From the website of Dr Cielito Habito (formerly Philippine Economic Planning Secretary) at http://cielhabito.multiply.com/
When the US sneezes…
It is often said that when the US economy sneezes, Asia – and much of the world, for that matter – catches a cold. And the reason for this is that as the biggest economy in the world, the US tends to be at or the near the top of many countries’ list of biggest trading and investment partners.

For the ASEAN-5 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand), the US remains among the two biggest buyers of their exports. It may …read more

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), remitting part of their dollar earnings to support their families in the Philippines, have become a significant factor in the Philippine Economy (US$ 14 billion in 2007).
Remittances have not been only for consumption expenditures (i.e., monthly household expenses) , but also for investments in housing and real estate. As a matter of fact, big real estate companies and banks in house financing have set up offices in the cities where OFWs are clustered (e.g., San Francisco & Los Angeles, Chicago, Hongkong, Singapore, Rome, etc).

As the job situation of OFWs are unstable (longest employment contracts …read more

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), remitting part of their dollar earnings to support their families in the Philippines, have become a significant factor in the Philippine Economy (US$ 14 billion in 2007).
The weakening of the US$ has hit the OFWs with a double whammy.

Not only do they have to remit a greater portion of their dollar earnings (US$ 1 = PhP 52 three years ago, US$ 1 = PhP 41 today) to maintain the level of support for their families in the Philippines, their living expenses in the countries where they work have also increased. With companies downsizing, there is …read more

The US Census Bureau puts Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the US at 2,807,731 in 2005. The US State Department estimates Americans of Filipino ancestry at 4 million.
Wikipedia estimates OFWs worldwide at 10 million (which is about 11% of the Philippine population and about one-third of the Philippine labor force).
In 2007 alone, the Philippine Department of Labor & Employment reported 1,012,954 left the Philippines to find employment abroad. It also reported that OFWs worldwide remitted US$ 14 billion to their families in the Philippines.

Clearly, OFWs and their remittances are a significant slice in the Philippine economic …read more