Appendix 5.8: OFW Remittances: Executive Orders No. 857 and 1021

Abstract

If the Philippine economy was in excellent condition prior to the Aquino assassination in 1983, why would Marcos mandate, in December 1982, the remittance, solely through government-approved channels, of 50–70 percent of earnings by overseas contract workers (OCWs), heavily penalizing those who did not comply? Marcos eventually repealed the punitive provisions of this order on 1 May 1985 (Labor Day) via Executive Order 1021, which also created an “Inter-Agency Committee on Contract Workers Remittances” that was tasked to “design, adopt, [and] implement a package of incentives to reward workers who remit through official channels”; Marcos did not overturn E.O. 857 because OCW remittances had become unnecessary, but because he thought the country needed those  remittances more than ever, such that he shifted from punishment to an ill-defined carrot-and-stick approach.