Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople on Wednesday expects the amount of remittances from overseas Filipino workers to double in the first quarter of 2023.

This, as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, reported a two-month high in remittances in September, gaining a 4 percent increase from September last year's $3.03 billion to last September's $3.15 billion. August remittances for last year and this year also increased by 4.3 percent.

In a television interview, Ople said her forecast is due to the recent reopening of job offers in Saudi Arabia and newer job opportunities in European countries, including Portugal, Romania and Hungary.
The Migrant Workers' Secretary also reported a labor shortage in certain regions, due to the migration of the younger population and low interest in seeking certain occupations.

"For example, the German ambassador said to me, 'We need plumbers. We used to get plumbers from Poland. Poland doesn't want to send us plumbers anymore because they need their own plumbers.' I said that in our subdivisions, there are these tubero posters with their phone numbers," Ople said.

She said the increase in remittances is possible as long as there are no untoward events, including a resurgence of Covid-19.

When asked about the critique of the country's focus on job exportation rather than local job opportunities, she clarified that it is not a matter of exportation, as OFWs seek jobs abroad for themselves.

"I think we have to shift the narrative. We're talking about global supply chains. We're not really exporting them. They are deciding to leave on their own, deciding their lives accordingly. Other countries want to study us because they are seeing their workers leaving regardless. What they want to study and learn from us is how we can manage and address issues attendant to labor migration," she said.

Human trafficking
Meanwhile, Ople said they are seeking talks with the Department of Foreign Affairs on what they call 'pathways to human trafficking' following the rescue of 12 Filipinos from faux-call center companies committing cryptocurrency scams in Myanmar last 23 November and the subsequent Senate investigation led by Senator Risa Hontiveros.

Citing accounts from the victims, she said in a television interview that they were transported to a locality in Thailand, before being transferred to a remote area in Myanmar where they worked in companies backed by a Chinese syndicate.

"(The trip was) seven to eight hours. They did not land in Bangkok. Usually, if you're going to work in Thailand, the biggest airport in Bangkok. But they arrived in a much smaller, rural area. From there, they have to change to different hotels, travel by land, even trekking and hiking," she added.

Upon arrival, the Filipino migrants were asked to wipe out screenshots and conversations related to their work on their phones. Said said that this proves that the syndicate is knowledgeable in using digital platforms.

"In fact, according to the victims that I met, that's part of their mental anguish. They were asked to pretend. (…) They will log in to a dating app and pretend to be someone else. There are ready-made photos of innocent and model-like-looking Chinese people. This is really, from start to end, a scam," she said.

Ople advised applicants to only inquire about job offers in licensed recruitment agencies and avoid "vague" offers online.