Jamaine Punzalan

A store clerk counts US dollar bills inside a money changer stall in Manila on September 23, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File

Article (news)

Raine Musñgi

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178849230439120220923-us-dollar-bills-GC-9328.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align: left;">A store clerk counts US dollar bills inside a money changer stall in Manila on September 23, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA &mdash; &nbsp;For generations, the formula was simple: Filipinos earn dollars abroad, send them home, and convert them into pesos.</p><p>But as more Filipinos earn directly from foreign clients, travel more, work remotely and prepare to migrate, that formula could be changing.</p><p>What happens to the Philippine peso if more Filipinos can simply keep their money in dollars, Australian dollars, euros or other currencies instead of converting everything into pesos? That question is becoming more relevant as foreign money continues to pour into the country.</p><p>The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said cash remittances from overseas Filipinos reached a record $35.63 billion in 2025, up 3.3 percent from 2024. In the first six months of 2026, cash remittances reached another $17.15 billion, up 2.4 percent from the same period a year earlier.&nbsp;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/7/9/bpos-overtake-remittances-as-biggest-growth-engine-drive-property-demand-lobien-1306">BPOs overtake OFW remittances as biggest growth engine, drive property demand &mdash; Lobien&nbsp;</a></div><p>BSP data show cash remittances were equivalent to 7.3 percent of Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, underscoring their importance to the country&rsquo;s foreign exchange flows.</p><p>But not all foreign-currency income now comes from an overseas Filipino worker.</p><div><br></div><div><strong>PESO DOESN&#39;T HAVE TO BE FIRST DESTINATION</strong></div><div><br></div><p>Areson Cuevas, country manager of Wise Philippines, said the market is increasingly being driven by Filipinos earning foreign income while remaining in the Philippines.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no longer just for OFWs. It also consists of freelancers who receive money from their clients abroad,&rdquo; Cuevas said in an interview on ANC&rsquo;s The Boardroom.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/8/17/cash-remittances-reach-3-04-billion-in-june-1235">Cash remittances reach $3.04 billion in June</a></div><p>Wise estimates about 1.5 million Filipinos earn income from foreign sources, including freelancers working for clients overseas.</p><p>For these workers, getting paid in US dollars or Australian dollars is not a remittance in the traditional sense. It is income from exporting their services while staying in the Philippines. And increasingly, they can choose what happens to that foreign currency next.</p><p>&ldquo;When he sees the AUD balance, he can choose to convert to PHP whenever he wants,&rdquo; Cuevas said.</p><p>That could make foreign exchange management part of the everyday financial lives of a much broader group of Filipinos, not just OFWs and large businesses.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/3/26/filipinos-see-pathway-from-poverty-with-virtual-assistant-jobs-1052">Filipinos see pathway from poverty with virtual assistant jobs</a></div><div><br></div><div><strong>FROM OFW REMITTANCES TO GLOBAL INCOME&nbsp;</strong></div><div><br></div><p>The shift is significant because the Philippines has traditionally viewed remittances largely through the lens of overseas employment.</p><p>The PSA estimated 2.19 million overseas Filipino workers in 2024, who sent a total of P262.2 billion in cash and in-kind remittances during the survey period.</p><p>But digital work is creating another channel for foreign money to enter Filipino households.</p><p>A designer in Manila can be paid by a US client. A developer in Cebu can earn Australian dollars. A virtual assistant can work for a company in Europe without ever becoming an OFW. That creates a new kind of cross-border worker: Filipinos exporting services, not necessarily relocating for work.</p><p>And that is precisely the market fintech companies are beginning to target.</p><div><br></div><div><strong>NEXT MONEY FLOW COULD BE OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES</strong></div><div><br></div><p>Cuevas also sees the money moving in the opposite direction.</p><p>He cited a Wise survey in which 81 percent of young Filipinos said they still had a desire to move out of the country. That is a Wise survey finding, not an official projection of Philippine migration.</p><p>For Wise, however, the potential market is clear: Filipinos who eventually study, work, travel or settle abroad may need to move their savings across borders with them.</p><p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have to be an OFW to earn foreign currency,&rdquo; Cuevas said.</p><p>That is changing the definition of the Filipino remittance customer.</p><p>It is no longer simply someone waiting for money from abroad.</p><p>It can be a freelancer getting paid from abroad, a traveler spending overseas, an expatriate receiving income, or a Filipino preparing to leave the country with savings in tow.</p><p>What it does signal is a potentially important behavioral change: technology is making it easier for ordinary Filipinos to decide when their foreign earnings become pesos, rather than having that conversion happen automatically.</p><div><strong>Catch the full interview with Wise Philippines country manager Areson Cuevas on The Boardroom and </strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@ANCAlerts"><strong>on YouTube with ANC 24/7</strong>.</a></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/znboz0ShQZI?&pp=ygVBV2lzZSBQaGlsaXBwaW5lcyBjb3VudHJ5IG1hbmFnZXIgQXJlc29uIEN1ZXZhcyBvbiBUaGUgQm9hcmRyb29tIGE%3D&wmode=opaque&rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br></div>

<p>For generations, the formula was simple: Filipinos earn dollars abroad, send them home, and convert them into pesos. But as more Filipinos earn directly from foreign clients, travel more, work remotely and prepare to migrate, that formula could be changing.</p>

For generations, the formula was simple: Filipinos earn dollars abroad, send them home, and convert them into pesos. But as more Filipinos earn directly from foreign clients, travel more, work remotely and prepare to migrate, that formula could be changing.

What happens to the peso if more Filipinos start holding their dollars?

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What happens to the peso if more Filipinos start holding their dollars?

Raine Musñgi,

ABS-CBN News

Published September 04, 2026 11:32 AM PHT

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Peso

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