Migration and

The
Philippine
Development
Experience

Outline
1. Brief History Background of International
Migration
2. Current Profile of Population Leaving the Country
3. Current and Future trends in Migration and
Development
4. Objectives and Features of the National
Migration Policy
5. Some Challenges in Philippine Migration
6. Managing International Migration

Brief History of International Migration

Long history
The flow of migrant workers dates back to the
Spanish period as Filipinos manned the ships of the
Manila-Acapulco trade*
There were subsequent notable movements mostly
to the United States given special colonial
relationship between the two countries
Significant deployment started in the 1970s and
increased rapidly from 50,000 in 1975 to 1.6 million
by 2011

OFWs in 217 countries; stock 9.45

million or about 10% of population as of
2010
* Samonte, E., et al., 1995

Flow of Migrants, Level and

Proportion
Flows dominated by temporary workers, particularly, landbased; major supplier of sea-based workers ; proportion of
permanent migrants have gone down and plateaued in
recent
Levels years
Proportion
1,800,000

100%

1,600,000

90%

1,400,000

80%
70%

1,200,000

60%

1,000,000

50%
800,000

40%

600,000

30%

400,000

20%

200,000

10%

0%

Rehire
Permanent Migrants

Temporary, Sea-based

Rehire
Permanent Migrants

Temporary, Sea-based

Characterizing Migrant
Flows

1975
Total
50,527
Permanen
t
14,492
Temp,
landbased
12,501
New
hire
na
Re
hire
na
Temp,
seabased
23,534

Permanen
t
28.7
Temp,
landbased
24.7
New
hire na
ReCFO,
Source:
hire
naPOEA
Temp,

Levels

Annual Growth
1975- 1985- 1995- 20051985
1995
2005
2010
1985 1995 2005 2010
418,053 709,816 1,057,643 1,556,901
21.1
5.3
4 8.22
45,269

56,242

69,028

86,075

11.4

2.2

320,494 488,173

740,632 1,123,676

32.4

4.2

4.2

8.9

160,815 214,157

289,981

341,966

na

2.9

3.8

159,679 274,016

450,651

781,710

5.4

12

11.5

7.4

52,290 165,401 247,983

Percentage to total

347,150

10.8

7.9

6.5

5.5

76.7

68.8

70

72.2

38.5

30.2

27.4

22

38.2

38.6

42.6

50.2

na
8

2 5.15

Stock of Migrants
Proportion of stock permanent workers increasing;
even though circular by nature, proportion of stock of
temporary workers is also increasing because of
increasing proportion of re-hires
Level
Proportion
10,000,000

100%

9,000,000

90%

8,000,000

80%

7,000,000

70%

6,000,000

60%

5,000,000

50%

4,000,000

40%

3,000,000

30%

2,000,000

20%

1,000,000

10%

0
2005

0%
2006

Permanent

2007

2008

Temporary

2009

Irregular

2010

2005

2006

Permanent

2007

2008

Temporary

2009

Irregular

2010

Characterizing Migrant
Flows
Destination of flow of permanent migration
is dominated by North-America
Level

Proportion

90,000

100%

80,000

90%

70,000

80%

60,000

70%
60%

50,000

50%

40,000

40%
30,000

30%

20,000

20%

10,000

10%

0%

Source: CFO

SOUTH KOREA SPAIN

ITALY

UNITED KINGDOM GERMANY

AUSTRALIA JAPAN

CANADA

NEW ZEALAND
USA*

Characterizing Migrant
Flows
Destination of flow of temporary workers is primarily
Middle East followed by Asia, particularly in recent
years

Level

Proportion

100%

1,200,000

90%
1,000,000

80%
70%

800,000
60%
50%

600,000

40%
400,000

30%
20%

200,000

10%
0
2004

Source: POEA

2005

2006

2007

Oceania
Middle East

2008

2009

2010

Trust Territories

0%
2004

Africa

2005

2006

Americas

2007

Europe

2008

Asia

2009

2010

Characterizing Migrant
Flows
Dominated by women;
but relatively recent
phenomenon, it was male dominated in the
Flow of Stock Migrants by Gender
1970s-1980s
Proportion

Levels
100,000

100%

90,000

90%

80,000

80%

70,000

70%

60,000

60%

50,000

50%

40,000

Female

40%

30,000
20,000

30%

Male

20%

10,000

10%

0%

Source: CFO

Female

Male

Recent Trends in
Remittances
Sustained
remittances
growth due to:
Diversity of
OFs skills
and
expertise
New and
expanded
markets
Expansion of
bank and
non-bank
services

Source: BSP

Recent Trends in
Remittances
Share of Remittances by Region Source
25,000,000

20,000,000

15,000,000

10,000,000

5,000,000

OTHERS

AFRICA

MIDDLE EAST

EUROPE

OCEANIA

AMERICAS

OFWs represent a
major socioeconomic sector,
contributing
US$20.1 billion of
remittances in
2011
2003 to 2011
remittances
comprised about
7.6% annually of the
countrys GNI and
grew at an annual
Source:
average of 13.14%
BSP
over the last 8 years.

Recent Trends in Remittances

by Place of Work (NSO SOF, 2011)
72 % from
Asia, 48%
from Western
Asia (Middle
East)
Only 11%
from the
Americas

Trends on Migration and Development: Issues

International migration is increasingly

becoming an important and enduring
component of Philippine development
it has brought benefits to
migrants and their households;
countries to which they contribute
their labor, and ;
countries of origins to which they
transfer both money and skills.

Trends on Migration and Development: Issues

At personal level, exploitation and

abuse diminishes / offsets the benefits
At aggregate level, overdependence
on international migration and
remittance flows may become a threat
to long-term development
International migration not just a
national or bilateral issue; it has
become both a multilateral and a local
issue

Trends on Migration and Development:

Long-Term
Philippine history of inconsistent economic growth
hampering employment generation
Disparities in per capita income have always been
recognized as the major determinant of migration
Low per capita income growth curtailing opportunities
for career advancement

Demography of high population growth and slow

fertility decline compared to neighbors
Environmental challenges in frequency of intense
storms visiting the country, vulnerability of large
coastal areas to sea level rise due to climate
change, flooding

Trends on Migration and Development:

Long-Term

Permanent migration as more UScentric while temporary migration

focused on Middle East and Asian
countries
Demand and migration policies in
destination countries
Multilateral initiatives: ASEAN
Declaration on the Promotion and the
Protection of the Rights of Migrant
Workers

Trends on Migration and Development:

Short-Term

Attitude/preference towards and

labor market characteristics of top
destination countries
Political re-alignments in the Middle East
Saudi Arabias Saudization: replacement
of migrant workers with Saudis
More opportunities in East Asian
countries?

Objectives and Features of National

Migration Policy (RA 10022, 2010)
Recognizes contribution of OFWs but does not
promote overseas employment to sustain economic
growth and achieve national development
Recognizes that the most effective tool of
empowerment is the possession of skills by migrant
workers
Apply gender sensitive criteria in formulation and
implementation of policies and program affecting
migrant workers ad the composition of bodies tasked
for the welfare of migrant workers
Provide adequate and time social economic, and
legal services to OFWs

Migration Institutions

Summary of migration legislation and their

features
Legislation
PD 422 (1974):
Labor Code

LOI 537 (1977)

EO 797 (1982)

RA 8042 (1995)

Features
Institutionalized government participation
in overseas employment; Created OEDB,
NSB, BES to facilitate/regulate labor
migration
Established a Welfare Fund to provide
various services to OFWs; precursor of
OWWA
Created POEA that took over overseas
employment functions of OEDB, NSB, BES
Magna carta for migrant workers;
considered the first concrete measure and
public commitment of government to
protect the rights and promote the welfare
of OFWs

Summary (continued)

Legislation
RA 9208 (2003)
RA 9225 (2003)
RA 9422 (2007)
RA 10022 (2010)

Features
One of most comprehensive and progressive
anti-trafficking laws passed
Dual citizenship
Strengthened regulatory functions of POEA;
repealed phase out of POEA clause in RA 8042
Amends RA 8042; mandates government to
monitor international convents and ratify those
that protects migrant workers; encourage BLAs;
makes governing board of POEA accountable for
deployment of migrant workers; DFA
certification that countries has safeguards to
protect rights of migrants; compulsory
insurance

Summary of migration management policies and their

features

Policies

Features

Policies to Regulate
Measures to improve efficiency and reduce cost
Recruitment Practices of recruitment
Measures to combat fraud and recruitment
malpractices
Measures to combat illegal recruitment and
human trafficking
Policies to Protect
Employment Standards
Filipino Migrant
Dispute Settlement System
Workers
On-site Welfare Assistance
Policy Reforms for Deployment of Household
Workers
Forging of Bilateral Labor Agreements
Policies to Integration Integration Services
and Reintegration
On Site Support Services
Services for OFWs
Reintegration Program for OFWs

Present challenges: Illegal

recruitment
Despite present policies covering the
protection of migrants:
Slow criminal justice system contributes to the slow
resolution in cases of illegal recruitment
Fines maybe so low so that these do not compel
agencies to comply with existing rules and
regulations as indicated by the number of and
repeated violations
There appears to be laxity in enforcement as
recruitment agencies that had several violations and
should have been suspended continue to operate

Performance on illegal recruitment cases

Source: POEA

Present challenges:
Migration Data
A comprehensive and consolidated migration
information system is yet to be realized.
Dispersed across agencies (DFA, POEA,
OWWA, NSO, and BSP)
Cross-referencing for consistency of
estimates remains difficult
Analysis is limited due to the lack of unified
framework across stakeholders

Key Initiatives: Workers Protection and

Illegal Recruitment

Pipeline projects for the expansion of eservices in industry regulation and case
monitoring:
2014: Development of online POEA services
e-Licensing
e-Workers Registration
e-Contracts Processing
e-Principal accreditation
2015: Enhancement of other application systems
Market Development System
Manpower Supply Development System
Adjudication Case Tracking System
Anti-Illegal Recruitment Monitoring System
Source: POEA

Key Initiatives: Migration Data

The Overseas Filipino Information System (OFIS) is the
first step in operationalizing the SGISM by linking
existing databases in the Department of Foreign
Affairs, Bureau of Immigration, Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration and Overseas Workers
Welfare Administration
Once OFIS is operationalized as the core of the Shared
Government Information System on Migration (SGISM),
it will be expanded to include the other components of
the SGISM as mandated by RA 10022 or the
Ammended Migrant Workers Act thereby provding a
common databank for migration-related information.
Source: DFA

Initiatives: Diaspora
Communities
Diaspora to Development (D2D)
Initiative by the CFO for mobilizing
the Philippine Diaspora for
development in areas such as
investment, philantrophy, exchange,
return and reintegration

Maraming
Salamat!
Thank you
very much!