PSAP-PAROLA.ORG | Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme

JOSEPH SEDFREY S. SANTIAGO, LLM

Migrant workers’ remittances to their home countries have reached a level sufficient to attract the attention of institutions like the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). As the third country in the world with the highest amount of remittances received (and the number one in East Asia) at 6.4 billion (US) dollars, the Philippines is necessarily a focus of said agencies in this area.

Even before the ADB laid its eyes on OFW remittances, however, certain sectors of society, especially developmental NGOs, have recognized the crucial role that workers’ remittances, specifically savings generated therefrom, could play in the creation of OFW entrepreneurship. And there are other initiatives as well such as the unilateral action of microfinance institutions (both banking and non-banking), church-supported projects (whether through the parish or specific agencies thereof), and others like the government’s, through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, which, however, has undergone and is still undergoing some rethinking because of its perceived inadequacy of responding to the needs of its clients. This paper aims to identify the other models, and how they interact with each other, especially because the growing interest of many institutions in the mobilization of OFW remittances and savings in economic activities will necessarily bring forth issues among stakeholders, not to mention possible competition for such funds (to finance projects undertaken with varying strategies, not to mention different principles and philosophies, and possibly ideologies).

A major part of the paper is devoted to the inquiry on whether the efforts of creating “entrepreneurial mentality” among OFWs corresponds to the desires of OFWs, specifically seafarers who, compared to other OWFs like domestic helpers and performing artists, are more organized and better protected than others; not to mention better paid (in a more predictable manner). The “compatibility of issues” is sought to be determined through a survey of seafarers in the Philippines (who are waiting for boarding), and those who are already working in ships. Specifically, what is sought to be determined is whether seafarers surveyed see their profession as their durable sole source of income, or whether they view it as a means to finance other planned economic endeavors.

Another major part of this paper is interviews conducted with seafarers who are presently engaged in businesses, whether said businesses are run by them personally (i.e., the seafarer has retired), or by an agent, whether a family member or not. This part of the paper tackles issues confronting seafarers’ businesses, in particular how they are affected by government policies on microbusinesses.

Necessarily, microfinance is discussed not only because it is a source of funding for small businesses; but because the main clients of microfinance are those who are likely to migrate in the absence of jobs and other economic opportunities in the country. It is hoped that inputs from the interviewees could lead to further refinement of new yet relatively aggressive government (through the Bangko Sentral especially) policy on microfinance. Due to interlocking of interests, OFWs could therefore be part of microfinance development in the Philippines in two ways: 1) as clients of microfinance (either themselves or their families); or 2) as provider of funds through developmental NGOs that provide microfinance credit.

With the foregoing, it is hoped that this paper provides insights and other relevant findings that could help improve present initiatives, whether government or non-government, on creating entrepreneurs of OFWs.