Marcos: Gov't monitoring Middle East tension's impact on remittances

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Tuesday his administration is also monitoring the impact of the Middle East tension on the remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

At a press conference, Marcos said that aside from security and diplomatic concerns, the government is also finding ways to safeguard the steady flow of dollars, which sustain millions of Filipino households.

“The other areas that we look into are what will be the effect on the remittances because this is something that will affect the families of those who are remitting funds from our workers in this part of the world,” Marcos said.

He said the Middle East hosts one of the country’s largest concentrations of overseas workers, making the region a key source of remittance inflows.

“Karamihan ng remittances natin ay talaga diyan galing at 'yan ang pinakamalaking working group natin na nandoon. Hindi nila kasama ang pamilya nila, kung hindi nagre-remit ng pera dito sa Pilipinas,” Marcos said. 

(Most of our remittances come from the region and our biggest working group hails from there. They are not with their families but they remit money to the Philippines.) 

Marcos, meanwhile, described the situation in the region as “a bit of a mixed bag,” saying it remains difficult to quantify the overall impact at this time.

Marcos said that around 80 to 85% of OFWs in the region are still reporting for duty, with some shifting to work-from-home arrangements where possible.

The ongoing conflict and the escalation of attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran are a major concern for the Philippines in the Middle East, where more than 2.4 million Filipinos live and work. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News