Overseas Filipino Workers still desperate to return home

[ASEAN NOW News]

file photo

 

With many countries suffering from the new Delta variant, thousands of OFW Filipinos are still stuck overseas, many now with no means to earn a living.

 

Despite cases of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus, President Rodrigo Duterte has not changed his stance about allowing Filipinos to return home.

 

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Duterte continues to push for the unimpeded return of all Filipinos.

 

Based on the results of the 2019 Survey on Overseas Filipinos, the number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who worked abroad at any time during the period April to September 2019 was estimated at 2.2 million.

 

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, by the end of August 2020, there were more than 389,000 returning overseas Filipinos, around 60% of whom are land-based workers coming from badly hit industries such as logistics, construction, and the oil sector, while the rest are sea-based.

 

Apparently as of April 2021, there were about 639,000 displaced OFWs.

 

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.

 

The USA is the most common destination country for OFW’s, receiving 36% of Filipino emigrants in 2015.

Other destination countries in order of their share of Filipino emigrants in 2015 include the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan and Kuwait.

 

Domestics, Seafarers and Entertainers Stuck

 

Entertainers popular in Japan

 

Domestic work was the top occupation for new hires, at 38 percent. While the demand for domestic workers has long been the main driver of female migration from the Philippines and Asia in general, until 2005, the demand for entertainers, mostly in Japan, also fueled this migration.

 

The Philippines is now also the world’s largest source of seafarers, where an estimated 700,000 seamen are deployed in domestic and foreign-flagged seagoing vessels according to the Maritime Industry Authority, 2020.

 

Approximately 380,000 Filipino mariners make up a quarter of all global merchant shipping crews, while a third of all global cruise ships are staffed by Filipinos.

 

Shipping has screeched to a halt due to restricted trade and the drop in oil prices due to the pandemic.

 

While thousands of sea based OFWs have returned home, many more are stranded in ships with lapsed contracts.

 

While many OFWs in the health sector are hospital frontliners in the US, UK, Europe, and the Middle East, others who returned home to the Philippines find themselves unemployed and stranded outside domestic airports, at the height of one of the longest and most stringent COVID-19 lockdowns in the world.

 

Economic saviours?

 

Since the 1980s, OFWs have been hailed as bagong bayani (modern-day heroes) for keeping the Philippine economy afloat through remittances, which in 2019 reached USD 30 billion (PHP 1.56 trillion), or about 8% of the Philippines' USD 377 billion (PHP 19.52 trillion) economy.

 

Although many OFW’s are currently unable to work, there is some good news as remittances from overseas Filipinos (OFs) saw double-digit growth in May, as coronavirus restrictions eased, and more jobs came back worldwide.

 

The remittances were mostly from the United States, South Korea, Singapore, and Canada, where work contracts have been renewed or are continuing.

 

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Tuesday, July 13, said money transfers coursed through banks grew 13.1% to $2.38 billion in May 2021 from $2.106 billion in May 2020.

 

Meanwhile, personal remittances or transfers sent in cash or in-kind through informal channels rose 13.3% to $2.65 billion from $2.34 billion a year ago.

 

Both land- and sea-based workers remitted more cash during the period.

 

On a year-to-date basis or from January to May, remittances grew 6.3% to $12.28 billion from $11.55 billion during the same period in 2020.

 

Back in 2019 much of the remittances from overseas Filipinos were in the form of cash that were coursed through banks. Total cash remittances in 2019 amounted to an all-time high of $30.1 billion, 4.1-percent higher than the $28.9 billion recorded in 2018.

 

Move forward to last year cash remittances from Filipinos working overseas dropped 0.8% to $29.9 billion last year, defying expectations of a sharper fall due to the pandemic.

 

Pundits expect the 2021 remittances to face a further drop, however as some countries start to recover, OFW’s in those countries should continue to send funds back home.

 

Future Prospects?

 

The prospects for returning OFs are not any better at home.

 

During the first few weeks of community quarantine, 3 million left the labor force and an additional 5 million became unemployed based on the April 2020 Labor Force Survey.

 

As the community quarantine has dragged on and now with the Delta variant , its economic impact is getting worse.

Preparing for the influx of LSIs is just one of the multitude of responsibilities that local governments now carry in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Even the poorest rural localities now must allocate resources for isolation facilities in case repatriated LSIs test positive for COVID-19.

 

The magnitude of the local and international repatriation and reintegration problem coupled with staggering local unemployment, requires resources for social services, livelihood, and employment support that not all local government units possess.

 

So, what can be done for OFs whose remittances and service has kept the country’s economy afloat even in times of crises?

 

The logic is simple–it is time for the Philippine government to return the favour by keeping OFs and their families alive and safe during this pandemic.

 

The first thing that should be done is to ensure the safe return of OFs who need to go home.

 

The Department of Foreign Affairs, through the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, facilitates the repatriation of 150 distressed Filipinos from Bangladesh on July 15, 2021. The returnees received USD200 reintegration assistance on top of free plane fares, quarantine facility stay, and Covid-19 testing. (Photo courtesy of DFA)

 

The government must scale-up this returning OFs program to absorb the sudden increase in the number of OFs that would need emergency repatriation.

 

The current USD 103 million (PhP 5 billion) might not be enough to provide for the 600,000 affected OFs.

Upon their return to the Philippines, there must be a seamless process for testing and quarantine and the government must ensure the repatriated OFs will not incur any out of pocket expense.

 

Social protection packages must be put in place for OFs and their families while they are being linked to livelihood and employment opportunities.

 

Immediate social assistance will not be difficult to implement since the OWWA would have a database of repatriated OFs, which can easily be matched with other government databases for various financial assistance programs.

 

Majority of the displaced OFs perform elementary or low-skilled jobs in the tourism, construction, oil, and logistics industries, the very same industries heavily hit by the recession. 

 

However, it should be noted that the welfare services offered by the government through OWWA is only a stop-gap measure to the more pressing problems of unemployment and financial vulnerability among OFs.

 

Both local and national governments must therefore work together to develop and implement a comprehensive program that would create employment opportunities for displaced OFs.

 

In the face of continued restrictions as the Philippines struggles to contain the virus, the onus will be on local governments, together with the private sector, to serve as catalysts for economic activity in their respective localities.

 

Repatriated OF’s will investigate their localities for opportunities or kick-start businesses there on their own.

 

Directly, local governments can shore up demand for goods and services. Several LGUs have already started doing this by purchasing agricultural produce and entering service contracts with transportation providers.

 

In the absence of publicly funded safety nets, the burden of survival is carried by neighbours, friends, family, and fellow Filipinos through various mutual aid arrangements.

 

Adhering to the principle of Bayanihan (collective effort), it is often support and direct assistance from individuals and the private sector which keeps OFs and their families afloat, along with the millions who have lost their jobs.

 

For example, a group of OFWs began a relief initiative for other OFWs in Dubai who lost their jobs or have exhausted their resources by giving food aid and emergency assistance.

 

Similar efforts were seen across other countries with OFW communities.

 

Global evidence points to how any hope of economic recovery is hinged on how well the Philippine government can address the health crisis.

 

Nevertheless, it is clear that the pandemic is forcing local public and private actors to creatively piece together long-overdue reforms to create and sustain local jobs, and support families now battling multiple rounds of economic displacement. The old romanticised rhetoric of OFWs as long-suffering heroes is no longer tenable–this time, it is the old saviours that need saving.

 

 

[bangon04]

"Based on the results of the 2019 Survey on Overseas Filipinos, the number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who worked abroad at any time during the period April to September 2019 was estimated at 2.2 million."

 

This sounds like a huge underestimate....are they only counting "legal" OFWs?