Filipino Overseas Contract Worker in Saudi Arabia

Maritess Pablo

Jayson Retiza

Ma Teresa Sambrana

March 2019
Filipino Overseas Contract Worker in Saudi Arabia

A Research

Presented to

Roland D. Agraviador

Instructor

English III

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Elementary Education

Major in General Education

By:

Maritess Pablo

Jayson Retiza

Ma Teresa Sambrana

March 2019
 ABSTRACT

Maritess Pablo
Jayson Retiza
Ma Teresa Sambrana

The Disadvantage and Disadvantage of using Cellphone in the Classroom

This study was conducted to the effects of bullying in School, the analysis and
interpretation of data revealed the following findings:

The Philippines has been an interesting topic of studies on migration. Philippine

migration is largely economically motivated and temporary, thereby, the term “Overseas
Filipino Worker (OFW)” is used to describe those who are employed in foreign countries
through a contract with their employers. However, only a few researches involve the survey
of workers in the destination countries, in this case, Saudi Arabia. The researcher thought that
it would be best for the study if she had primary data, thereby, conducted the survey while in
Saudi. This study sought to generate sufficient data on migrant workers in Saudi Arabia
through interviews and questionnaires and these data were used in the descriptive analysis.
The analysis on the causes of, consequences and concerns about international labor migration
used data from various government agencies as well as findings from related studies. What is
particularly relevant and unique about the study is that the survey has included illegal
workers, most of who were personally interviewed by the researcher. Illegal or undocumented
workers are those who do not have the proper or valid working visa as against the legal or
documented workers. Among the several findings from this study, the researcher opted to
highlight that all the respondents to the survey have entered Saudi legally but more than half
of them are illegal workers. Further, most of the respondents have jobs in the Philippines
before migrating to Saudi. A more detailed narration and analysis of the research findings as
well as policy recommendations have been discussed in this paper.
 Acknowledgement

With the sincere appreciation and thanks, we the researchers of this study would like
to share our deepest gratitude to the following special persons who have contributed much of
their valuable assistance that constituted ultimately towards the realization of this research
study.
To our Almighty God for His unending and bountiful blessings, trials, love, care and
guidance that enlightened us right from the start of this study especially when things seemed
crucial.
To Mr. Roland D. Agraviador, our research instructor, for his professional counsel,
untiring support, his patient and excellent editing of the scramble ideas, and making this
study more focused that will contribute to the realization of this study.
To our beloved parents, husbands, guardians and friends who were behind us all the
way, provided words of concern and aspiration, financial and moral support, and your non
ending encouragement to pursue this study.
Despite of the pressures, adjustments, stresses and tensions experienced, there are
still committed individual who have been with us, remain supportive, patient and shares their
moral and financial support thank you very much.

THE RESEARCHERS
 Chapter I
Background of the Study
An Overseas Filipino (Filipino: Pilipino sa Ibayong-dagat) is a person
of Filipino origin who lives outside the Philippines. This term applies to Filipinos who are
abroad indefinitely as citizens or as permanent residents of a different country and to those
Filipino citizens abroad for a limited, definite period, such as on a work contract or as
students. It can also refer to a person who is of Filipino descent.
The overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) tend to be young and gender-balanced. Based
on a survey conducted in 2011, the demographics indicate how the 24-29 age group
constitutes 24 percent of the total and is followed by the 30-34 age group (23 percent)
working abroad.[33] Male OFWs account for 52 percent of the total OFW population. The
slightly smaller percentage of the female overseas workers tend to be younger than their male
counterparts.[33] Production workers and service workers account for more than 80 percent
of the labor outflows by 2010 and this number is steadily increasing, along with the trend for
professional workers, who are mainly nurses and engineers.
The OFW population is consistently increasing through the years and this is partly
attributed to the government's encouragement of the outflow of contractual workers as
evidenced in policy pronouncements, media campaigns, and other initiatives. For instance, it
describes the OFWs as the heroes of the nation, encouraging citizens to take pride in these
workers.
Employment conditions abroad are relevant to the individual worker and their
families as well as for the sending country and its economic growth and well being. Poor
working conditions for Filipinos hired abroad include long hours, low wages and few chances
to visit family. Women often face disadvantages in their employment conditions as they tend
to work in the elder/child care and domestic. These occupations are considered low skilled
and require little education and training, thereby regularly facing poor working conditions.
Women facing just working conditions are more likely to provide their children with adequate
nutrition, better education and sufficient health. There is a strong correlation between
women's rights and the overall well being of children. It is therefore a central question to
promote women's rights in order to promote children's capabilities.
According to a statement made in 2009 by John Leonard Monterona, the Middle East
coordinator of Migrante, a Manila-based OFW organization, every year, an unknown number
of Filipinos in Saudi Arabia were then "victims of sexual abuses, maltreatment, unpaid
salaries, and other labor malpractices"

Conceptual Framework

The illustration presented on Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework of the study.

Filipino Overseas
Saudi Arabia
Contract Worker

Figure 1.1 Conceptual Paradigm of the Study

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the Life of Filipino Overseas Contract Worker in Saudi
Arabia. Furthermore, it sought to answer the following specific questions:

1. What is the common problem that the overseas contract worker has encountered?

2. How much difference is there among different time periods when OFWs stay abroad?

3. What is the positive and negative effects of being an overseas contract worker?

Significance of the Study

Working abroad can be understood as parents’ solution to the plight of family poverty
and unemployment. Oftentimes, parents head overseas in order to provide their children with
a better future. This study will benefit the following:

Students, for them to know and have an understanding of the effects on self-esteem of
having parents working abroad.

Parents, for them to understand the effects of their absence to the performance of their
children.
Scope and limitations of the Study

This study will focus only in the life of the Filipino Overseas Contract Workers in
Saudi Arabia.

Operational Definition of Terms

The following terms were defined in the context of the study:

Overseas. It means relating to, originating in, or situated in countries across the sea.

Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW). It refers to any person, eighteen years of age or above,
who is to be engaged, or is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a state
of which the worker is not a legal resident.

Overseas Employment. It refers to employment of a Filipino worker outside the Philippines

covered by a valid contract.

Worker. A person who does a specified type of work or who works in a specified way.

Contract. a written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or

tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.

Saudi Arabia. A kingdom in SW Asia, occupying most of the Arabian peninsula between the
Persian Gulf and the Red Sea: founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud, who united Hejaz and Nejd;
consists mostly of desert plateau; large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Official
language: Arabic.

Filipino. a native of the Philippine Islands. 2 : a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines.
 Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

Yang (2004) found that migrant families who experienced a positive exchange rate
shock during the Asian crisis (1997-1998) invested more in education, reduced child labour,
increased entrepreneurial activity, and increased purchases of durable goods including
vehicles. He used a panel of about 1,600 households with migrants common to the 1997 FIES
and the 1998 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS). Tullao, Cortez, and See (2004) is a
recent study that looks at the economic impact of migration in the Philippines. Using mainly
the FIES, they report, among others, that households receiving remittances tend to allocate a
bigger portion of their budget on luxuries, are more likely to own durable goods, tend to
spend a higher share of income on education, and are less likely to participate in the labour
market. A limitation of their study is that their analysis appears only to say that these things
occur because migrant families tend to have higher incomes. While useful information, it is
more interesting to find out if there is something other than an income effect in all these, or,
in other words, if their findings still hold after controlling for income and other variables.
After all, if the migrants remained in the country and earned higher income there, the same
effects would be observed.

The issue on labour force participation should also be approached more

discriminately. Labour force participation is not an end in itself. If the spouse of the migrant
leaves the labour force because he/she can now afford to just take care of the children, or if a
child leaves the labour force to return to schooling, this would result in a decrease in labour
participation but conceptually should be considered welfare-improving developments. On the
other hand, if remittances indeed cause moral hazard problems in the employment decisions
of those who do not have good reason to be out of the labour force, then it is a legitimate
cause of concern. Sugiyarto (2006) used a static computable general equilibrium (CGE)
model to estimate the impact of remittances on poverty reduction. His results show that a
25% surge in remittances results in a reduction in poverty incidence by a mere 0.3%. Goce-
Dakila and Dakila (2006) using a different CGE model found that the main beneficiaries of
remittances are middle-income classes across all regions. Estimates based on CGE models
such as these should be viewed as ballpark estimates, however. While useful Overseas
Filipino Workers and their Impact on Household Poverty 3 policy tools, CGE models are
typically heavily calibrated with model specification and results difficult to verify
empirically. Burgess and Haksar (2005), using macroeconomic time series data, examined the
effect of remittances on income and consumption smoothing as well as on GDP growth. They
report they are unable to confirm that remittances smooth income and consumption during
periods of high fluctuation, and neither do they find evidence that remittances lead to lower
growth due to incentive problems. They suggest the alternative of looking at micreconomic-
based studies to examine these issues. Data This study utilizes three main data sources, which
are the Labour Force Survey (1988- 2004), the FIES (1988-2003), and the APIS (1998). The
LFS is held quarterly and is the main source of employment figures in the Philippines.

In recent years, the survey has covered about 200,000 individuals in about 40,000
households. The LFS usually has a rotating sample. Among the questions in the LFS is
whether any member is out of the country for employment and has left within the past five
years. Such a member is classified as an OFW. The FIES is the country’s main source of
income and expenditure figures and is where official figures on income poverty and
inequality are based. It is held every three years as a rider to the LFS, with 2003 as the
latest year for which data is already available. The FIES asks a question about the amount of
overseas remittances as part of the income module.

The APIS is a relatively new survey, began in 1998, and is intended to be undertaken
– although not always done so for budgetary reasons – in years the FIES is not. Like the
FIES, it is also a rider on the LFS. From its name, the APIS is concerned with getting
indicators relevant to poverty but is broader in coverage than the FIES, containing
information also on enrolment, access to health, employment, and other indicators apart from
income and expenditure. Its income and expenditure measures, however, are less detailed
than the ones in the FIES and cover only a six-month period instead of a full year. Because
estimates based on these data sets are survey-based, they are subject to sampling error. In
addition, because it only counts OFWs who have left in the past five years immediately
preceding the surveys, they are almost certainly underestimating the true stock of OFWs. On
the other hand, due to the wealth of other information these data sets provide which can be
linked to migration, they are unquestionably the best source of information on the impact of
migration on household welfare, and at the same time provide a reasonably accurate view of
the actual overall picture and trends.
 Chapter III

Methodology of Research

This chapter presents methods and techniques used in research to come up with a
result test the acceptability of hypothesis. It includes research locale, data gathering
procedure and statistical treatment of data.

Locale of the study

The study will be conducted in the Philippines. The respondents will be interviewed in their
houses or any comfortable place that the respondent will choose to.

Respondent of the study

Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs are Filipinos who are employed in Saudi Arabia.
Data gathering procedure
The researchers also gathered respondents who worked in Saudi Arabia. The
researchers will use an semi-structured interview which is used when the researchers have a
list of broad questions that must be addressed in the interview. Furthermore, the researcher
will use pen and paper to note in detail the respondents.