Philippine outwards Migration: Poverty and unjust social conditions is the common denominator

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy 15 April 2018

Mass migration is deeply rooted in human history. Today, Around our world, more and more people are on the move, looking for safer and more conducive environments in which to live and find work.

The call on the resumption of Peace Negotiations between GRP and NDFP r4cently stopped by the GRP President, as a necessary step towards the abating of poverty and injustices in the country, which is also the root of armed strife in the country.  We trust the peace talks to tackle the root causes of the armed conflict, namely, unemployment, low wages, contractualization, landlessness and poor social services resulting in widespread poverty of the Filipino people. These are the very same reasons for the phenomenon of forced migration, or the impetus of millions of Filipinos to seek employment abroad.

There are currently 15 million OFWs and at least 6,000 leave the country daily to work abroad. Filipino people are being forced to migrate and be separated from their families because of desperation and the need to survive. It is indeed a tragic consequence when our labor force is uprooted from their families, forced to endure unfair labor practices and abuses, and in some cases, suffer death, in exchange for cheap labor because of government failure to address forced migration and stop the policy of labor export.

The struggle of OFWs and their families is not isolated from the struggle of other marginalized and neglected sectors. The problem of forced migration is deeply rooted in the fundamental problems of Philippine society. Our struggle for dignity, rights and welfare, against government neglect and against forced migration plays a very important role in the struggle for genuine freedom and national democracy. The only solution to the problems of the Filipino migrant sector and their families is genuine social change so that families would not have to separated and broken apart in order to survive.

To address the problem of forced migration, the Duterte administration’s economic policies should focus on developing national economy by advancing local industries, agriculture and basic services. It should depart from neoliberal policies which focus on increasing dependence on OFW remittances, foreign investments, debt-heavy infrastructure projects.

The past four decades of Philippine labor export has showcased a more blatant and unapologetic policy that continues to exploit OFWs’ cheap labor and foreign remittances in accordance to neoliberal policies and dictates. Previous administrations have been aggressive in crafting programs and services aimed to facilitate and encourage forced migration. While acknowledging the many social costs and human rights violations, these were effectively downplayed by the hailing of OFW remittances. Instead, past administrations have unfailingly and resolutely promoted labor export as unequivocally beneficial for OFWs and their families. This is particularly done by overstating supposed development benefits for the economy and the income benefits for households.

Effects of the ongoing Middle East crisis on OFWs and their families is testament to the bankruptcy of four decades of Philippine labor export. Since 2010, thousands upon thousands of OFWs in distress have been deported or forcibly repatriated back to the country due to civil unrests, calamities, economic instabilities and other similar factors in migrant-receiving countries. However, OFW deployment has picked up considerably over the past few years despite ongoing and worsening crisis in host countries.

With the continuous repatriation of distressed OFWs from Saudi, Kuwait, Syria and Libya, a “reverse migration” phenomenon could be expected in the coming months. Despite and in spite of this, OFWs will not be stopped from being forced to leave the country due to record-high unemployment rate, low wages and the lack of a comprehensive and sustainable reintegration program for returning OFWs. And so the cycle continues.

The economic compulsion of past Philippine governments to keep exporting Filipinos to maintain or, especially, to increase remittances is something that should be urgently corrected and addressed in the peace talks. Migrante International fully supports the call and struggle for national industrialization and genuine land reform as the ultimate solution to forced migration and to end the labor export program.

Labor export policy: It all begun with Marcos dictatorship.

In 1978, Marcos issued Presidential Decree 1412 to “strengthen the network of public employment offices and rationalize the participation of the private sector in the recruitment and placement of workers, locally and overseas."

Four years later, he merged the three government agencies into what is now the POEA. On Labor Day in 1982, Marcos also issued Executive Order No. 797 that created the Welfare Fund for Overseas Workers to provide insurance coverage, legal and placement assistance, and remittance services, among others.

Although it is true that even before Martial Law formalized export labor, however, migration of Filipino laborers had begun much earlier, as early as the 1900s “when Filipino agricultural workers were recruited to Hawaii to fill temporary labor needs in the agricultural sector.”

Filipino laborers later moved to other parts of the US “to work in downtown hotels and restaurants, sawmills and railroads construction, in California’s agricultural plantations, and in Alaska’s canning industry.

When the Second World War ended in 1945, some Filipino military servicemen became American citizens after serving in the US Army. Many medical professionals, nurses, accountants, engineers, and other technical workers also began migrating to the US after the war. n the 1950’s to the 60’s, non-professional contract workers went to neighboring Asian countries as artists, barbers, and musicians in East Asia and loggers in Kalimantan, Indonesia, however, the active and systematic migration of Filipinos for temporary work came in the 60’s when the US government and contractors of US military and civilian agencies recruited Filipinos to work for construction and service-related jobs in certain areas of the Pacific and Southeast Asia such as in Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Wake Island, and Guam.

Later, more Filipino medical workers, physicians, and nurses sought employment in the US, Canada, and Australia, prompting the Philippine government to issue the new labor code in 1974 that covered Filipinos working overseas. Filipino engineers and skilled construction workers were recruited by multinational companies with projects in the oil-rich countries in the Middle East which experienced an economic boom at that time. This organized system for migration of Filipino workers paved the way for the deployment of millions of Filipinos all over the world up to the present time.

The migrant workers advocacy group Migrante International believes that Marcos pushed for the labor export policy for two reasons: to quell dissent brought about by massive domestic unemployment and the political crisis, and to consolidate foreign exchange from remittances.
 
During Marcos' time, labor outmigration of Filipinos took on a new dimension. The Marcos dictatorship made the deployment of Filipino workers more systematic, ushering in the transformation of Filipino cheap labor into an exportable commodity through the labor export policy, according to Connie Bragas Regalado, then Migrante sectoral partylist chairperson. The country was in disarray both economically and politically. The move was mainly to appease growing dissent brought about by unemployment, landlessness and growing poverty, and to systematize earnings from remittances.

The term OFW was adopted after the enactment of RA 8042, also known as Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. Following this, the 2002 POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-based Overseas Workers.

 In the last 30 years, a "culture of migration" has emerged, with millions of Filipinos eager to work abroad, despite the risks and vulnerabilities they are likely to face. 

The development of a culture of migration in the Philippines has been greatly aided by migration's institutionalization. The government facilitates migration, regulates the operations of the recruitment agencies, and looks out for the rights of its migrant workers. More importantly, the remittances workers send home have become a pillar of the country's economy.

Women are very visible in international migration from the Philippines. They not only compose the majority of permanent settlers, i.e., as part of family migration, but they are as prominent as men in labor migration. In fact, since 1992, female migrants outnumbered men among the newly hired land-based workers who are legally deployed every year.

The majority of female OFWs are in domestic work and entertainment. Since these are unprotected sectors, female migration has raised many concerns about the safety and well-being of women migrants. Female OFWs can also be found in factory work, sales, and nursing.

Migrant women face particular vulnerabilities. Aside from the usual problems that plague migrants, their jobs in domestic work and entertainment usually mean long working hours, surveillance and control by employers, and abusive conditions, including violence and sexual harassment. Given the "private" context in which they work, the problems encountered by migrant women in these sectors go unnoticed.

In general, compared to other national groups, Filipino workers are relatively better protected because they are more educated, more likely to speak English, and they are better organized. NGOs for migrants in the Philippines and their networks abroad not only provide services and support to migrants, but, more importantly, they advocate for migrants' rights

The development of a legal and institutional framework to promote migrant workers' protection is also an important factor. The Philippines was the first among the countries of origin in Asia to craft a law that aims "to establish a higher standard of protection and promotion of the welfare of migrant workers, their families and overseas Filipinos in distress." Although there had been discussions about a Magna Charta for migrant workers for some time, it was not until 1995 that the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act (also known as Republic Act or RA8042) was finally passed.

The tipping point was the national furor in 1995 over the execution of Flor Contemplación, a domestic worker in Singapore, who many Filipinos believed was innocent despite her conviction for the deaths of her Singaporean ward and another Filipino domestic worker. This was a factor in fast-tracking the passage of RA8042.

Many OFWs support the resumption of Peace talks with an eye on the CASER agenda as it is hoped to bring the much needed reforms, industrialization and modernization of agriculture that may be the answer to a better work acquisition and improved economic conditions for the families, thus ending the reliance on migration as means of sustaining the families.

.