(Last week, I emailed Filipinos working all over the world to find out how the US global financial crunch is affecting one of the major sources of the country’s liquidity—the so called OFWs. Some are regular readers of MoneySmarts, while some are friends of another blogger Reyna Elena. They were very kind and replied and a short version of their emails (in the interest of space) were included in a feature I wrote for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I am publishing this week in installments the full version of their emails. I hope the series will help us understand how Filipinos all over the world are affected and are responding to the crisis.)

by Ross Delgado, from the USA

I have been here in US since 2001. Like most Filipinos, I came here armed with nothing but hope for a better life. I never planned on living here the rest of my life. I was to make more money in less time and get the hell back home. At least that was the plan.

You see, I had three wonderful kids that I had to leave. I go back home every one or two years to see them.
The strengthening of the Philippine peso pushed my family and me back on the financial side. I know having a strong peso saves the country a lot of money, especially when it comes to servicing our national debt. But however stronger the peso becomes, we in the middle and lower class could not feel its supposed positive effects on the economy. The same amount of money I am sending one or two years ago wouldn’t suffice anymore. And I can personally see that every time I go back. The cost of living expenses keeps getting higher every year. We just could not keep up.

That was when the economy was good.

Now the US is in recession. Even if they pump that $700 billion reserves back into the market, we know that it is going to be just a quick fix. I can’t help but feel anxious about the whole thing.

Personally, whatever savings I have left in the money market is almost decimated by the fall of huge companies here in US. My initial plan of going back home for good didn’t simply take the backseat; it went out of the car too.