Pinoy seafarers ‘stay afloat’ in crisis-riddled Greece

The country’s largest labor group said yesterday that majority of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are working for Greek employers will be immune from the impact of the ongoing debt crisis of Greece.

In a statement, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) President Ernesto Herrera disclosed that majority of the OFWs in Greece are employed in Greek-flag ships which make up 16 percent of the world’s ocean-going vessels.

He said shipping companies are expected to continue making profit even as the rest of the other industries in Greece face possible decline in their operations.

“We are counting on Greek trading ships, which are earn-

ing quite a lot in US dollars, to stay afloat. They are fairly insulated from the Greek government’s extreme financial distress,” Herrera said.

Citing data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the TUCP pointed out there are around 53,000 Filipino seafarers in Greece who were able to remit around US$290 last year and US$92 million from January to April this year.

“Greece is the Philippines’ fifthlargest source of dollar remittances from sailors, after the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan,” Herrera said.

Herrera said they are anticipating this trend to continue even if Greece suffers from prolonged financial woes after it failed to pay its US$1.7-billion debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last Tuesday.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) also earlier said it is not seeing any mass displacement in Greece since OFWs are considered as important members of its work force.

The DOLE will keep monitoring the welfare of OFWs in Greece to provide them with the necessary assistance.