Blog 2: Changing Trends in the Republic of teh Philippines

We are familiar with the trend of workers as an exported good in the Republic of the Philippines; we didn't consider a crucial element of this policy. Young Filipinos leave their homeland to work abroad. They work abroad in order to send money back home to their families. We've talked about this in terms of economics and worker exploitation - often a Filipino must pay for a job which is often equal to a year's wages, Brokers that illegally charge the worker higher rates, and the chance of losing the job and being stranded. Despite the risks, many take this chance. According to some estimates, there are near 12 million Filipinos. They saw it as a great opportunity in a nation that had high unemployment. For the sake of comparison, the population of the Republic of the Philippines was estimated at 94,852,030 as of 2011; we see that the number of Filipinos working abroad stands at roughly %12.6. Something we seem to have missed in our discussion is the children of all these migrant workers.

Easily, one could imagine the family of a migrant worker consisting of not only their brothers, sisters, cousin, aunts, uncle, and elderly family members but also their own children, who may grow up their entire lives not meeting their parents. At later ages they will understand and appreciate their parents sacrifice, one would hope. Though, the absence of parents could lead to a lonely childhood. If you grew up in this situation, would you be open to making the same decision yourself? The vast majority still leave. I wouldn’t be surprised if their family ties were stronger than ours, countrywide; being that it is a Latin culture. The draw of upwards of three times the wages they could expect at home is hard to resist. A small group of young people are deciding to stay home, feeling that they couldn’t leave their families behind and optimistic about their prospects.

Many young people, the very same who didn’t know their parents, are deciding to stay in the Philippines. They could still make more money abroad, but are making the decision based on their experiencing growing up. Saying they could make more money abroad may be an incorrect statement; they have more opportunities at home than their parents had. The Philippines are very attractive to US and European companies for call-centers and technical support. Not only this, but many electronic and hardware manufacturers locate their factories in the Philippines. Relative to many of these companies’ countries of origin that outsource to the Philippines the peso is very cheap; this means that outsourcing to the Philippines allows for them to cut costs. This developing country is starting to show signs of how a moving from Agriculture and industrialization can improve the quality of life for so many. There is sure to be those who didn’t reap the benefits. Personally, I’m very interested in how the trend of migration will change in the coming 20 years.