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Supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte hold a prayer rally at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila on March 15, 2025 to express their support to the former chief executive who was arrested on March 11 acting on an International Criminal Court warrant over his deadly war on drugs.  Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/174304868838020250316-pro-duterte-protest-manila-MT607.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte hold a prayer rally at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila on March 15, 2025 to express their support to the former chief executive who was arrested on March 11 acting on an International Criminal Court warrant over his deadly war on drugs. <em> Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — A former socioeconomic planning chief on Thursday argued that the &quot;zero remittance week&quot; being floated by the Maisug Croatia group and by other Duterte supporters will barely affect the Philippine economy, citing her own computations.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/26/-palace-not-yet-considering-legal-action-vs-zero-remittance-call-for-ofws-1634">Palace not yet considering legal action vs &#x27;Zero Remittance&#x27; call for OFWs</a></div><p>Angered by the government&#x27;s decision to send former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, some of his OFW loyalists threatened to hold a &quot;zero remittance week&quot; as a &quot;protest.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/18/-bring-him-home-filipino-migrant-workers-grapple-with-duterte-fallout-1253">&#x27;Bring him home&#x27;: Filipino migrant workers grapple with Duterte fallout</a></div><p>&quot;If they&#x27;re doing this to express their dissatisfaction, there may be better ways,&quot; former NEDA chief Winnie Monsod, a Professor Emeritus at the UP School of Economics, told ANC&#x27;s &quot;Headstart&quot;.</p><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/Fjt3MWHse34?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span>Remittances, which OFWs send directly to their families, are seen as a driver of economic activity.</div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/3/17/cash-remittances-climb-in-january-1145">Cash remittances climb in January</a></div><p>According to the <a href="https://www.bsp.gov.ph/SitePages/MediaAndResearch/MediaDisp.aspx?ItemId=7426#:~:text=%E2%80%8BPersonal%20remittances%20from%20Overseas,based%20and%20sea%2Dbased%20workers.">Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas</a>, cumulative remittances reached a record high of US$38.34 billion in 2024, higher by 3.0 percent than the US$37.21 billion recorded in 2023.</p><p>Overseas remittances are sent to OFWs&#x27; families and are seen as drivers of economic activity and growth.</p><div><strong>&#x27;LET&#x27;S DO THE MATH&#x27;</strong></div><p>Monsod said that based on BSP numbers, the impact of the planned protest would not make any dent on the Philippine economy.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/3/26/economists-zero-remittance-may-affect-filipino-families-1553">Economists: &#x27;Zero remittance&#x27; protest may affect OFW families</a></div><p>&quot;Let&#x27;s do the math. There are $38.3 billion in remittances last year or about $40 billion. I-divide natin yan sa 52 weeks, [that&#x27;s] about $800 million for one week. Is that what we&#x27;ll be losing on that &#x27;Zero Remittance&#x27; week? Yes, if we assume that every Filipino abroad will stop remitting. [But] that is not true,&quot; she added.</p><p>Citing Comelec data from the 2016 elections, Monsod said over 1.4 million migrant Filipinos registered to vote but only a third of them did. Of those who did, seven of every ten voted for Duterte.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/3/24/duterte-s-supporters-call-for-repatriation-of-ex-ph-leader-2157">Duterte&#x27;s supporters call for repatriation of ex-PH leader</a></div><p>&quot;So you&#x27;re talking about one third, times 70 percent, so 23 percent of our kababayans abroad we can consider to be die-hard Durerte [supporters]. If we apply this, 23 percent of $800 million, or $185 million dollars will be lost to the Philippines during that &#x27;Zero Remittance&#x27; week,&quot; Monsod said, which she described as a drop in the pond.</p><p>&quot;To tell you what the pond is, BSP&#x27;s reserves are $106 billion... We are overblowing it completely out of proportion,&quot; she added.</p><p>Monsod said that the &quot;protest&quot; will only delay the remittances and will still be sent to the Philippines the following week.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/25/zero-remittance-week-could-burn-ofws-enrile-0710">Zero remittance week could &#x27;burn&#x27; OFWs - Enrile</a></div><p>&quot;[S]o I cannot see what possible effect that would have on the economy... The only people it will affect, unfortunately, will be the families,&quot; she said.</p><div><strong>MIGRANTE: &#x27;ZERO REMITTANCE&#x27; SHOULD BE USED FOR OFW RIGHTS, WELFARE</strong></div><p>OFW group Migrante International, in a statement, said some Duterte supporters are &quot;misusing&quot; a protest tactic that has historically been used for issues that affect migrant workers.</p><p>&quot;Porma ng paglaban ng migranteng Pilipino ang Zero Remittance Day para sa ating karapatan at kagalingan, hindi ang pagdedepensa sa mga kriminal at mamamatay-tao,&quot; Migrante International Deputy Secretary General Josie Pingkihan said in a release.</p><p>(Zero Remittance Days is a form of protest that migrant Filipinos use for our rights and our welfare, not to defend a criminal and murderer)</p><p>Migrante International and the International Migrants Alliance held &#x27;zero remittance&#x27; protests in 2008 and 2015 against higher fees and taxes, the alleged misuse of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and &quot;neglect in providing assistance to OFW victims of exploitation and abuse,&quot; the group said.</p><p>&quot;Pagbabaluktot at pambabastos sa nakaraang sakripisyo ng mga OFW itong ginagawa ng mga DDS ngayon,&quot; Pingkihan said.</p><p>(This move twists and dishonors the past sacrifices of OFWs)</p><p>The group also said the Duterte administration had implemented policies that were an added burden to OFWs, including requiring OFWs to pay SSS premiums in advance to be issued Overseas Employment Certificates for deployment.</p><p>Migrante said it would be better for overseas Filipinos to use protest actions like withholding remittances &quot;for the right reasons of advancing the rights of migrants and calling for genuine change in the Philippine homeland.&quot;</p><div><strong>WHAT SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT DO?</strong></div><p>Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile in his Facebook post earlier floated the idea of Congress suspending the tax privileges of OFWs as &quot;counter action&quot; to those who would participate in the zero remittance protest. Lawmakers quickly rejected his idea.</p><p>For Monsod, what the government should do is &quot;help&quot; the OFWs &quot;understand&quot; what led to Duterte&#x27;s arrest and detention at the ICC.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/11/rodrigo-duterte-and-icc-from-years-long-probe-to-unexpected-arrest-1927">Rodrigo Duterte and ICC: From years-long probe to &#x27;unexpected&#x27; arrest</a></div><p>&quot;What we should talk about is how we can help those [migrant] workers understand what&#x27;s going on.&quot;</p><p>Duterte was arrested in the Philippines on March 11 and sent to The Hague following the issuance of an arrest warrant by the ICC, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity over his bloody war on drugs. <strong>— with Jonathan de Santos, ABS-CBN News</strong></p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><div><strong><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/GYbCdqzYLfU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>According to the ex-NEDA chief, what the government should do is "help" the OFWs "understand" what led to Duterte's arrest and detention at the ICC.</p>

According to the ex-NEDA chief, what the government should do is "help" the OFWs "understand" what led to Duterte's arrest and detention at the ICC.

Planned 'zero remittance' protest for Duterte will barely affect PH economy: prof

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Planned 'zero remittance' protest for Duterte will barely affect PH economy: prof

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 27, 2025 12:49 PM PHT

Read More:

ICC

Rodrigo Duterte

remittances

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Winnie Monsod

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