BSP governor seeks more investments on training of health workers, computer specialists
The government should pour investments on education to train more health workers and computer specialists and “export” them in the future.

(DBM / PIA / MANILA BULLETIN)
Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno made the suggestion about the future deployment of Filipino skilled workers after citing the strong demand for those employed in the health and information and communication technology sectors.
Diokno described this "bright side” in the country’s situation despite the “temporary" slump in remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as part of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
"Looking forward, dapat siguro mag-export pa tayo ng madaming nurses, maraming doktor, maraming computer specialists in the future (Looking forward, maybe we should export more nurses, more doctors, more computer specialists in the future)," Diokno said during a televised briefing.
"Napakaganda ng advantage, malaki ng advantage natin dahil mga bata natin. Ang average age natin ay 24, 'yung median age. Kung ite-train natin sila na maging, mag-invest tayo doon sa pag-aaral nila sa nursing, medicine, computer science, malaki ang magiging balik nito kapag normalized po (We have a very good advantage, a huge advantage because we have a young population. Our average age or median age is 24. If we will train them, if we invest in their education in nursing, medicine, computer science, there will be a huge return when the situation normalizes)," he said.
Diokno admitted the decrease in OFW remittances will affect the economy but he assured that this will be just be temporary.
The central bank has projected the remittance inflows will drop by 5 percent this year, changing from the growth forecast of 2 percent.
Diokno said OFW remittances may fall to P28.5 billion this year from the P30 billion recorded last year. He noted the job losses among OFWs especially those working in tourism-related industries such as cruise ship operations.
"Hindi tayo dapat ma-bother na maliit ang tayo ngayon. Sa tingin namin na temporary lang ang nangyari sa atin (We should not be bothered by the drop. We think that this will just be temporary)," Diokno said.
He said a "more dynamic" business process outsourcing industry is expected to offset the slowdown in the OFW remittances this year. He noted that digital transactions are now in demand that could help spur growth.