Migration of Filipinos By: Samantha Dyle Ayo

            

     Are you going to be one of the migrating Filipinos? Do you want to work abroad? If yes, why? For many years the Philippines has figured among the top countries of origin in the traditional immigration countries. In 2010, it was the top origin country of annual inflows to Canada, and soon the Filipino community will be the single largest group in Australia. Considering data from 2011 (57,011 to the United States, 34,991 to Canada and 12,933 to Australia), the outflow was substantially higher than in the early 2000s. The potential of the Philippine diaspora for international relations and economic development has not been fully analysed and maximized. Marriage migration is an important component of this outflow and is a significant component of the Filipino community in Japan, Republic of Korea and Taiwan Province of China.


               Labour migration from the Philippines has constantly grown in the past 40 years and has more than doubled in the past ten years with 2012 believed to be the peak year surpassing the deployment figure of 1,850,463 in 2011. An interesting characteristic is the increasing proportion of the rehires among land based workers which is 63 per cent of total land based deployment of 1,384,094 in 2011. As annual emigration for employment continues to rise, so has the base number of rehires. This indicates that the temporary migration of OFWs is gaining some stability—a case of temporary migration becoming more or less permanent—and the overseas employment experience is becoming longer. Consequently, the rate of permanent return is slow, probably because of limited wage-competitive opportunities in the Philippines.Why would they come back here when their salary is not enough to sustain the needs of the family?

                 In my Opinion, while the employment objective is the most prominent reason for migration abroad, not all Filipino migrants go abroad because of it. The acquisition of skills, pursuit of a career and the opportunity to reunite with families abroad, experience other cultures, encounter other people and societies, and live a more developed standard of living are among other reasons that motivate some of them to leave the country. Migration is often motivated by family reasons and the family is the most direct beneficiary of the gains of the migration project. The reason’s stated are mostly true, Filipinos go abroad to get a better job and salary because our country that give that to them. My dad is a licensed nurse but his job right now isn’t as a nurse but as a sailor. He never got to practice and work in a hospital because during his time, when he graduated from college he couldn’t find a nursing job because the rate of employment in our country and the minimum wage is just not enough to sustain our family so he decided to become a sailor instead.
            
       But on the other hand, the  impact on the economy of the migration of Filipinos has it’s advantage and disadvantage. One of the advantages is that households with a family member working abroad contributed to rise in the family’s income/expenditure .According to statistics, that in the previous ten years, overseas employment had taken out of poverty between 525,000 and 850,000 families. This is a good thing because if our country has a lot of family in poverty then our government would face many problems and that includes of them trying their best to solve the poverty issue in the Philippines. The money made by our fellow Filipinos have been a great help to our economy because the money coming in- by sending their family money is helping us progress. Unemployment is reduced and young migrants enhance their life prospects. Returning migrants bring savings, skills and international contacts. Lastly, its advantage.  Economic disadvantage is through the loss of young workers, loss of highly trained people, especially health workers. We need professionals to help us and attend our daily needs. Lastly, Social problems for children left behind or growing up without a wider family circle

      Migration brings social and cultural pressures that need to be taken into account in planning for future services.Migration also has the potential for bringing peoples together culturally but friction occurs if efforts are not made to dispel the myths held by local people. It is also essential to provide good information about the local way of life to newcomers and ensure opportunities for people to mix and integrate. Where the economic preconditions exist, migration is inevitable. When people try to prevent immigration it just goes underground. Do you still want to become an overseas Filipino worker? Where do you want to work after graduating? Do you want to contribute something in our economy by working here in the Philippines? Are you going to reject the great opportunities abroad and miss a high wage there because you want to serve our country? Philippines need to raise their wage because if they wont, almost all our professionals will look for better opportunities because our country couldnt give them a brighter future.