Seamen to send home $4B

Dollar remittances of Filipino seamen working across the world could surpass $4 billion this year as the global demand for their services remains strong, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said Thursday.

TUCP secretary-general and former Senator Ernesto Herrera said the number of Filipino seamen registering for the first time with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration was “increasing by around 3,500 every month.”

“The Philippines has secured its position as the world’s preferred supplier of able ship staff,” said Herrera, whose labor group includes the Philippine Seafarers’ Union.

From January to July this year, remittances from Filipino seamen already hit $2.433 billion, up by 14.13 percent or $301 million, from the $2.132 billion in the same period last year, Herrera said.

In 2010, they sent home a total of $3.806 billion, up $406 million or 12 percent from the $3.4 billion they remitted via the banking system in 2009, he added.

Herrera said their remittances were growing “three times faster than remittances from land-based migrant Filipino workers.” Philip C. Tubeza