PHILIPPINES - MIGRATION IN 2000

The year 2000 was marked by a severe political crisis, which led to the impeachment and trial of President Estrada (he was removed from office in January 2001). Economic growth was modest (3.9 percent) and was slowed down by political difficulties in the fourth quarter. The exchange rate deteriorated and unemployment rose to 11.1 percent, mainly because of a contraction in the agricultural sector. Real wages even decreased by half a point. Limiting the public sector deficit and promoting social stability by forging agreement with leftist and Muslim factions were the government’s top priorities.

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 was 841,628, a slight increase of 0.5 percent over the previous year. The figure includes both migrant workers  (76 percent) as well as seafarers (24 percent). 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 (45 percent) or to the Middle East (44 percent). Among the top destination countries, Saudi Arabia remains number one, followed by Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.

The government recognized the overseas labor sector by proclaiming the year 2000 as the year of the Overseas Filipino Migrants. However, there were no major improvements in policies, except for the setting up of a pension fund, including resettlement services and a hospital for returning migrant workers. In March, the Department of Labor and Employment submitted to the House Committee on Labor and Employment a draft bill amending the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. Amendments include abandoning the policy that the Philippines does not promote overseas employment as a means to achieve economic development, lifting the injunction to deploy only skilled workers, introducing the distinction between licensed and unlicensed recruiting agencies to avoid that the former be charged of illegal recruitment, reducing the time to settle labor cases and streamlining repatriation procedures among government departments. The bill, however, was not acted upon in the House of Representatives.

On the other hand, the Philippine Government was active in initiatives against the trafficking of migrants, particularly women and children. The Asian Regional Initiative Against the Trafficking of Women and Children (ARIAT) was held in Manila at the end of March, with the participation of senior government officials from 23 Asian and Pacific countries. ARIAT emphasized the gravity of the problem involving perhaps 250,000 women and children from Asia trafficked in Asian countries and in other continents, mostly for prostitution. It concluded with a plan of action to fight this plague. A pilot program of the Global Program Against Trafficking in Human Beings was later established in the Philippines with the participation of various government agencies and in cooperation with the United Nations Center for International Crime Prevention.

The deployment of overseas Filipino workers experienced problems in various countries. The major incident involved Taiwan, first with the suspension of direct flights between the two countries, and then the halting of the hiring Filipino workers imposed by Taiwan in June (it was lifted in December). Following the entry into force on 18 February of Japan’s law concerning overstayers, who can be prosecuted even after three years of overstaying, a number of Filipinos decided to return. Filipino overstayers in Japan were estimated at 40,420. The flow of workers toward Malaysia was affected by the kidnapping of foreign tourists by the extremist group Abu Sayyaf on 23 April. During the initial stage of the crisis, 680 Filipino migrants were repatriated from Sabah. The government’s operations against the separatist More Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) created a large number of internally displaced people, perhaps about 250,000. The evacuation camps which housed the refugees were lacking in basic facilities and supplies.

While deployment was hampered in some countries, new opportunities also emerged for Filipino migrants. The aging population in Japan, increasingly in need of nursing care, should attract service personnel from the Philippines, which already provides nurses to the United States and Europe. Specifically, the Netherlands opened this possibility in response to shortage in health personnel for hospitals and nursing homes. The information technology (IT) sector, particularly after the US approved the importation of 58,000 additional IT workers, is another potential sector for overseas work.

The number of Filipino seafarers reached 198,324 in the year 2000. Filipinos seafarers account for 20 percent of all seafarers in the world. In June the minimum salary of Filipino seafarer was raised to US$435. In December the Philippines received confirmation that it was included in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) white list, indicating that it met the requirements provided for in the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Convention (STCWC). This was crucial for the Philippines in its goal to maintain its position as the number one country provider of the world’s seafarers.

Remittances from overseas workers reached US$4.89 billion for the period January to October 2000. This amounted to about 16 percent less than the same period in 1999. While detailed analysis was not available, the political instability in the country, which affected the exchange rate, and the decrease of deployment to Taiwan were the major factors for the decline.

There were 607 Filipino migrants who died abroad in 1999. About 58 percent died of heart-related causes while others were killed in traffic and work-related accidents. Sixteen were murdered and 14 reportedly committed suicide. As of 21 March 2000, 1,390 Filipino workers were detained abroad, of whom 333 in Saudi Arabia, 282 in Hong Kong, 126 in Malaysia, 86 in Japan, 80 in Singapore and 78 in the United Arab Emirates. The threat of HIV is real. Of the 1,424 Filipinos who tested positive to HIV between 1984 to October 2000, 25 percent were OFWs. It was not known whether they caught the infection when they were abroad.