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Sunday, April 14, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 180
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 12 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
REVENGE MIGRATION? NOT REALLY.
IN this September 17, 2023, file photo, overseas Filipino workers carry a spectrum of emotions as they step into NAIA Terminal 1, embarking on their journeys to work abroad. Aligned with the global economic recovery, over 2 million Filipinos sought employment opportunities abroad in 2023, as reported by the Department of Migrant Workers. The agency anticipates this trend to continue, with more countries welcoming migrant employees, including those from the Philippines. NONIE REYES
By Sheila May Balagan, Jilliane Rae Manuel, Christine Nicole Montojo, Claire Sofia Pascual, Ziannen Francine Santos & Jeremaiah Opiniano
E
OFW Journalism Consortium
NDURING slashed incomes for nearly two years bit hard on 37-year-old single mother Veniel (not her real name) and her family.
She boarded that June 2020 mercy flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, while the first variant of SARS-CoV-2 lurked. Upon her return, she received P20,000 from government’s cash grants for returnee overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), plus another P5,000 from the Social Security System. That return meant the end of wiring P12,000 monthly to Veniel’s family of 14. That P25,000 in total aid, plus some little savings that Veniel brought home, still weren’t enough. So was online selling. Sister Bee, a domestic worker and mother of one in Pateros, sends the bulk of her P6,500 salary plus extra incomes from selling prepaid mobile phone credit. Another sister, Ida, also a domestic worker, sends the bulk of her P7,000 salary. “Life’s oh-so hard [napakahirap],” Veniel says. “I needed to go out of the country again, immediately.” Diminished incomes did push many of the 2,348,098 returnee OFWs to seriously consider repeating their overseas migration. And once destination countries’ borders reopened and their labor markets went back to hiring for-
Filipinos forced to return home by the pandemic are flying out in droves to jobs that can fulfill their ‘dreams,’ raising questions of whether this means Covid-19’s wrath has been fully avenged.
eign labor starting in 2022, these returnees due to Covid-19 took the chance.
Returning
THE Philippines went back to its economic strongholds —labor migration and foreign remittances— these past two years. Four years since Covid-19 put human mobility to a screeching halt, the Philippines and her army of workers went back migrating. Newly hired and rehired OFWs in foreign lands and in ocean-plying vessels reached 2,330,720 in 2023, says fresh data from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). That’s a 323.9-percent increase from pandemic-hit 2020; only 549,841 OFWs went out that year. That 2.33 million number of deployed OFWs last year is a 55-year record since the Philippines started recording departing overseas contract workers in 1969 (3,694). The “pandemic returnees” waited for those moments when their former employers would call them up and when it’s safe to travel again. Seafarer Ylrem Dhi Barbo, 30, waited to go back on board since his savings dried up in Continued on A2
FREE AGAIN. Philippine Eagle Nariha Kabugao spreads its wings and takes flight after spending an hour perched on a tree, marking its return to the wild following nearly a month of rehabilitation by the Philippine Eagle Foundation team in Barangay Bulu, Kabugao town, Apayao Province, on April 12, 2024. Nariha Kabugao's rescue on March 16, 2024, came after being inadvertently trapped by a farmer in Mount Mabagyaw's forest. X-ray scans revealed three airgun pellets embedded beneath the eagle's skin, which was already in the process of healing. ERWIN MASCARIÑAS
The OFW scenario, outlook in govt eyes, through DMW
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Friday issued a statement responding to a newspaper editorial on the country’s labor export policy. The DMW offered its own take on why Filipino workers remain in demand, and the challenges they and Philippine labor regulators face in seeking a balance always between maximizing the gains from labor exports and the country’s own requirements and possibilities.
*OFWs Abroad and Jobs at Home, DMW Responds re: INQUIRER Editorial 240411* THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) acknowledges the recent editorial in the Inquirer regarding the increasing demand for Filipino workers in various European countries. The reality of increased demand for OFWs in Europe always goes hand-in-hand with the DMW’s nature as the home or “Tahanan ng OFWs” and the Department’s noble thrust of engaging OFW-host countries through a “rights-based approach” with systems that ensure safe, fair, and transparent mobility and people-to-people exchanges. Thus, the DMW engages host country government counterparts in discussing, among others, recognition of licensed recruitment agencies (LRAs) and accredited employers in good standing, proper documentation of workers, anti-illegal recruitment and anti-human trafficking efforts, pre-departure and post-arrival orientation, grievance and complaints mechanisms, and verification of standard employment contracts according to governing laws and regulations. The DMW is also actively collaborating with other government agencies to create more job opportunities here in the Philippines, to realize the objective of making overseas employment a choice rather than a necessity. This includes partnering with technical institutions, both government and private, to equip Filipinos with in-demand skills that match labor market needs and providing support to OFWs who wish to return home and start their own businesses or reenter the local workforce. The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has made significant strides in addressing what the article calls the “unemployment problem.” The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday that the country’s unemployment rate went down to 3.5 percent in February, the lowest in two decades. Underemployment is down as well at 11.9 percent. The Philippines finished strong in 2023 with a full-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 5.6 percent, outpacing major economies in Asia, such as China (5.2 percent), Vietnam (5.0 percent), and Malaysia (3.8 percent). The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) eyes this year to achieve a 6.5 to 7.5 percent full-year GDP growth rate to generate economic opportunities, increase employment, raise per capita incomes, and elevate the Philippine economy to “upper-middle-income-country” status by 2025. Also, more people see the Philippines as a destination country, with the Department of Tourism (DOT) reporting that 5.45 million international visitors entered the country in 2023, around 650,000 higher than the annual target of 4.8 million international visitors projected to visit last year. The impressive growth of our economy and improvement in our employment and tourism scenarios brings us closer to the goal that one day, an OFW will seek work abroad by choice and not out of “compelling need.” The DMW will continue to work towards this goal, in partnership with other government agencies, the private sector, and Filipino communities around the world. At the same time, the DMW continues to affirm the quality, talent, and work ethic of Filipino workers. The fact that European countries have a strong demand for OFWs is a testament to the latter’s qualifications, dedication, loyalty, and work ethic. In this context, the Department will always be there as the primary agency to ensure OFW welfare and protection.
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.5030 n JAPAN 0.3688 n UK 70.9508 n HK 7.2097 n CHINA 7.8080 n SINGAPORE 41.7736 n AUSTRALIA 36.9360 n EU 60.6221 n KOREA 0.0414 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.0643 Source: BSP (April 12, 2024)