Cash remittances from Filipino sailors on foreign ocean-going vessels may surpass the US$ 4-billion goal this year amid resilient global demand for their services.
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Secretary-General and former Senator Ernesto Herrera said that remittances of Filipino sailors already hit US$ 2.433 billion in the first seven months of this year, up 14.13 percent, or US$ 301 million, from the US$ 2.132 billion during the same period in 2010.
Herrera said the cash wired home by sailors had been growing three times faster than remittances from land-based migrant Filipino workers.
“The Philippines has secured its position as the world’s preferred supplier of able ship staff,” he said.
“The number of Filipino sailors registering for the first time with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has been increasing by around 3,500 every month,” he said.
The POEA processed for deployment a total of 280,348 sea-based workers in the first seven months of this year, up 5.5 percent from 265,656 over the same period in 2010.
Sailors accounted for nearly one-fourth of the 1,470,826 workers the Philippines deployed abroad last year.
Last year, a total of 347,150 Filipino sailors were deployed to 2,496 foreign ships. This was 16,726, or five percent, more than the 330,424 sailors set out to 2,340 boats in 2009.
Filipino sailors mostly serve as licensed senior members of the deck department of merchant as well as passenger ships. Others serve as rated technicians in the engine department, bosuns and messmen.
They are employed by cruise liners; bulk carriers; container vessels; oil, gas, chemical and product tankers; general cargo ships; tugboats; and pure car containers.
Filipino sailors sent home a total of US$ 3.806 billion in the 2010, up US$ 406 million or 12 percent from the US$ 3.4 billion they remitted via the banking system in 2009.
Herrera said the country should concentrate on deploying abroad sailors and other highly skilled surplus professionals such as nurses.
“The drawback of unskilled or semi-skilled laborers such as domestic helpers is that, because talents are easy to replace, they are exceptionally exposed to potential mistreatment by employers,” he said. [PNA]
