DFA, DMW plan transition concerning OFW assistance

by Kaycee Valmonte Philstar.com

MANILA — The Philippines is preparing to handover the full responsibility of assisting overseas FIilipino workers to its newly established migrant workers department this year.

The DOT said it aims to draw 4.8 million tourists to the country this year.

While he granted the tax refund for purchases by foreign tourists, Mr. Marcos also approved the automatic

Marcos and the council also agreed to prioritize China and India in terms of trade and other relations.

New app

PSAC then informed the president that it is working on an app called e-Travel, which integrates all information on immigration, customs, and health and quarantine measures.

The app, which could be introduced to the public by February, is being modified to allow easy data input for families and other groups, they said, adding that the database will include tourist destinations, information on available transportation and hotels, and traffic monitoring.

Tourists can complete the form through the app before boarding or while onboard their plane.

Marcos highlighted to the group the importance of digitalization, which he said would allow tourists to easily fill out forms while traveling and enable authorities to ensure security at the borders. g

Millions to lose coverage during...

The privileged reduced travel tax for legitimate spouses of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), unmarried children of OFWs below 21 years old, and children of OFWs with disabilities even above 21 years old are P400 for first class and P300 for economy class. PAGE

Health Department website that has listings across the state,” she said.

California passed a continuous coverage law last year for young children that won’t go into effect until 2025, so some kids are going to lose coverage in the interim.

“So the important thing is for everybody to know and help our community renew their coverage and know where to go,” she said.

Not so lucky are people in 11 states that did not expand Medicaid under the ACA or the American Rescue Plan.

CMS estimated 383,000 individuals, who will lose eligibility for Medicaid, would fall in the coverage gap in the remaining 11 non-expansion states – with incomes too high for Medicaid, but too low to receive Marketplace tax credits.

CMS noted that state adoption of Medicaid expansion in these states would mitigate potential coverage loss at the end of the Public Health Emergency (PHE).

Those states are Wyoming, Wisconsin, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and

Florida.

“This is a moment where we’re going to really feel the stark differences across our country. In the eleven remaining nonexpansion states, eight of which are in the south, there is already too little access to healthcare coverage for people, including communities of color,” GuerraCardus said.

After being able to take care of their healthcare needs for several years, she said that some people suddenly will lose coverage and not have any other option for affordable coverage. (Peter White/Ethnic Media Services)

According to a joint circular between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Migrant Workers, the DFA said it will continue to provide Assistance to Nationals (ATN) and legal services to OFWs until March 31 this year, “pending the full turnover of ATN functions to the DMW.”

“It shall retain and disburse ATN and legal assistance funds to assist OFWs, until such time that the concerned Migrant Workers Office (MWO) is fully-equipped with the operational and financial requirements to provide such assistance,” the circular read.

The announcement comes as the DFA’s Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs helps the DMW in its transition to be the

MANILA — The national government’s outstanding debt, as a share of the economy, remained within alarming levels in 2022, keeping the threat to the country’s creditworthiness.

The Philippines’ debt-to-GDP ratio, a gauge of the government's ability to settle its liabilities, settled at 60.9% in 2022, the Department of Finance reported Thursday.

This was notably a better showing than the 63.7% ratio recorded in the third quarter of 2022. But it was slightly higher than the 60.5% ratio recorded at the end of 2021.

Nevertheless, the DOF said the 2022 figure fell below the Marcos administration’s ceiling of 61.8% debt-to GDP ratio for last year.

Treasury data showed the state’s debt pile sagged 1.7% monthon-month to P13.42 trillion in December 2022.

While this is a welcome development, Nicholas Antonio Mapa, senior economist at ING Bank in Manila, warned that the Philippines’ hard-won investment grade credit rating would remain at risk of a downgrade if the debt- of providing assistance to OFWs. to-GDP ratio stays above the 60% threshold that is deemed manageable for developing economies.

The two agencies have established a technical working group (TWG) to implement changes during the transition.

The group is chaired by DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs and is co-chaired by the DMW Undersecretary for Foreign Employment and Welfare Services.

A downward revision of the credit rating would have serious repercussions on the Philippines. For one, a lower rating would make borrowing money offshore more expensive for both the government and Philippine companies.

A downgrade could also affect the country’s appeal to foreign investors.

“The longer we stay above 60 percent we will always be susceptible to a downgrade. It’s clear that the strategy for fiscal consolidation hinges on growth to hit or surpass target,” he said in a Viber message.

The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio hovered at 39.6% in 2019, or before the pandemic turned the domestic economy on its head. In 2020, the former Duterte administration embarked on a borrowing spree to fund its crisis response, bloating the state’s debt load.

The Marcos administration, which inherited the heavy debt

Both departments will also assign three officials each to joint the DFA-DMW TWG.

Throughout the transition, the DFA will be training and mentorship to the DMW’s MWO staff to prepare them to handle OFW cases and other concerns.

The DFA will also start turning over existing ATN cases to the DMW, along with relevant data and other information. g burden, set a fiscal consolidation strategy that would entail imposing and reforming taxation measures to fatten national coffers. The government now looks to trim the debt-to-GDP ratio to less than 60% by 2025, and then down to 51.1% by 2028.

That said, economic growth in 2022 helped trim the ratio, as GDP benefitted from the boons of a reopened economy.

“We think that as long as we have a credible fiscal program and GDP remains robust, there is little reason for a credit downgrade,” Domini Velasquez, chief economist at China Banking Corp., said. For ING Bank’s Mapa, 2023 could prove to be a trying time for the Philippines’ growth ambitions, as it looks to outgrow base effects and roiling global headwinds.

“Other countries in the region, most notably Indonesia has successfully completed its fiscal consolidation plan post-COVID Our timeline, suggests that we will only achieve this a couple more years from now,” he said. (Philstar. com)