THE establishment of the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFB) is seen to ease the hassle experienced by workers abroad in sending remittances back home, an official of the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) organization said.
Deborah Ponte, president of Bacolod City Overseas Filipino Workers Association (Bacofwa), said she is optimistic that this development would result to more benefits to OFWs and their families, including those in Bacolod.
President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed Executive Order 44, approving the Land Bank of the Philippines' acquisition of Philippine Postal Savings Bank, which will subsequently be converted into the OFB expected to open early next year.
Ponte, 33, worked as a caregiver in Lebanon in her early 20s between 2004 and 2006. She went home when the war erupted in her host country.
Ponte said that during the time, she had not experienced bank-to-bank transactions when sending money to her family. It was her employer who sent her remittances to the Philippines.
She pointed out that overseas Filipinos’ remittances is among the biggest contributor to the economy, and the OFWs are considered modern-day heroes.
As president of Bacofwa, Ponte said she is looking forward to an orientation from concerned agencies about the OFB to know how it can assist the overseas Filipinos and their families.
Ponte said she has seen the difficulties of working abroad and she is hopeful that under the Duterte administration, the OFWs and their families will be given the much-needed attention.
She specifically cited the need to protect household service workers in the Middle East who are most prone to abuses.
Ponte, who presently works at the Sectoral Concerns Office of Bacolod City, said the forming of Bacofwa is one of their initiatives.
They aim to “amplify the issues, problems and aspirations of overseas Filipinos and to protect and promote the rights and welfare of overseas Filipinos and their families.”
Bacofwa, an association of returned migrants, overseas Filipinos and their families, is composed of 14 OFW associations based in various barangays.
Ponte led the around 200 officers who took their oath before Mayor Evelio Leonardia last month. (NLG)