[caption id='attachment_794927' width='128'] FRANCIS L. CARDONA[/caption]

The strengthening of the Philippine peso against the US dollar these past few days is a welcome development. The steady gain of our currency vis-à-vis the US dollar is providing optimism to our entrepreneurs and businesses that have been suffering from poor economic activities lately. This positive scenario is an offshoot of the surge in the dollar remittances of overseas Filipinos, either immigrants or overseas workers. It is very apparent that our OFWs play a vital role in our economy. We therefore have to encourage our countrymen to try their luck abroad as long as they bring home the dollar and thus strengthen our foreign reserve. It is hypocrisy in the highest degree to dissuade our kababayans from leaving the country, yet we derive our much needed dollar inflows from the OFWs. So what if our greatest and biggest exports are skilled Pinoys. Perhaps we should even consider the export of Filipino brains and skills a service industry by itself, but only after we have undertaken ample training and education of our youths. In the speech of Mr. Augusto Zobel de Ayala during the recently concluded Advertising Congress in Cebu, he underscored the importance of proper education especially in the matter of English proficiency. Our forefathers, had the facility of both written and spoken English even though they had just completed elementary or high school. Nowadays, majority of our College graduates can hardly be accepted in call centers because of their poor English proficiency. Thus, this matter needs to be adequately addressed by the government.