ECONOMISTS said a planned “zero remittance week” to protest the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte could have a big impact on the economy, but only if it is successfully done. They added that it could be the families of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Philippines who would mostly feel the protest’s impact.
In an online press conference, BPI Lead Economist Jun Neri said the “zero remittance week” set from March 28 to April 4, 2025 could affect the growth of the country as it would impact household spending.
Lower remittance can also lead to higher interest rates and foreign exchange, which will directly affect Filipinos.
“That will clearly widen the current account position, negative position and have some negative consequences on the exchange, on the reserves accumulation plan of the government, and it may even affect interest rates,” said Neri.
He added that if all overseas Filipinos join the “zero remittance week”, this could also affect the decision of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Monetary Board to cut or raise interest rates in April.
“Even growth can be dragged since it’s a major funder of household final consumption. And the impact could be we could breach the P60 level immediately or BSP might have to postpone any cuts at all this year, maybe even have to hike later on this year,” Neri said.
BPI Strategist Marco Javier agreed that a “zero remittance week” would affect the country since overseas Filipinos send about $97.3 million a day back home.
He added: “It would also probably increase the need for more dollar borrowings if this would last for more than a week or a month. Our external debt is more than $130 billion, the government might have to issue either in peso or dollar denominated debts which would again put pressure on interest rates.”
But the two economists said the direct impact would really be on Filipino families. They said the protest could affect spending and with potential high interest rates and foreign exchange rates, it would be more expensive to borrow money in the future.
“Trying to convince people, especially those that have amortizations for their housing loans, their car loan, and of course also the tuition for their kids to stop, might be a hard to convince. Their credit standing might be put at risk,” said Javier.
But Neri added that he believed not all overseas Filipinos would join the “zero remittance week”.
“It’s a very hypothetical situation. Personally, I doubt it can be delivered or it can happen,” he said.
Some OFWs called for fellow workers abroad to join the “zero remittance week” to protest the arrest of Duterte, who is facing crimes against humanity charges at the International Criminal Court for his war on drugs. (ABS-CBN News)
