Gov’t to OFWs: Reconsider plan to suspend remittances

Metro Manila, Philippines - The government advised some overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on Wednesday, March 26, to reconsider their plan of suspending remittances to show support for detained former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Following reports of a zero-remittance week among OFWs, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile said the promoter of the idea should think of the consequences.

He noted that OFWs are exempted from income tax, travel tax, airport fees, documentary stamp tax, and are excluded from filing income tax returns.

“What will happen should Congress, for instance, retaliate and cancel or also suspend the tax privileges of the OFWs that follow the advice?” Enrile wrote in a social media post.

“In addition, they have to have passports to be able to work as OFWs. Congress granted these privileges to them by laws enacted by it,” he said.

Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro, meanwhile, said the government is not stopping OFWs should they refuse to remit, but she encouraged them to study their plan.

“Sa lahat ng mga OFWs, hindi po tayo kalaban; magkakakampi po tayo. Pare-pareho po tayong mga Pilipino. Siguro magmasid lamang sila at iwasan na maniwala sa mga fake news dahil kung sila po ay mauudyukan man ng mga ganitong klaseng panawagan at pagsasagawa ng mga activities laban sa gobyerno ay hindi lamang po ang gobyerno ang maaapektuhan kundi mismo ang kanilang pamilya,” Castro said in a press briefing.

[Translation: To all OFWs, we are not the enemy; we are allies. We are all Filipinos. They should observe and avoid believing fake news because if they will be encouraged to heed to this activity against the government, their family will also be affected.]

OFW party-list Rep. Marissa Magsino appealed to exclude OFWs from politics and listen to their sentiments instead.

“Walang kulay ang kanilang pagsusumikap at iisang lahi lang ang kanilang tangan sa ibang bansa. Bilang mga Pilipino, malaki na ang ambag nila sa ating bansa at lipunan,” Magsino said in a statement.

[Translation: Their toil has no political color and they carry only one race abroad. As Filipinos, their contribution to the country and society is significant.]

A number of Duterte supporters, including OFWs, have called for his return to the Philippines. The former president is under the custody of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands to face murder charges in relation to crimes against humanity linked to his drug war.