STATEMENT BY THE HONORABLE
ANICETO “JOHN†D. BERTIZ, III
Representative, ACTS OFW Party-list
Member, Committees on Foreign Affairs,
Overseas Workers Affairs, Labor & Employment,
Appropriations, and 17 other committees
OFWs, EXPORTERS ARE HAPPY WITH P51 to $1 EXCHANGE RATE
Overseas Filipinos and their dependents here in the Philippines are very happy that they are getting more pesos for every dollar they earn and send back home. The exporters and business process outsourcing sectors are also very happy because they get more pesos for each dollar they earn.
Biggest winners of the sliding peso against the dollar are obviously the exporters and the overseas Filipinos. However, the big losers are the importers of goods and raw materials and the Philippine Gross International Reserves which will decrease and of course there would be direct effects on our foreign debts which are mainly dollar-denominated.
The decline of peso forex in the last decade is a big concern to business and in our domestic economy. It has to be seen on a holistic view taking into consideration the effects to all stakeholders.
Our country's economy has been strong since the 1990s. In December 2006, the Philippines exited from the close watch of the debt program of the International Monetary Fund. The country has been lending to other countries, albeit in small amounts, since 2011.
We are nowhere near the foreign exchange crises of the 1970s and 1980s.
Congress reformed and empowered the Bangko Sentral over the past three decades. We have one of the best central banks in the world.
The new Bangko Sentral "is in firm control of the exchange rate", according to BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla, Jr.
Espenilla even said the P51 to US$ level allows the Philippine peso "to gain some of the price competitiveness we have lost due to the strong peso of recent periods."
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