| Malacañang on Thursday, May 18, announced a double digit increase in personal remittances by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for March as well as improved agricultural production for the first three months of the year.
In a press briefing in Malacañang, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said personal remittances from OFWs increased by 11.8 percent to $2.9 billion in March of 2017.
“This reflects the 8.1 percent increase on the total personal remittances for the first quarter of 2017 amounting to $7.7 billion,” Abella said.
“Such increase underscores the strong demand for the skills and the competence of the great Filipino workers,” he added.
The Palace official also lauded the increase in agricultural production by 5.28 percent in the first quarter of 2017, bouncing back from its performance during the fourth quarter of last year.
“The Philippine agriculture performance increased by 5.28 percent recovering from a contraction in the fourth quarter of last year by -1.11 percent,” Abella said.
The spokesperson cited that favorable weather conditions and proper application of fertilizer, availability of water in irrigated farms and adequate amount of rainfall provided for the increase in the total agricultural output “will continue to boost increase infrastructure spending to support the agricultural sector.”
Meanwhile, Abella said the government is implementing a plan to address the floodings in three municipalities in Maguindanao.
“The DSWD Regional Office has already prepositioned the goods and has standby funds intended for this purpose,” he underscored.
On May 9, 2017, heavy rainfall resulted in heavy flooding in three municipalities in Maguindanao, namely Datu Salibo, Sultan Mastura, Shariff Saydona Mustapha.###PND |
