Migration...

Migration in the Philippines seems to be endless because of people who goes abroad seeking for a greener pasture and better life, enough source of income for their families, good education for their children, to own a fully furnished house, a brand new car, a business of their own, and to experience luxury which they find difficult and impossible to have when they stay in the Philippines. This gives a negative effect to our country because we lose our professionals and skilled workers who are supposedly contributing to our countries economy. We lose many of our competent and productive workers. Since early ’70s the Philippines has supplied all kinds of skilled and low-skilled workers to the world’s more develop3ed regions. Many Filipinos were working or residing in close countries. Migration remains an important alternative for many Filipinos on the lookout for a job or better salaries. In the year 2000 the total number of overseas workers deployed abroad increased over the previous year. The figure includes both migrant workers as well as seafarers. Among migrants are both workers going abroad for the first time or with a new contract, as well as workers returning to their job after some vacation at home. Most migrants are deployed either to Asian countries or to the Middle East. Among the top destination countries, Saudi Arabia remains number one, followed by Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates. Millions of Filipinos eager to work abroad, despite the risk and vulnerabilities they are likely to face. The government facilitates migration, regulates the operations of the recruitment agencies, and looks out for the rights of its migrant workers. More importantly, the remittances workers send home have become a pillar of countries economy. Right now, foreign trade and investment relies on overseas development assistance followed by the export of Filipino labor. In fact remittances sent by overseas Filipinos have outstripped both foreign direct investment and overseas development assistance which have declined the past several years.


Filipinos, being extremely family-centered, would above all remit earnings to the family left behind. The standard of living of these families would improve considerably, and their status in the community elevated commensurate to the remitted green bucks. However, migration has also an impact in the social lives of both the migrants and the families left behind. Families may be indefinitely separated. We are well familiar with stories of migrant Filipinas concerning the alienation of their children. They have become the "dollar mommies" with little personal closeness to their offspring. The husband-wife relationship deteriorates as well due to long separation. It is not unusual to hear of extra-marital affairs done by the husband while the wife is abroad. However, this is not the trend. Studies indicate that marriage and family life have generally remained stable.⁴ Women migrants particularly experience isolation especially when language is totally foreign. They are also forced to live in a foreign culture that has low regard for poorer countries. Abuse in many forms is common in these situations.