Sunday, January 30, 2011

An Emotional Blog From A Son Whose Dad Is An OFW

I am posting here an exact copy of an emotional blog from a son whose Dad is an OFW who works in Libya, and I have also posted my 1 kilometer comment, long as it is but please read on because it might also help you guide your kids.

The name of the blogger-child is Jeffrey Francis who is very appreciative of what his Dad is doing for their sake, and he has this big question: "How can we repay them for their hard work?". I have tried to give him my thoughts below, through this article. Quoting now from Jeffrey Francis' blog:

"Parents......Our Real Inspiration  

 It was July 5 at 7:30 in the evening we go to the airport.....Our father will go back to Libya for another one year contract. All of us were sad because we will be missing him again. Almost everyday we go to church to ask God for his safe flight and for his good health......Thanks God because of internet we survived.....We cried but we have to sacrifice because it is for our own good, especially for us, his children, in order for us to finish our studies....


Parents......They serve as the life and inspiration of  the children like us, because they are the one who gives us tender love and care.. Not only that but they also give us enough protection. They comforts, gives advice and help us in times of problems and troubles. When you wake up in the morning the first person you can see is your parents... Your  mother cooking your breakfast, and your father preparing his self for his work. How thankful we are in their industriousness,but how we can repay them for those hardworks? Like us in this kind of age we have our own simple and little way on how we can thank them. They pursue all they can, for us to achieve our dreams.. Even though it's hard for them to spend their whole time in their work, but still it's also for us to have a good and a beautiful future when we grow up. It's much harder to those children who have a parents who is working abroad, those persons are called OFW.... Like us our father is an OFW it's hard for us specially when he is about to leave us.... Our father, every time he come home here in the Philippines, my sister always cry,not of sadness but because of happiness because he will be with us in another 45 days.. They don't feel the presence of tiredness just for us to have a better life.... Even it's only few days to spend our whole time with him,we still appreciate it because it's also for us.

Few days After he will be coming back again....And we will spend our whole time together!!!!"

Posted by Jeffrey Francis

And this is my comment for Jeffrey Francis:

"How thankful we are in their industriousness, but how we can repay them for those hardworks?"

A nice and deep question esp. from a kid like you dear Jeffrey Francis. Just came across your blog through your Dad's link.

I can genuinely feel what you feel every time your Dad leaves to work abroad because I was once in that situation too. My father was a geodetic surveyor ("was" because he is with the Lord now) working for a big logging company here and he would come home on early Saturday evenings and would leave home early Sunday afternoons after attending Church and would ride his bike to take him back to the logging forests again. You are even lucky because you got 45 days with your Dad, while I only had a few hours.

I also know how your Dad feels every time he says goodbye and leave you for another year of absence because of the nature of his work. But he does it, painful and hard as it is for both of you, because he loves you and he wants to ensure a better future for you.

Given that situation, how can you repay your Dad? and your Mom? Let me share something from my heart:

My parents used to tell me since when I was a kid (I'm the eldest) that they would do their best "kahit na gagapang pa daw sila kung kinakailangan" to be able to give me a good education and they would support me all the way but until I reach 21 years old. Why 21 yrs old? Because engineering takes 5 years to finish.

Ngunit sabi nila, I should study and do my best to learn life because they would stop all the support right after my 21st birthday and from there I will have to live life by my own - meaning I had to find my own living to support myself and never expect for any centavo from my parents anymore because they would need to re-channel their resources to my other siblings doing school.

I do did my best in school and in life, all with the help of God who is alive in my heart. And my parents made good of their word too!

So the best way that you can repay your parents, if I may suggest, is to study hard and do the best that you can; never waste your time hanging out with some "friends" in the mall playing online games, or killing time somewhere and sharing dirty jokes or something; don't bother sticking it out with peers who do not help you become your best and who do not help you succeed in life.

And on top of that, learn how to handle money. Don't spend all your allowance, regardless of how small or big it is. Just remember that every time you buy something, say a sandwich for P10, you are making that store owner richer by another P10 every time and you are making yourself poorer by P10 every time you part with that money.

So how about reversing the trend? Make yourself the "store owner"! How? Well, try it this way: Prepare at least 2 sandwiches before leaving for school, just as tasty or even better than the one sold in the school cafe. You can have one for your snacks (that means you are no longer buying so you have already spared your P10 allowance as savings), and you can sell the other sandwich to your friend for P10 (just make sure na mas masarap kaysa canteen para mapabili mo siya).

So everyday, you saved your P10 allowance and earned another P10. Too small an amount for a kid whose Dad is an OFW! Yes, but actually no! Let me help you see what I see:

If everyday you get P20 more adding on to your pocket, that's P100 per week or P400 per month or P4,800 in a year! And with that amount you can already put up a mobile cart selling fried peanuts that can give you daily average net income of P150 - P300. You can hire one of your tito or neighbor who is out of a job to do the frying and selling of peanuts (anyway sa gabi lang yun, between 5:30p to around 9:30pm).

So while you are saving P10 and making another P10 daily, you will also be making another P150 daily from you fried peanuts business. That peanut business will give you P54,750 in a year! Who among your classmates can have that in a year? And remember, that P54,750 is already equivalent to another 10 more mobile peanut stand.

So you see, kahit nasa elementary or high school ka pa lang ngayon Jeffrey Francis, you can do it! Just imagine if you already have 11 mobile fried peanuts carts scattered in several places na madaming tao, the 11 mobile carts will give you roughly P602,250 net income every year! And you will become the boss of 11 people already.

Assuming hanggang 11 units lang ang gusto mo, but 11 units giving you a total of P602,250 each year, after 5 years you will already have something like P3,011,250. So assuming that you are 13 years old now in 1st year high school then you will be a millionaire (with P1.2M) at 15 years old or 3rd year high school. You will make your parents proud of you. And remember, success is contagious. You will never know how you will influence other kids to try putting up their own business too!

And I tell you Jeffrey Francis, pag natuwa sa iyo ang Dad mo baka bigyan ka niya ng reward. I mean I did that to my kids. Every new year's eve, we count our blessings and check how much money they saved or earned for the whole past year, and then I double them. Pag ang naitabi ng mga anak ko ay P5,000 then I give them another P5,000. If one got just P1,500 then he will have another P1,500 from me. But if one has nothing, then he will also have nothing from me except for my love, my prayers and my guiding words of advice and encouragement for him to do better next time.

To me that's how you can repay your parents, on top of being the good and godly child that you are. That will make them enjoy their lives when they retire because they know that they do not have to look after your welfare always because you know how to live your life the best way possible.

So go ahead my child and be a young entrepreneur. Share me something about your success not too distant from now. God bless you."

Could It Be That..?

For so many years, the Philippines has been sending out skilled, talented, excellent and well-experienced workers and professionals to work abroad. For a long time, our kababayang OFWs have worked in different corners of the earth to be able to send home financial support for their families. Pero ganito lang po ba talaga ang tunay na layunin at dahilan kung bakit mayroon tayong milyon-milyong OFWs ngayon.

I can sense that there is more to it. Could it be that the real and bigger purpose is to gather the dollars, the euros, the dirhams, the rials, the yens, etc. of other nations and put up a big bank owned by OFWs with big foreign currency deposits? So that this big bank will become the source of sustenance for the future generations - the sons and daughters of OFWs? And that will be used by God to end your sufferings of working away from home, and be finally united with their family and put up profitable businesses here thereby increasing the gross national product of the country, and providing more job opportunities to Filipinos here on top of making money through their dividends from this big OFW BANK?

Could the OFW BANK the best way for you to end the routine of waking up very early on Monday mornings (against your will and physical strength) to report to work making somebody else rich while you are forced to be content with what you receive every 15th and 30th?

Please take time to view the following videos and these might just help you redirect your lives, your purpose for living, and your visions for your life - as it did to me.
Please don't miss the powerful message these videos bring to you.

Please don't procrastinate. Don't keep postponing your destiny.

Let me know how God and what God has spoken to you lately through this video?

Starting 2011 Right!

Happy New Year! With an expectant heart, let us welcome the new year 2011 knowing and believing full well that God is with us, and He will never leave us nor forsake us, that He came to give us life and have it to the full.

Mga mahal kong kababayang OFWs baka hindi lang po ninyo alam na matagal na pong sinabi ng Panginoon ang plano Niya para sa atin, we may have become so busy working for a living and failed to get a life, but God said this to us, and I quote:

"11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. "

Talagang mayroong napakagandang plano ang Panginoon para po sa ating lahat - TO PROSPER YOU, TO GIVE YOU HOPE AN A FUTURE! If you want to check, go to Jeremiah 29:11-13 and see it for yourself.

There may be times in our lives that we are down and discouraged, and maybe a few of you are in that situation, pero huwag po kayong pumayag na panghinaan ng loob dahil dakila po sa lahat ang ating Panginoon. Let me quote here the strong encouraging words of the prophet Isaiah. He said in Isaiah 40:27-31:

"27 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Get on with life! Get on with God! Remember that it is He, the LORD, who has given you the ability, the skill and the power to gather, produce and make wealth!

In order to make the season complete, and to help everyone who believes start the new year right, let me share to you this video below and it is up to you how to take advantage of it and how to maximize its benefits for your life today. You might just also see some of our kababayan OFWs working in Singapore right on this video.

May the good LORD bless us immeasureably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us! That is what is told us in Ephesians 3:20, in case this is your first time to hear about it.

Every New Year, a lot of people watch on TV about these popular astrologers and feng shui experts say about their predictions for the new year round as if they really know what will happen and what's in store for everyone!

I have posted here another article which might just help you realize your unreleased potential and your valuable destiny as a person. Please don't miss it because it might just change your life as it did mine. I am blessed to have given the opportunity to meet the guy in that video personally here in the Philippines, face to face, some 3 years ago and he unlocked my creative thinking, I was never the same person since then, God had used him to make me realize my true potentials. Watch those videos here.

You may send your reactions HERE.

OFW BANK Related Exchange of Ideas By Email

In my desire to be transparent to our kababayang OFWs, I have posted below some excerpts of the email exchanges between some of us here in reference to the setting up of an OFW BANK, with the indulgence of our kababayans who sent them.

From Andy P. of New Zealand:
“Ako po ay nalulugod at humahanga sa inyong adhikain na makapaglunsad ng isang banko na makakatulong sa ating mga kababayang Pilipino.  Nabasa ko po ang inyong website at nakita ko ang determinasyon ninyo na maisulong ang ideya ng OFW Bank.  Tama po kayo na marami na ang nagtangka pero wala pang nagtagumpay na makapagtayo ng isang matatawag na OFW Bank.   Hindi po ‘yun maaaring dahilan na dapat kayong umatras sa laban dahil lahat ng sumuong sa laban na ‘yan ay natatalo laman.   Dapat din po nating suriin ang mga kadahilanan kung bakit hindi sila nagtagumpay at kung ano ang kanilang motibasyon sa pagtatayo ng banko.  Sa kadahilanang marami ang kokontra o kaya e negatibo ang pananaw, doon mo makikita at makikilala na marami pa rin sa ating mga Pilipino ang hindi bukas sa mga ganyang ideya.  Maaring sa kadahilanan na maaaring likas o kaya ay hinubog ng panahon sa pagka-sadlak sa pamamahalang bulok at puno ng korupsyon.  Hindi natin maaalis sa kanila ‘yun.   Subalit ako’y natutuwa sa kadahilanang maraming mga Pilipino ang nagbigay ng komento sa inyong website at sa gmanews.tv ang bukas sa ideyang eto.  At ako ay kaisa ninyo sa adhikaing ito at handa po akong tumulong sa abot ng aking makakaya.   Isa din eto sa aking pinangarap na makapag-ambag sa ikakasulong ng pamilyang Pilipino.

Ako ay lubos na natuwa ng mabasa ko ang inyong ideya para sa isang “Foreign Retirees in the Philippines” type of business sa kadahilanang ganitong konsepto din ang aking pinag-iisipan nung andyan pa ako sa Pilipinas.  Nagsimula ang ideyang ‘yun ng makita ko ang nagdadamihang mga Koreano na nag-aaral diyan sa atin sa Pilipinas.  Habang nag-aaral yung kanilang mga anak or kamag-anak ay kasama nila yung kanilang mga retirees na kamag-anak.  Actually, marami na ding mga foreign nationals ang nakakita ng mga potentials na ‘yan at nagse-setup sila ng schools at mga communities as a business.   Nakakatuwang isipin that I’ve met someone with the same wave length ika nga…

On your idea of the real estate business, I’m all sold out in that idea as I’ve done it several times already with all of them generating positive results (hindi naman po sa pagmamayabang).  Ika nga, walang lugi sa real-estate basta tama ang iyong strategy at management.

Nabasa ko na kelangan nyo ng tulong sa inyong website.  Maari ko po kayong tulungan sa aspetong ‘yan kahit sa konting paraan.   Pwede po nating umpisahan sa content na muna then tsaka na lang po natin pagandahin yung design or aesthetics.   May naiisip na po ba kayong domain name na gusto nyong ipangalan para po sarili nyo na yung domain?…. Pwede pong http://www.ofwbankincubator.com... Pwede ko na pong sagutin yung domain registration… J… Sabihin nyo lang po kung ano po ang requirement ninyo… Maari po akong makatulong sa inyo sa larangan ng IT at kahit konti sa banking industry.g

Siyanga po pala, ako po si Andy P.   Kasalukuyan po akong nandito sa bansa ng New Zealand kasama ang aking buong pamilya (ang aking maybahay at apat na anak).  Magda-dalawang taon na rin kami dito pero maalab pa rin ang aming pagmamahal sa bayan at patuloy sa panalangin na sana ay umusad na ng tuluyan ang ating kalagayan at kahit paano ay maibsan ang exodus ng mga Pilipino....Ipagpatuloy nyo ang simulating ito.  Kaisa nyo po kami..   Mabuhay po kayo Makabayang Pilipino!”

My reply to Andy P. of New Zealand:
(Andy P. is working in a big bank in New Zealand)
“Finally I have company in you. Many liked this idea and it really went around so fast, a lot wants to see it done already but you are (one of) the first one who volunteered to help, and help big!…

And thank you for your offer to cover the cost of the domain. I will contact you when we get there, but at this point I want to make use of the free media po muna because people mostly are averse when you mention about (the cost of) operating a website domain.  And I will be consulting you about IT concerns for the website later. You just don't know how much you have inspired me today to pursue this dream.

It's nice to know that you are a banker, because I'm not, I only have some limited understanding about banking and finance because I am a civil engineer by profession and I'm into real estate too.

Kaya kung pwede po sana makiusap po ako sa inyo to help me, if you can be the watchful eye over my shoulders, so that whenever you see something in the website that is not perfectly aligned with the actual banking practice and principles please correct me po kaagad so I can also make things right.

Please bear with me if one of these days you will receive emails from me pleading for some of your inputs.”

From Andy P. of New Zealand:
“Looking at your grand idea of an OFW bank, the capitalization strategy and the business plan are pretty much aligned to how it’s being done in the real world with just some refinements required along the process.   Since this is more or less an initial draft or proto-type of the bigger things to come, refinements and changes will surely come its way.  Kahit na nga naka-blueprint na ‘yung plano eh binabago pa din and that should be alright.   I’ll be very glad to help in this refinement process and I don’t mind if you’ll be sending emails asking inputs on certain things where you think I could be of help.
I could relate well on what you’re trying to do maybe because we have the same academic orientation.   I’m also an engineer (computer eng’g) pero nalinya sa information technology at banking industry.  Medyo malawak ang banking business and most of them are covered under the commercial bank license; which is unlike thrift banks, rural banks or savings bank which had limited coverage.   I always liked the idea of thinking big, as in BIG.   Talagang mahirap kumawala sa “rat-race” kapag ang tao eh nandun pa din sa tinatawag nilang “scarcity mindset”.   It’s never wrong to think ‘rich’ and to dream big, basta palagi pa rin tayong nakaapak sa lupa at tumitingin sa tinatawag nilang ‘reality-check’.  
For example, even if there are 1.5M OFWs, sa marketing plan we would always consider the ‘take-up’ rate and acceleration.   Ika nga eh, meron kang 1.5M na population, pero ilang porsyento diyan ang sa 1st stage eh sasali na kaagad, then sa 2nd stage, then 3rd…. Then yung period between those stages eh kelangan nating i-compute kung ano yung acceleration rate ng mga nagre-respond… Acceleration, meaning gaano katagal at gaano kadami ang sumasali sa loob ng panahon na ‘yun… At sa business plan, are you considering all the 3 stages as part of the initial capitalization (capital build-up) or yun lang 1st stage…
Medyo madaming detalye, pero tuloy lang tayo dahil dadaanan din naman ‘yan habang nere-refine yung business plan.   Kasama ‘yan sa process.  Para din ‘yang building na habang ginagawa mo ‘yung plano eh marami pa ring binabago hanggang makuha mo yung tamang design, tatag at ganda na gusto nyo…”

My reply to Andy P. of New Zealand:
“Thanks for the inputs especially about your ideas about the take-up rate and acceleration rate. I am still in the process of looking for some hard statistical data on which to base my estimates so that the assumptions that will be drawn up will approximate the general reality…

…I want to help them see the big picture first, and help them prepare…, meaning be ready with their savings because their real commitment to this vision is by way of how soon they start to save something monthly so that when the call time is up they are ready with the capital to invest.

Personally, I would rather that we start with a smaller number, say a mere 1% of the 1.5M OFWs, because if this initial group of 15,000 OFWs will save P16,700 every month that's P3B in a year which is enough to put up an OFW Commercial Bank. And once this is up and making money, I think it will be a lot easier to get the others to join and invest.

But the disadvantage for the late comers is the higher value per share because whatever retained income after every year of operation gets added to the equity side, so pag nahuling sumali ang mga OFWs working as househelps in Hongkong for example mas mahal na po ang bili nila ng shares of stocks nila kaya mas preferred ko po sana na we can get a wider investor base.

Putting up the blogsite is really my contribution to sell the OFW Bank idea first to as many OFWs as possible at pag madami na po ang nagkagusto at sumusuporta po dito then that's the time na we go to the second phase of formal registration process, etc.

I want po sana to do a survey where they can create their own personal service accounts and indicate their pseudonyms, email address and how much capital can they commit say by end of 2011 at mag-appear sa website how much total amount is pledged by how many OFWs.

Then they can visit their virtual account in the site monthly and update how much money they have actually saved in their real savings accounts at mag-appear din po doon sa website ang total amount actually saved.

This will encourage others when they see in graphical form how much money is being pledged as investments to the OFW Bank and how many OFWs have committed. And on top of that they should also see how much money is ACTUALLY saved with running total per month versus what was pledged and how many OFWs who pledged to invest are actually saving.

Because with that we can really see if majority of those who support the idea of an OFW Bank are really into it heart, body and soul dahil karamihan po kasi ay madaling ma-excite na mangarap lalo na po pag nakaamoy ng magandang idea tulad nito ngunit pagdating sa actual ay wala pala.

Baka may maitulong po kayo kung paano po yun ma-incorporate sa website. That data will also guide me when to formally present this to GMA Network to help us gain more ground globally and also bring this up to the possible personalities who might be willing and whom we see can really help us to be part of our Board of Trustees and possible bank executives.

I cannot just go to them and just talk about this dream, they will ask for some facts. Pag meron akong hawak na ganoong data, I think it will be easier for us to convince them to help and support us.

It's good to know that VP Binay is also espousing the same dream of having an OFW Bank pero allergic po ako pag may government presence dahil parang ang maging dulo kaagad noon ay malulugi lang dahil kelan ba naging magaling magpatakbo ang mga Board of Directors na political appointees, at ang plano pa nila ay bibilhin na lang ang Postal Bank at yun ang maging start ng OFW Bank, ibig sabihin po ay gagamitin lang nila ang pera ng OFWs to buyout that ailing bank from government control pero government appointees ang magpapatakbo, naku delikado po yun at doon ako takot dahil sayang lang ang pera ng OFWs. Okey lang po sana kung kumikita yung banko na yun and government participation will just be limited to organizing and collecting the investment through a trust fund and invest this fund in Treasury Bills while the SEC & BSP approvals are being worked out, but the owners should be 100% OFWs.”

From jappet21 of UK:
“Magandang araw po! Bumisita din ako kanina lang (8:30am UK…, as i have mentioned may mga naka-usap na ko na mga kasama dito at karamihan nga positibo sa ideya. Di ko pa nai-papasa yung web link ng blogspot mo dahil nasa night shifts ako for this week. Hopefully tonight will not be very busy so i can sit down and email a few friends.
Nai-mention mo si bro Eddie v sa 'about' section mo- just curious, are you a born again christian? Hope you don't mind me asking, as the name bro Eddie v was as synonymous with 'born again' or 'JIL'!

Well, christian, Muslims, Hindu, or whatever your belief brother as long as you love Filipinos and the filipino mother land and deeply desire its soon to be 'freedom' from moral and financial bankcruptcy i have no question about it.

One thing i know, your words of encouragements on the gma7 thread were like words of angels that i long to hear for a long time, (as many to whom i spoke to about doing things for the sake of the Philippines were all mere patronizing and discouragements - who can blame them!) your encouragements and ideas of possibilities to make a better Philippines were like a flickering light in a distance inside a cold, damp, dark tunnel!
Mabuhay ka sir, and God bless us all.”

From Daniel Dacillo of Qatar:
“…Kung anuman ang maitutulong ko upang magtagumpay ang balak na OFW Bank, maaasahan ninyo na handa akong sumuporta. Ang kahirapan nga lang sa kalagayan ko at iba pang mga naandito sa Qatar ay ang pag-uwi dahil usually yearly lang kami nakakauwi sa atin, merong iba na mas malimit at least twice  a year na nakakatuwa din dahil siyempre mas malimit nilang makita ang mga pamilya nila kesa sa nakakarami dito sa amin.

Kayo higit sa lahat ang nakaaalam kung paano ang mga proseso ng ganitong bagay kaya siguro sa inyo mapupunta ang malaking kontribusyong pisikal at sakripisyo para matuloy ito…”

My reply to Andy P. of New Zealand:
“Salamat na nakatagpo po ako ng kapwa ko pong Pilipino na katulad ninyo na nangangarap at gumagawa ng mga paraan upang makatulong sa pag-unlad ng ating bayan.

Malaki ang tulong po ninyo sa pamamagitan ng inyong kasipagan sa paggawa dyan po sa ibang bansa, kahit na nga ang kapalit nito ay mabigat na sakripisyong mapalayo sa bayan at sa mga mahal sa buhay.

Ipagpatuloy po natin ang hangaring ito, at alam ko pong pagpapalain tayo ng Panginoon. Dama ko po ang kagandahang loob po ninyo at ang inyong pagiging makabayan. Nawa marami pa pong kababayan natin ang magkaroon ng ganito rin pong uri ng layunin.” 


From Chriz Rimando of Abu Dhabi:
“I share the same interest with you… start the OFW Bank rolling and Count me in.  mabuhay ka kabayan,  I share the same visions with you, you have all my support in your undertaking… My suggestion is have a thread showing the intentions of every OFW who would like to join our cause.”…

“I’ve already collated feasibility studies for Tilapia Raising, Goat raising and  Quail egg raising.  A viable business right now is food production, working here in Abu Dhabi, UAE encouraged me to go into food business production.”

(Chriz Rimando also plans to avail of the government’s P1B Loan Facility for OFWs and use the proceeds for profitable ventures together with like-minded OFWs that he is inviting to join him. You can reach him at Chrizvoltaire in Facebook and Multiply.com for more info.)

My reply to Chriz Rimando of Abu Dhabi:
“I Thanks for the email, it's good that you have that vision to put up food production ventures in the province when you come home. I have posted an edited portion of your email in the free website including your facebook &multiply account to spread the word and encourage those who are into food production to also go with you on a joint venture or coop basis.

May you find great success in that endeavor at sana mas marami pang mga kababayan nating OFWs ang magka lakas loob na pasukin ang mundo ng negosyo.”

You can also participate by sending us your reactions and suggestions or any ideas that can help promote the establishment of the OFW BANK through email by clicking HERE.

Binay Wants Plans for 'OFW Bank' revived - GMA News

Again, with the indulgence of www.gmanews.tv may I post herein in toto the said news article and pilipino's initial reaction and reservations, as follows:

Binay wants plans for 'OFW Bank' revived

12/22/2010 | 02:59 PM
To bring down the cost of sending money to the Philippines, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Wednesday he is pushing for the creation of an “OFW Bank."

Binay — also the Presidential Adviser on OFWs’ Concerns — wrote to President Benigno Aquino III pushing for the proposed bank as an “alternative yet viable" remittance institution here and abroad.

“The bank will provide fair competition towards the reduction or lowering of remittance or transaction costs and provide a productive outlet for our overseas Filipinos’ savings as bank investors and shareholders," he said in the letter posted on the Office of the Vice President’s website.

Binay said the move was in response to OFWs’ (overseas Filipino workers) clamor for an OFW Bank, as financial intermediaries and money brokers are presently charging exorbitant fees for money transfers.

Government financial institutions will initially fund and underwrite the bank, according to the Vice President said.

Eventually, investors and stockholders will own and control the OFW Bank, Binay said.

Money sent home by OFWs rose to $15.46 billion in the first 10 months of the year, up 7.9 percent from $14.23 billion in the same period last year, central bank data showed.

A chunk of the remittances came from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, UK, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Italy, Germany, and Norway.

The idea for an OFW Bank was raised in 2006 as a way of consolidating the financial assets and operational capabilities of government institutions, like Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and Philippine Postal Corp.

The project was supposed to create a financial institution for OFWs, one that is inexpensive and more focused toward its OFW-oriented direction and services. Because of the global recession, it was shelved.

Instead, LandBank and DBP launched separate remittance programs for the lucrative OFW market estimated by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration between eight million and 11.5 million land- and sea-based employees. — JE/VS, GMANews.TV

THE INITIAL REACTIONS AND APPREHENSIONS 
The clamor for an OFW Bank is now gaining grounds though each proposal differ in their approaches but the common general idea really is to help the OFWs, in fact there is this discussion site about this OFW Bank in http://ofwbankincubator.blogsp... and it might just be worth your while to drop by that site and check out the ideas being espoused there, and pitch in your ideas there too.

I support the Vice President's move along this line and I appreciate him for writing the President about this clamor for an OFW Bank that will be sensitive to the needs of the OFWs.

But I have reservations though about government hands directly involved in its operations because governments are not known to be efficient in running businesses like that, I mean PNB was losing money when it was run by the government. Quedancor was another sad story. And that involves government money at under COA audit pa yan.

Can the government bureaucrats change skin overnight and become efficient? Remember this will involve OFW money, how can you pin down government-appointed bank directors, officers and managers if they mismanage the OFW Bank owned by the OFWs? The Philippine Postal Bank is a good example of bad government-appointed managers (please don't misunderstand me, I'm not hitting PNoy nor VP Binay here).

How can you pin down the people responsible for such mess? May nakasuhan at nakulong na ba na mga tao na naging dahilan ng pagkalugi at pagbagsak ng QUEDANCOR? Ang pagkalugi ng SSS at GSIS? May naipakulong na ba? Yung OWWA Fund anong nangyari? Yung RSBS at Veteran's money? And then we use the money to bail out an ailing Postal Bank and make it an OFW Bank, common.

I don't want to be pessimistic but is there no political color here especially if some people are known to be gunning for 2016 elective positions? I mean Sen. Manny Villar also sponsored a Senate Bill for an OFW Bank with that same line where the Postal bank is involved. That was when he was gunning for the Presidency but he was quite about it since then because it's not useful for him now.

Sana ay maling-mali po ako sa aking mga sapantaha. Baka ang mangyayari pa niyan dadagsain yan ng loans ng mga politico na nakatulong "kuno" sa pagtatayo ng OFW Bank tapos wala ng bayaran pag natalo sa election. Ganoon po kasi ang nangyari sa QUEDANCOR. It started as a noble program to provide farmers and small businesses wider and easier access to capital for their small scale businesses.

Ang ginawa po ng mga likong politico ay nagtayo po sila ng maraming mga cooperatives, farmers group, samahang nayon businesses that appeared to be viable that's why those loans were approved and released to them, but the money was never really used to put up those businesses but were diverted to political ends.

Sabi nila kunwari ay magtatayo ng babuyan sa ganitong nayon ngunit ang pera ay napunta sa baboy na politico and this evil practice was duplicated by other politicos nationwide, nagkokoyahan sila ng ganung paraan paano makahiram ng pera para panggastos sa politika. Noong di sila nanalo walang habol sa kanila ang gobyerno dahil hindi naman sila ang nakapirma doon kundi yung mga business fronts nila na ang nakasalang doon ay mga pangalan ng mga maliliit na mga taga-nayon na nagtiwala sa kanila na maiahon ang kanilang pamumuhay sa "kagandahang kalooban ni congressman, ni mayor at ni governor. Walang mahabol na tao ang Quedancor kasi alangan naman pong ipakulong nila yung mga maliliit na magsasakang nakapirma po doon e hindi naman sila nakatanggap ng pera, and the matter will become politicized so the solution was to close down Quedancor dahil lugi daw po.

I don't want that same fate to happen with the OFW Bank. Again I might be grossly misunderstood here as either to pessimistic or because I want to hit or discredit somebody which are totally far from my intentions here. I am just giving you cautions and trying also to help others see the other side of the coin. It is for you to weigh the ideas and apprehensions I raised here and see for yourselves if I am just babbling some nonsense here. You might want to compare it with the ideas raised in http://ofwbankincubator.blogsp..., just check because it might help everyone in coming up with the best thesis.

The idea as presented in the news article above is good, it just needs some fine-tuning to ensure efficiency, transparency, responsibility, accountability, professionalism and ethical practice in running that bank.

How To Make The OFWs An Economic Powerhouse?

With economic power comes respect. How can we make our OFWs an economic powerhouse? Are we already content that the OFW money sent home has become part of the financial statistics often bannered on news headlines? Can we do more than being a statistical number?

There is a pending Senate Bill aimed at establishing an OFW Bank by collecting money through compulsory contributions from the OFWs through OWWA and use that money to buy and salvage the old, badly managed and losing Postal Bank that has bad assets and bad loans and other questionable liabilities based on the way I understand their 2009 financial report. 

And because it is through OWWA and a Senate Bill which becomes a Republic Act, then that implies that their proposed version of an OFW Bank will just be another government controlled and operated corporation run by government-appointed business managers who were not really known for efficient and profitable management of any government corporation! Tapos idadamay pa ang pera ng OFWs para pang-solve sa problema ng Postal Bank na owned, operated and managed ng government appointees din tapos pag nabili na ng OFWs government appointees din ulit ang magpapatakbo?

I don't subscribe to that idea. The senator may have the best intentions but I don't see the light there for the OFWs, masusunog lang ang pera nila. At ang delikado pa niyan, baka gawing bagsakan pa yan ng housing loans applications from low-cost housing na inaabunuhan ng developer ang pang-monthly amortization for the first year just to get off the 1-year buyback requirement and then no more payments for the succeeding years because di naman talaga pala totoong mga paying buyers yun in the first place, so the bank will be saddled with a huge non-performing loans just like what crippled the NHA program, the SSS/GSIS housing program and even PagIbig Fund housing program before.

And these non-performing loans and assets were sold palugi through the SPAV Law where these bad assets were sold at around 70% discount through SPAV. Ang nakinabang dito ay ang SPAV companies that were mostly owned by foreigners like Lehman Brothers noon, etc...nakinabang because after buying them at 70% discount they sell them back to the Filipinos at present market values!

Why buy an old bank with heavy liabilities (mostly non-performing) when in fact the OFWs can even put up an OFW Commercial Bank very easily in as far as
capitalization is concerned, if only the OFWs will realize that they are actually an economic powerhouse.

You see, based on recent OWWA figures, the documented OFWs in 2009 is already at 1.479M and that population is increasing at 14-15% a year so by simple extrapolation the 2010 figure is at least 1.686 million OFWs already and if everybody will just save P500 per month for just 4 months (say from January to April 2011) the OFWs can raise a total of P3.372 Billion capital which is much much more than enough to put up a big OFW COMMERCIAL BANK that is similar to these big commercial banks in the Philippines. The minimum cash capital requirement for a commercial bank per BSP rules is only P2.4B actually.

Ok I can almost hear people saying napakaliit naman noong P500, so let's make it P1,000 savings per month for 4 months that's P6.744B capitalization! And if that OFW Bank with that cash capital will just earn say 12% a year (which is napakaliit masyado if you compare that to industry average figures among commercial banks) then that gives you P809M more money every year.

What happens when the 1.686M OFWs save P1,000 per month from January to December 2011 that will raise some P20.232 Billion initial capitalization by December 2011, napakalaking bangko po ang kayang itayo ng OFWs with that money and that is a real threat to BPI, Metrobank, BDO, PNB, etc.

Why just P500 or P1,000 a month? Para kayang-kaya makasali ang mga maliliit na OFWs kahit yung pinakamababa ang sweldo para may pagkakataong lumaki ang bawat OFW. Of course I know the doctors and nurses and engineers and caregivers and physical therapists and scientists and field experts and other OFWs who receive bigger salaries will be content to save a mere P500 or P1,000 a month as their future investment to an OFW bank siyempre mas malaki yung kaya nilang itabi. 

So assuming that 30% of our OFWs are in that category and they will save say P5,000 a month instead, that gives us an additional potential capitalization of P24.278B and add that up to your original P20.232B that brings us to P24.3B capitalization by end of December 2011! 

Pag may ganun kalaking bangko pwede ka nang mamili ng mas maliliit na bangko na may maraming branch na kumikita ng maganda dahil pag ganun biglang dami na kaagad ng iyong branches na operational and making money na kaagad. Because it actually takes time to get the BSP approval for additional branches, di yan tulad ng sari-sari store na kung kelan at kung saan mo gustong magtayo ng branch ay pwede dahil sariling desisyon mo lang ang masusunod but with banking it's very different because it is a heavily regulated industry. 

If you are interested with this idea it might be worth your while to invite other OFWs to also check what you have learned from here and encourage them to contribute their ideas here. Some have already contributed a lot of ideas here, and even their apprehensions and doubts.

Malay natin professional banking executive ka pala dyan sa ibang bansa at gusto mo na sanang umuwi, this might be the best opportunity for you. Or if not, at least you can give some inputs on how to put up that OFW Bank. Initial inputs are published and can be viewed here too. At least I was able to show here that capitalization is not an issue. Katumbas lang po yan ng isang araw nyong merienda yan dyan.

Let's go for that OFW Commercial Bank! Mabuhay!

Minimum Capital Requirements & Stockholdings Structure For An OFW Commercial Bank

In relation to our collective efforts to set up an OFW BANK, please check the following guidelines set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on establishing of new banks and its branches, there are certain minimum requirements that must be met. Listed below are the minimum requirements in summary form, these are copied from the BSP official website (www.bsp.gov.ph).

1. REQUIRED MINIMUM CAPITAL 
    TYPE OF BANK                                                             REQUIRED CAPITAL (In Pesos)

    a. UNIVERSAL BANKS                                                                                4.95 Billion
    b. COMMERCIAL BANKS                                                                              2.4 Billion
    c. THRIFT BANKS
        - With Head Office w/in Metro Manila                                                      325 Million
        - With Head Office outside Metro Manila                                                    52 Million
    d. RURAL BANKS
        - Within Metro Manila                                                                               26 Million
        - Within the cities of Cebu and Davao                                                       13 Million
        - Within 1st, 2nd & 3rd class cities and 1st class municipalities                  6.5 Million
        - Within 4th, 5th & 6th class cities & 2nd, 3rd, 4th class municipalities      3.9 Million
        - Within 5th & 6th class municipalities                                                     2.6 Million

The OFW Bank that we envision is a Full Commercial Bank which minimum required capitalization is 2.4 Billion Pesos.

2. MINIMUM STOCK SUBSCRIPTION REQUIREMENTS  
At least 25% of the total authorized capital stock shall be subscribed by the subscribers or owners of the proposed bank, and at least 25% of the subscribed stocks shall be paid up, provided that in no case shall the paid-up capital be less than the minimum required capital stated above. 

In our case the total amount of paid-up capital should not be less than P2.4B it being a full commercial bank. The P2.4B is just the minimum, we can increase that whenever we see it fit and attuned to the needs of the market.

This amount does not include yet all the other necessary capital expenses to cover the cost of putting up our Head Office and necessary branches including the office furnitures & equipments, office supplies, communication platform, security, insurance and the necessary operating costs, which based on early estimates may reach a minimum of P600 Million. That amount brings up to at least P3B as our total initial capitalization which already includes the estimated operating and capital expenses. You may refer to the other articles in this site where some suggestions on how to setup the OFW Bank were laid out.

We need more suggestions and reactions from you. Initially, some ideas on how we can put up the P3B Fund for an OFW Bank were volunteered and these are discussed in another article in this site.

3. STOCKHOLDING LIMITS AND RESTRICTIONS TO FOREIGN OWNERSHIP 
The stockholdings of an individual, family, corporate or business group in any bank shall be subject to the following limits:

  • Foreign Individuals & Corporations - Foreign individuals and non-bank corporations may own or control up to forty percent (40%) of the voting stock of a domestic bank provided that the aggregate foreign-voting stocks owned by the foreign individuals and non-bank corporations in a domestic bank does not exceed forty percent (40%) of the outstanding voting stock of the bank. The percentage of the voting stock in a bank shall be determined by the citizenship of the individual stockholders in that bank.
  • Filipino Individuals & Corporations - There shall be no aggregate ceiling on the ownership of Filipino individuals and corporations owning voting stocks in a domestic bank, meaning, a domestic bank can be 100% Filipino owned. A Filipino individual and a domestic non-bank corporation may each own up to forty percent (40%) of the voting stock of a domestic bank.
  • Citizenship of a Stockholder-Corporation - The citizenship of the corporation which is a stockholder of a domestic bank shall follow the citizenship of the controlling stockholders of the corporation, irrespective of the place of incorporation. The term "controlling stockholders" refers to individuals holding more than fifty percent (50%) of the voting stock of the corporation.
We should have no problem with this requirement because anyway we do not intend to enter into any partnership with foreign investors since the idea really is to make it OFW owned.

4. ALLOWED OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF BANK

  • COMMERCIAL BANKS - At least sixty percent (60%) of the voting stock of any commercial bank must be owned by Filipino citizens and/or Filipino corporations.
  • THRIFT BANKS - For thrift banks, at least forty percent (40%) of its voting stocks should be owned by Filipino citizens and/or Filipino corporations. I do not totally get the idea of this provision as it seems to give some exception to the 60/40 ownership limit. Maybe this explains why thrift banks or savings banks which are foreign-owned and controlled are now mushrooming in Metro Manila like for example the Citi Savings Bank, HSBC Savings Bank, GE Savings Bank, etc. 
  • RURAL BANKS - Subject to the provisions of Section 4 of R.A. No. 7353, an Act providing for the creation, organization and operation of Rural banks, and for other purposes, all of the capital stock of any rural bank should be fully owned and held, directly or indirectly, by Filipino citizens or corporations, associations or cooperatives qualified under Philippine Laws to own and hold such capital stock.
Please refer to www.cda.gov.ph for the rules and regulations implementing certain provisions of the new Philippine Cooperative Law of 2008 (R.A. No. 9520), including the special provisions of the new Cooperative Law.

Let us continue to enjoin others to know about where we are heading and help them be part of this dream of having our own OFW Bank.