Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga’s 3rd district representative has proposed a measure to provide discounts on overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs) remittance fees.
The House leader wants to institutionalize in the 19th Congress a 50 per cent reduction on the fee imposed on overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs) money remittances.
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This remains the main feature of House Bill (HB) No. 185, which is a refiled measure from Gonzales Jr.
“We hope we could enact it this time around for the sake of our 2.3 million OFWs and their families,” Gonzales said.
Under the OFWs Remittance Protection Act, the OFWs would get a major relief with a March 2022 World Bank monitoring report stating that global remittances made through banks averaged 10.94 percent of the amount remitted.
READ ON: OFW remittances record Php 151.9B in May 2022 – BSP
He said that OFWs paid $3.44 billion in fees “on the $31.4 billion they sent to home to their families last year.”
“Had the bill been enacted, it would have saved our workers $1.72 billion or P95.67 billion at the exchange rate of P55.70 to one US dollar,” he said.
The House had approved the bill in December 2020 during the 18th Congress, but the Senate failed to pass their version of the measure.
