David 1

Ari David Mr. Quichocho World Geography Honors 26 March 2014 Pull Factors of Guam More than 2,500 Filipino citizens leave each day to earn their living in foreign lands. (www.financemanila.advfn.com) Many times you will see a couple of people in a family usually working and living abroad. What are the factors influencing the citizens to move from ones region to another? Two is for financial reasons and better job opportunities. Guam has alluring openings like higher paying jobs, better working situations and finer standards of living. A writer named John Alsunay claims that the average person working at a standard paying job in the Philippines will work 10 to 12 hours for 3000 pesos a month, with two days off only which is very little and hard to balance with the other necessities of living such as food, rent, bills, etc. Though Guam is smaller, transportation is much easier. In the P.I., many people rely on public transit to commute such as buses, trains, or taxis to and from their destination. The everyday routine may get costly in the long run. The percentage of people living below the poverty line in the Philippines has narrowed slightly over the last few years according to the data from the countrys statistics agency. The percentage of those living in poverty was 19.7% in 2012, a drop of 21% from 2006, according to figures reported by the National Statistical Coordination

David 2

Board. Although the proportion of poor families relative to the overall population has changed little between 2006 and 2012, the NSBC said that the actual number of poor families has risen to 4.21 million from 3.81 million, in part due to population growth. Since then, more and more citizens have made the choice to leave. Guam is a nearby island that could be a better option for those who are struggling. The Philippines has an unemployment rate of around 28%. However, opentravel.com says that the government states the rate is smaller as they count someone who happens to sell a bottle of water or a couple of cigarettes making 5 pesos profit a day, which is less than 1 dime in US money. The working wages for most is also less than $2 a day, and good jobs pay $4-$5 a day which is barely enough to live in the Philippines if you convert it. It takes a 2 year university degree to flip burgers at a fast food restaurant there called Jollibee and a 4 year commerce degree to be a salesperson at SM Mall. Compared to Guam, jobs here will hire you even if you are only a high school graduate. The unstable economic condition and political situation in the Philippines is one of the main reasons why Filipinos move abroad. The country itself is governed mostly by dishonest, corrupt and unserious officials seated in government positions voted by the Filipino citizens to look after the welfare of the Filipino people but instead they are taking the peoples money for their own benefits and interest while the people become more poor and unsuccessful. Having a corrupt government and the lack of government functions prevents the entire country from development. The type of government that Guam has is representative democratic. The governor is the head of the government. It has three branches of government similar to the US, where there is no corruption.

David 3

Filipino citizens will always be frustrated with such conditions because they will not grow if the government will continue to be like the way it is. There are too many workers in the Philippines and not too many jobs. Other reasons people may leave is for a less discriminating recruitment process, better working conditions or lower tax rates. Guams weather is tropical, warm all year round while in the Philippines, the calamities are typhoons, flooding, landslides, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It can damage millions of business crops, livestock, houses, and industries. Not all that decide to flee the Philippines are fighting poverty. Maybe they just want to experience something different. Guam is the perfect place for that because it is more local and the population is smaller, and not as crowded. Destinations are closer and those who are retired and looking for leisure will enjoy it more. The crime rate on Guam is also smaller. Since we are a U.S. territory, those planning to leave will need to apply for a Visa and then get approved. Education is another reason people might want to leave the Philippines. Families want to give their child a good and better education. A writer named Ronald Maynards of The Liberal Opinion of The Philippines claimed that the book per student ratio is roughly 1 for every 6 students. A lot of the time students of 4 or more have to share on one book, since the public schools are funded by the government, yet the government cannot provide enough supplies for every student. The Philippine Public School System is free, however fees concerning things about repairs are paid by the students which costs around 200 pesos a year and that is roughly 2 dollars. That is very cheap compared to entering private schools in the Philippines. Apparently, most of the parents sending their children in the public school could not afford this little amount because the

David 4 jobs they are in pay very low. Its difficult to hurdle life in the Philippines because of rampant corruptions. In his 2012 State of the Nation Address, President Benign S. Aquino III promised to make education a priority. This was influenced by increases in the budget for State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and the Department of Education. He also promised to stop the shortage of classrooms, chairs, and textbooks that welcome public school students every year. He also has implemented a K-12 program that will bring the education system in line with world standards. But none the less, the biggest problem of the Philippine education is keeping children in school. For every 100 who enter Grade 1, only 86 will continue till Grade 2. Over the last 30 years, this has been the highest dropout rate (14 per cent) in the basic school cycle. By Grade 4, only 76 will still be in school. By Grade 6, only 67 of the original 100 would still be enrolled and only 65 will finish elementary school. Of the 65 children who graduate from Grade 6, only 58 will move on to high school. And of the 58 who enter high school, only 42 will graduate. This means that only 42% of those who start off their basic education would finish high school. The number of those who enter college and finish it would be lower. Public schools on Guam do not face this situation- it is also a law that children are required to attend school until the age of 16. They also teach the standards similar to those in the states. Supplies, books, teachers, facilities, and etc. is not a problem.

David 5 Works Cited Clark, Nick. Education in the Philippines. World Education News, 4 November 2011. http://www.wes.org/ewenr/09jan/practical.htm

Felino, Isabel. Philippines Unemployment Rate. Trading Economics, 11 October 2011. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/philippines/unemployment-rate

Martin, Eric. How Many People Leave The Philippines Each Year? Finance Manila, 3 December 2008. http://www.financemanila.advfn.com/2008/12/howmany-people-l eave-the-philippines-each-year/

Meinardus, Ronald. The Crisis of Public Education in the Philippines. Liberal Opinion, 30 June 2003. http://www.fnf.org.ph/liberalopinion/crisis-publiceducation-philippines.htm

Pundit, Dan. Philippines Economy. Asian Development Bank, 13 October 2013. http://www.adb.org/countries/philippines/economy

Shaffer, Leslie. Is The Philippines headed for a boom or a bust? CNBC World Economy, 12 Feb 2014. http://www.cnbc.com/id/101412839