Overseas Filipino Worker

Last updated

Overseas Filipino Workers
Filipino Men at Work in Brunei.jpg
OFWs in Brunei
Total population
2.3 million [1] [2] (2019)
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 494,000
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 291,000
Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 165,000
Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan 147,234
Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait 136,000
Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar 123,000
Languages
Filipino (national), English (co-official)
Philippine languages, Arabic
Religion
Christianity (majority), Islam
Related ethnic groups
Filipinos (Overseas Filipinos)

Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a term often used to refer to Filipino migrant workers, people with Filipino citizenship who reside in another country for a limited period of employment. [3] The number of these workers was roughly 1.77 million between April and September 2020. Of these, female workers comprised a larger portion, making up 59.6 percent, or 1.06 million. However, this number declined to 405.62 thousand between 2019 and 2020. [4]

Contents

OFW money remittances to relatives in the Philippines are a major contributor to the Philippine economy, reaching a total of P1.9 trillion in 2022, which represented some 8.9% of the Philippines' Gross Domestic Product. [3]

Etymology

The term "Overseas Filipino Worker" (OFW) was used as early as the 1990s to refer to Filipino migrant workers, when Republic Act 8042, also known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 was enacted. The term was officially adopted by the Philippine government when the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) adopted the 2002 POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-based Overseas Workers. Historically, particularly during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, the term "Overseas Contract Worker" (OCW) was used. [5]

For statistical and probability purposes, the term "Overseas Contract Worker" refers to OFWs with an active employment contract, while OFWs who are not OCWs are migrant workers currently without a contract who had one within a given period of time. [4]

History

Early 1900s

Filipino migrant workers were working outside the Philippine islands as early as the 1900s, when Filipino agricultural workers were deployed to Hawaii to satisfy temporary labor needs in the then-U.S. territory's agricultural sector. Filipino workers then went on to the Mainland United States to work in hotels, restaurants, and sawmills, as well as getting involved in railroad construction. They also worked in plantations in California and the canning industry of the then-American territory of Alaska. Some Filipinos also served in the U.S. Army during World War II. [5]

After World War II

Following the end of World War II, some Filipinos who served in the U.S. Army became American citizens. The United States also saw increased immigration of Filipino medical professionals, accountants, engineers, and other technical workers after the war. From the 1950s to the 1960s, non-professional contract workers began migrating to other Asian countries; artists, barbers, and musicians worked in East Asia, and loggers worked in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. [5]

Start of systemic migration

According to the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, "active and systemic migration" [5] of Filipinos for temporary employment began by the 1960s, when the United States government, contractors of the US Armed Forces, and civilian agencies began recruiting Filipinos to work in jobs in the construction and service sector. [5] This was encouraged by the passage in the US of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which ended national immigration quotas and provided an unlimited number of visas for family reunification. [6] Filipinos also worked in select areas in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, namely Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and the US territories of Guam and Wake Island. [5]

Overseas employment first became the subject of Philippine government policy in the early 1970s, in response to a series of crises brought about by heavy government spending linked to Ferdinand Marcos' 1969 campaign for his second presidential term. [7] [8] [9] Beginning with the 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, these resulted in a spike in unemployment, an urgent need for foreign exchange to resolve the country's balance of payments, and a period of social unrest that kicked off with what is now know as the First Quarter Storm. [10] More Filipino medical workers began to search for work in Australia, Canada, and the United States. This compelled the Marcos administration to create a short-term labor policy that included overseas employment. [5]

In 1974—two years after Marcos' proclamation of martial law—the Philippine government came up with the Labor Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree 442, series 1974), which included Filipino migrant workers in its scope. The decree formally established a recruitment and placement program "to ensure the careful selection of Filipino workers for the overseas labor market to protect the good name of the Philippines abroad". Three government agencies were created to tend to the needs of Filipino migrant workers: the National Seamen Board, Overseas Employment Development Board, and the Bureau of Employment Services, which were later merged in 1978 to create the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. [5]

The Marcos administration continued to expand the policy, since it served a double function: it helped relieve economic pressure by bringing in dollar revenues, and it also relieved social pressure, because many of the highly educated young people who formed the bulk of Marcos' political critics left the country to find work. [10]

Soon, construction workers and engineers also began to be recruited by multinational companies in oil-rich nations in the Middle East, which were then experiencing an economic boom. [5]

Post–People Power Revolution

After Ferdinand Marcos was removed from office following the People Power Revolution of February 1986, his successor Corazon Aquino issued Executive Order No. 126, which renamed the Welfare Fund as the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). In 1995, the Republic Act 8042, or Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, became law. [5]

700,000 of the world's mariners come from the Philippines, being the world's largest origin of seafarers; [11] In 2018, Filipino seafarers sent home the equivalent of US$6.14 billion. [12]

Then-President Rodrigo Duterte announced that in 2021, the Philippines would limit the annual number of health professionals (including nurses) it sends abroad to 5,000, from about 13,000 that currently leave every year. [13]

Magna Carta of Filipino seafarers

Department of Foreign Affairs undersecretary Eduardo De Vega has put forward the so-called "Magna Carta for Seafarers", a bill that was to be signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in February 2024 but was put on hold for review. Senate Bill No. 2221, "An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers" (and the House of Representatives' version, House Bill 7325, approved on March 6, 2024) "seeks to provide seafarers with the right to humane working conditions and just compensation by ensuring that recruitment agencies provide them with adequate information about onboard conditions and laws that apply to Filipino seafarers; it also aims to address the lack of domestic laws vis-à-vis the country's compliance with international maritime standards, as well as the seafarers' rights and welfare." [14]

Government policy

Official sample of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) ID card OFW ID Card sample.png
Official sample of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) ID card

The Philippine government has stated officially for decades that it doesn't maintain a labor export policy, and has continued to claim so as of 2012.

Agencies

During the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, three government agencies were created to tend to the needs of Filipino migrant workers, namely: [5]

  1. National Seamen Board (NSB) : To "develop and maintain a comprehensive program for Filipino seamen employed overseas".
  2. Overseas Employment Development Board (OEDB) – To "promote the overseas employment of Filipino workers through a comprehensive market and development program".
  3. Bureau of Employment Services (BES) – responsible for the regulation of "private sector participation in the recruitment of (local and overseas) workers".

In 1982, these three agencies were consolidated to create the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), which later became an attached agency to the Department of Labor and Employment. [5] On December 30, 2021, then-President Duterte signed into law the "Department of Migrant Workers Act" (Republic Act 11641), which consolidates all OFW-related services into one department. [15] The new Department of Migrant Workers is slated to be operational by 2023. [16]

Reception

The Migrante Partylist has cited two reasons that the Philippine government created a more systemic labor export policy during the administration of Ferdinand Marcos: To quell dissent brought about by massive domestic unemployment and the political crisis, and to consolidate foreign exchange from remittances. [5]

Recruitment

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) was a government agency tasked with supervising labor recruitment agencies in the Philippines. Recruitment and deployment agencies are mandated by the POEA to monitor the situation of Overseas Filipino Workers, including if they are with their supposed employers and if employers provide assistance to the Filipino worker in case of emergency. [17]

Taxation

Remittances sent by Overseas Filipino Workers to the Philippines from abroad are not themselves subject to taxation by the Philippine government, which has no jurisdiction over foreign remittance. However, a value-added tax is imposed on transfer fees charged by the remittance companies. [18] Under Presidential Decree No. 1183 and Republic Act No.8042, or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995, Overseas Filipino Workers are exempt from travel tax and airport terminal fees when traveling out of the Philippines from within the country. [19]

Female overseas Filipino workers

Despite many Filipina migrant workers having received higher education and working as skilled nurses, [20] 58 out of 100 overseas Filipino women workers are categorized as laborers and unskilled workers compared to 13 out of 100 overseas Filipino male workers in a 2007 survey. [21] Filipino women often fill "the demand for unskilled, low-paid domestic work in high-income countries". [20] They are encouraged to take these overseas jobs due to high unemployment rates in the Philippines and the economy benefiting from remittances. [22] [23]

Medical concerns

A study conducted by Veronica Ramirez of the Center for Research and Communication has found that because they are afraid of losing employment and since most clinics are closed on Sundays, which is the typical OFW's day off, a majority of female OFWs find it difficult to obtain medical treatment, resorting to self-medication instead. [24]

Mental health concerns

Despite financial benefits from working overseas, separation from family and cultural ties have proved detrimental to the health of Filipino migrant workers. [25] Many Filipino women working abroad have experienced worsening mental health, reporting symptoms of depression from a loss of belonging, loneliness, and guilt. [20]

Unsafe workplaces and abuse are another big problem, with "more than 40% of labour Filipino migrants in the USA report[ing] high levels of workplace discrimination". [20] Filipino women are often associated with stereotypes such as being mail-order brides and having submissive attributes, which further adds to their discrimination in and out of the workplace. [26]

Impact on governance

Empirical research has demonstrated that Filipino migrants and the remittances they send back to families are correlated with better governance. Exposure to the democratic politics and efficient bureaucracies in host countries allows migrants to use their remittances to urge relatives back home to demand better governance, at least in the context of enhancing the efficient provision of public goods at the provincial level. [27]

Countries

Overseas Filipino Workers can only be legally deployed to countries certified by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs to be compliant with Republic Act 10022, also known as the Amended Migrant Workers Act. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Migrant worker</span> Person who migrates to pursue work

A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overseas Filipinos</span> Filipino diaspora

An Overseas Filipino is a person of full or partial Filipino origin who trace their ancestry back to the Philippines but are living and working outside of the country. They get jobs in countries and they move to live in countries that they get jobs in. This term generally applies to both people of Filipino ancestry and citizens abroad. As of 2019, there were over 12 million Filipinos overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Foreign Affairs (Philippines)</span> Executive department of the Philippine government

The Department of Foreign Affairs is the executive department of the Philippine government tasked to contribute to the enhancement of national security, protection of the territorial integrity and national sovereignty, to participate in the national endeavor of sustaining development and enhancing the Philippines' competitive edge, to protect the rights and promote the welfare of Filipinos overseas and to mobilize them as partners in national development, to project a positive image of the Philippines, and to increase international understanding of Philippine culture for mutually-beneficial relations with other countries.

Filipinos in Kuwait are either migrants from or descendants of the Philippines living in Kuwait. As of 2020, there are roughly 241,000 of these Filipinos in Kuwait. Most people in the Filipino community are migrant workers, and approximately 60% of Filipinos in Kuwait are employed as domestic workers.

The labor migration policy of the Philippine government allows and encourages emigration. The Department of Foreign Affairs, which is one of the government's arms of emigration, grants Filipinos passports that allow entry to foreign countries. In 1952, the Philippine government formed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) as the agency responsible for opening the benefits of the overseas employment program. In 1995, it enacted the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act in order to "institute the policies of overseas employment and establish a higher standard of protection and promotion of the welfare of migrant workers and their families and overseas Filipinos in distress." In 2022, the Department of Migrant Workers was formed, incorporating the POEA with its functions and mandate becoming the backbone of the new executive department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filipino seamen</span>

Filipino seamen, also referred to as Filipino seafarers or Filipino sailors, are seamen, sailors, or seafarers from the Philippines. Although, in general, the term "Filipino seamen" may include personnel from the Philippine Navy or the Philippine Marine Corps, it specifically refers to overseas Filipinos who are "sea-based migrant Filipino workers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine Overseas Employment Administration</span> Former Philippine government agency

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration was an agency of the government of the Philippines responsible for opening the benefits of the overseas employment program of the Philippines. It is the main government agency assigned to monitor and supervise overseas recruitment and manning agencies in the Philippines. The POEA's office is located at EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong, Philippines.

Filipinos in Taiwan consist mainly of immigrants and workers from the Philippines. Filipinos form the third largest national contingent of migrant workers and account for about one-fifth of foreign workers in Taiwan as of April 2019.

The Labor policy in the Philippines is specified mainly by the country's Labor Code of the Philippines and through other labor laws. They cover 38 million Filipinos who belong to the labor force and to some extent, as well as overseas workers. They aim to address Filipino workers’ legal rights and their limitations with regard to the hiring process, working conditions, benefits, policymaking on labor within the company, activities, and relations with employees.

Filipinos in Oman are either migrants or descendants of the Philippines living in Oman. As of 2011, there are between 40,000 and 46,000 of these Filipinos in Oman. A large destination for Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Oman was the only Middle Eastern nation included on the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration's list of nations safe for OFWs. The country still holds the title up to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippines–South Sudan relations</span> Bilateral relations

Philippines–South Sudan relations refers to the bilateral relationship between the Philippines and South Sudan. The Philippines recognized South Sudan as a sovereign state nearly a month after it declared its independence on 9 July 2011. The Philippine embassy in Nairobi has jurisdiction over South Sudan since March 2013. This was held previously by Philippine embassy in Cairo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Ople</span> Filipino politician and advocate (1962–2023)

MariaSusana "Toots" Vasquez Ople was a Filipina politician and Overseas Filipino Workers' (OFW) rights advocate who served as the first Secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overseas Workers Welfare Administration</span>

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration is an attached agency of the Department of Migrant Workers of the Philippines. It protects the interests of Overseas Filipino Workers and their families, providing social security, cultural services and help with employment, remittances and legal matters. It is funded by an obligatory annual contribution from overseas workers and their employers. The agency was founded in 1977 as the Welfare and Training Fund for Overseas Workers. Its head office is at F.B. Harrison Street corner 7th Street in Pasay, near EDSA Extension, Philippines.

In early 2018, Kuwait and the Philippines were embroiled in a diplomatic crisis over the situation of Filipino migrant workers in the gulf country.

Overseas Filipinos, including Filipino migrant workers outside the Philippines, have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 1, 2021, there have been 19,765 confirmed COVID-19 cases of Filipino citizens residing outside the Philippines with 12,037 recoveries and 1,194 deaths. The official count from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on the cases of overseas Filipinos is not included in the national tally of the Philippine government. Repatriates on the other hand are included in the national tally of the Department of Health (DOH) but are listed separately from regional counts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Migrant Workers</span> Executive department of the Philippine government

The Department of Migrant Workers is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the protection of the rights and promote the welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) and their families. The department was created under the Department of Migrant Workers Act that was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on December 30, 2021. The functions and mandate of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will serve as the backbone of the department and absorbing the seven offices of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) namely the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs (OUMWA) of the DFA, Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB), National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) and the National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) of the DOLE. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration will serve as its attached agency and the DMW secretary will serve as the concurrent chairperson of OWWA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdullah Mama-o</span>

Abdullah Derupong Mama-o is a Filipino government official who served as the ad interim Secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers under the Duterte administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Jullebee Ranara</span> 2023 death of a Filipino worker in Kuwait

Jullebee Cabilis Ranara was an Overseas Filipino Worker who was found dead in the desert on January 21, 2023, in Kuwait. She was reportedly raped, murdered, burnt and thrown in the desert. The death revived public discourse on the plight of Filipino migrant workers living in Kuwait.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overseas Employment Certificate</span>

An Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC), also known as an exit pass or an exit clearance, is an identity document for Filipino migrant workers or Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) departing from the Philippines.

References

  1. ↑ "Total Number of OFWs Estimated at 2.2 Million". Philippine Statistics Authority. June 4, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Table 3: Distribution of Overseas Filipino Workers by Region of Origin and Place of Work Abroad: 2019". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Villegas, Bernardo M. (August 1, 2023). "OFWs as a permanent phenomenon". Business World . Archived from the original on August 2, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  4. 1 2 "2017 Survey on Overseas Filipinos (Results from the 2017 Survey on Overseas Filipinos)". May 18, 2018. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Medina, Andrei; Pulumbarit, Veronica (September 21, 2012). "How Martial Law helped create the OFW phenomenon". GMA News. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  6. ↑ Yo, Jackson (2006). Encyclopedia of multicultural psychology. SAGE. p. 216. ISBN   978-1-4129-0948-8 . Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  7. ↑ Balbosa, Joven Zamoras (1992). "IMF Stabilization Program and Economic Growth: The Case of the Philippines" (PDF). Journal of Philippine Development. XIX (35). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 21, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  8. ↑ Cororaton, Cesar B. "Exchange Rate Movements in the Philippines". DPIDS Discussion Paper Series 97-05: 3, 19.
  9. ↑ Diola, Camille. "Debt, deprivation and spoils of dictatorship | 31 years of amnesia". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on June 26, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  10. 1 2 Maca, Mark; Maca, Mark (2018). "Education in the 'New Society' and the Philippine Labour Export Policy (1972–1986)". Journal of International and Comparative Education. 7 (1): 1–16. doi: 10.14425/jice.2018.7.1.1 .
  11. ↑ VVP (January 19, 2013). "Pinoy seafarers' concerns taken up with US Coast Guard head". GMA News. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Filipino seafarers send home a record amount of $6.14 Billion in 2018". Crew Center. Drupal. March 3, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  13. ↑ "World's Supplier of Nurses to Limit Sending New Hires Abroad". BloombergQuint. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  14. ↑ Cabato, Luisa (March 12, 2024). "De Vega on Magna Carta for Seafarers bill: 'I hope it passes right away'". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Duterte signs law creating Department of Migrant Workers". Philippine News Agency . December 30, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Department of Migrant Workers may start by 2023: POEA". Philippine News Agency . January 13, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  17. ↑ Macasero, Ryan (August 13, 2015). "'Recruiter's responsibility doesn't end after deployment' – POEA". Rappler. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  18. ↑ "OFW remittances not covered by tax reform". Department of Finance (Philippines). June 21, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Bello reminds airlines of travel tax, terminal fee exemption for OFWs". ABS-CBN News. March 3, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  20. 1 2 3 4 Straiton, Melanie L.; Ledesma, Heloise Marie L.; Donnelly, Tam T. (2017). "A qualitative study of Filipina immigrants' stress, distress and coping: The impact of their multiple, transnational roles as women". BMC Women's Health. 17 (1): 72. doi: 10.1186/s12905-017-0429-4 . PMC   5584031 . PMID   28870195.
  21. ↑ Philippine Statistics Authority. "Overseas Filipino Women". National Statistics Office. Manila, Philippines, June 11, 2009, psa.gov.ph/content/overseas-filipino-women.
  22. ↑ UN Women. "Filipino Women Migrant Workers". Fact Sheet. New York, United States. N.d. Web.
  23. ↑ O'Neil, Kevin. “Labor Export as Government Policy: The Case of the Philippines.” Migration Policy Institute, March 2, 2017, www.migrationpolicy.org/article/labor-export-government-policy-case-philippines.
  24. ↑ ""A significant number of women OFWs in Asia eschew health treatments when they are ill" – Ramirez Study of Women OFWs' common health problems". CRC – Center for Research and Communication. October 19, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  25. ↑ Grandea, Nona; Kerr, Joanna (1998). "'Frustrated and Displaced': Filipina Domestic Workers in Canada". Gender and Development. 6 (1): 7–12. doi:10.1080/741922629. JSTOR   4030329.
  26. ↑ Limpangog, Cirila P. (2013). "Racialised and Gendered Workplace Discrimination: The Case of Skilled Filipina Immigrants in Melbourne, Australia". Journal of Workplace Rights. 17 (2): 191–218. doi:10.2190/wr.17.2.e.
  27. ↑ Tusalem, Rollin F. (2018). "Do migrant remittances improve the quality of government? Evidence from the Philippines". Asian Journal of Comparative Politics. 3 (4): 336–366. doi:10.1177/2057891118757694. S2CID   158531389.
  28. ↑ Medenilla, Samuel (January 1, 2018). "POEA lists 24 countries off-limits to OFWs". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.