues to shrink with the spiraling prices of almost all basic needs and services," Regalado added.
A study by the migrant group revealed that for every $200 OFW remittance sent every month, at least $15 to $22 in service fees are charged to the sender. Since about 10 million Filipino workers are sending at least this amount per month, about $1 billion would be earned by banks every month alone.
Meanwhile, the government earns an average of $1.5 million or about P62 million for every billion dollar remitted monthly, not including the fees OFWs pay before leaving the country.
Chapters of Migrante will be launching a signature campaign this month to demand from the Arroyo administration to scrap the stamp tax and remittance fees.
OFW remittances are expected to reach about $15.65 billion or an estimated P700 billion by the end of 2008 since already $8.2 billion or about P360 billion has been sent home just in the first six months of the year.KJTan, GMANews.TV
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