part, got $29.903 billion last year (some 0.76 percent less) from its army of land-based and sea-based OFWs, estimated to be some 10.3 million. Inoculation rate CAREGIVER Daphne Lagut and husband Miko beamed happily as they got the vaccination jabs recently. Malta leads the entire European Union in terms of the rate of inoculations, using the vaccines developed by P zer Inc. with BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. Vaccination matters if economic life were to go back to normal, Lagut said. She said the ordinary Maltese fears SARS-CoV-2, follows the wearing of masks and physical distancing diligently and scolds those who do not follow these rules. Fruits, right diet and vitamins keep us “safeguarded,” Lagut said. A year prior to the pandemic, the Laguts send home P40,000 (nearly 693 euros) monthly, especially since their child (being taken care of by doting grandparents) was unable to join them in the trip to Malta. Since the couple are essential workers, these caregivers for an elderly care facility still managed to send the same amount to loved ones in Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur. “Family is always our rst priority,” Daphne said. The Filipinos in Malta sent $54.861 million last year, a staggering 38.1-percent increase from the $39.713 million remitted in 2019. That is, even if the global total of Filipino remittances year-on-year was just under a shade of being in positive territory (minus-0.76). Since countries instituted months-long lockdowns in the early days of the pandemic, development analysts became watchful of month-on-month remittance in ows after June 2020. Notably surprising SENIOR economist Juan José Li Ng of the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) noted the surprising increases of Mexican migrants’ remittances from the US after the second quarter of last year. Ng’s October 6 report for BBVA saw July remittances grow compared to July 2019. January-to-June 2020 data from the Banco de México saw remittances grow by some 10.54 percent compared to the same six-month period in 2019. 0:00 5:07