WITH THE increase of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) returning abroad since being halted during the pandemic, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. continues to push for the improvement of overseas employment, welfare, and security.
However, such discussions do not discount the fact that unstable job opportunities still compel Filipinos to seek livelihood abroad. While migrant workers are portrayed to be valiant contributors to the Philippine economy and culture of resilience, experts criticize the notions of heroism tied to them, considering the lack of quality employment in the Philippines.
Addressing adversity
The present-day management of labor export in the Philippines has been shaped by decades of exploitation, abuse, and maltreatment that have haunted many Filipinos working abroad. Familial absence and its consequences also cast a shadow over the decisions of those who plan to seek sustainable employment overseas.
To address these issues, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pledged that the welfare of OFWs would be a priority of his administration. One of his first acts as President was to sign into full operation the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), fulfilling the passage of its law by former president Rodrigo Duterte in 2021.
The key role of DMW focuses on streamlining bureaucracy and coordination among various agencies that assist OFWs. The DMW also helps returning migrant workers with reintegration by providing livelihood assistance, scholarships, financial literacy training, entrepreneurial development, and technology skills workshops.
More recently, President Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order No. 14 in January 2023, approving the 2023–2028 Philippine Development Plan (PDP). Notably, the PDP grants Filipinos working abroad access to social insurance, worker protection, and productive overseas migration.
With these policy changes in place, DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Cacdac revealed that 2.5 million overseas employment certificates were issued in 2023. However, Migrante International, a grassroots migrant organization of overseas Filipinos, asserted that this figure translates to over 6,800 Filipinos leaving each day while the country continues to fail at creating stable employment locally.
Similarly, Center for Migrant Advocacy Executive Director Ellene Sana emphasized that many OFWs decide to find work abroad due to low employment prospects in the Philippines. Even more damning than the lack of jobs within the country are the low wages that make it difficult for parents to sustain their families.
Venerated yet vulnerable
50 years ago, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. introduced the 1974 labor export program to relieve unemployment problems and boost the economy. The billions of dollars in remittances that OFWs sent back to the Philippines within years became the bridge that linked labor export to economic development. Since then, the administrations after Marcos Sr. worked to strengthen the labor export industry to grow the economy and refine foreign policy.
Today, the Philippines is economically and politically reliant on labor exports. In 2023, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) saw an all-time high in personal remittances from Filipinos abroad. Data showed that remittances amounted to USD 37.2 billion, a 2% increase from the USD 36.1 billion in the previous year. The BSP credited the remittances to the rise of OFW deployment due to increased demand by destination countries, namely the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Notably, the growth of the Philippines’ labor export has come hand in hand with foreign countries’ increasing reliance on OFWs. Consequently, while OFWs continue to suffer from grave abuses of their rights, government actions that demand the increased protection of OFWs can complicate both economic and foreign policy.
In May 2023, the Philippines imposed a ban on first-time workers bound for Kuwait as a response to the brutal killing of Kuwait-based OFW Jullebee Ranara by her employer’s son a few months prior. Kuwait retaliated by suspending the issuance of new entry visas for Filipinos until diplomatic efforts smoothed over tensions in October. Throughout the row, migrant advocacy groups such as Migrante International criticized deployment bans as a temporary measure that only encouraged labor trafficking without stopping the abuse of OFWs.
Pre-dating Marcos Jr.’s administration as well is the issue of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia withholding salaries and benefits from an estimated 14,000 OFWs. During his second State of the Nation Address last July, Marcos Jr. boasted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman committed to processing these claims; however, OFWs returning from Saudi Arabia have yet to receive any such remuneration.
Hence, Sana reiterated the challenges that OFWs face even when tackling protective measures: “[A deployment ban] creates tension, confusion, anger; OFWs are angered by the government’s policies if they don’t have viable [alternative] options. [The question they ask is] ‘What do we do? If we cannot leave, then what do we do?’”
Given these grim circumstances, OFWs have become conflated with notions of resilience and heroism. As early as Corazon Aquino’s presidency, migrant workers have been called “modern heroes” (bagong bayani). This glorification has left little room to tackle the local realities that motivate Filipinos to seek job opportunities abroad in the first place.
Ultimately, such veneration reveals not only a new side to the heroized migrant workers, but also the failure of Philippine society to humanize them beyond their economic contributions.
Domestic displacement
According to Sana, the use of the term “heroes” shifts attention away from the actual reason why so many Filipinos opt to work overseas in the first place. Such a title may make it seem that OFWs migrate out of a desire to serve their country. However, it brushes past the reality that participation in migrant labor largely stems from the Philippines’ bleak socio-economic landscape.
When OFWs return, they come back to a country that offers them no social protection or pension plans, thus leaving them socially and economically vulnerable as they age. Families of migrant workers also suffer negative consequences from the separation, despite the extra income being earned. For instance, children of migrant workers may underperform in their academics due to the lack of parental guidance. These children are also affected psychologically by increased feelings of loneliness and anxiety.
Although Marcos has expressed that OFW welfare would be of priority, the sector’s concerns remain unaddressed as his administration instead focuses on how mass labor migration presently affects the quality of workers left in the Philippines. For instance, Marcos recently suggested providing healthcare and information technology scholarships with the intent of requiring the scholars to work in the Philippines for two to three years, thus slowing down rates of “brain drain.” However, the temporary measure ultimately does nothing to address the longstanding issues faced by OFWs.
As migrant labor remains an essential pillar of the Philippine economy and policy, the government continues to examine how to further promote it. Despite the veneration of the country’s migrant workers, many of their present realities are still ignored. It is equally important, then, that Filipino workers are given ample job opportunities in the country instead of being driven to migrate out of necessity.
