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7/29/2019 DAA Speech on Migration
1/24
IMPROVING GOVERNANCE IN MIGRATION: LESSONS FROM THEPHILIPPINE EXPERIENCE
A paper delivered by Dr. Dante A. Ang, Secretary, Commission on FilipinosOverseas, for the Initiative for Policy Dialogue Task Force on InternationalMigration
Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, co-president of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue,
Professors Jeronimo Cortina, Enrique Ochoa-Reza and Hamid Rashid, co-
chairs for the Migration Task Force of the IPD, my colleague in public
service, Commissioner Marcelino Libanan of the Philippine Bureau of
Immigration, distinguished guests, experts and scholars in migration, good
morning.
I stand before you today to talk about my countrys experience in
international migration. Having wrested with this phenomenon for centuries
now, we can perhaps offer lessons that could be of help to other countries.
The International Organization for Migration meets every year. In the
number of times we were host, weve seen the enthusiasm with which
government around the world participate in the meeting, that they are
become increasingly aware of the link between migration and development
The Philippines is recognized by international organizationssocial,
civic, religious, and educationalas a model in migration management. And
modesty aside, the reputation is well-deserved. Through the years, we have
enacted laws regulating private recruitment agencies that have sprung to
meet the growing demand for jobs overseas and set up government
structures instituting programs for the welfare of the departing nationals. It
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was a process that occurred gradually as we cope with the great number of
people leaving the country in search of opportunities overseas.
Overview of Philippine Migration History
The first recorded Filipino migration was in 1417, when a member of
Sulu royalty, Paduka Batara, led a trade mission to China. In the 18th
Century, when the Philippines was a Spanish colony, many Filipino seafarers
in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade jumped ship. Some settled in Mexico,
others found their way to the Louisiana bayous.
Our first brush with systematic migration, however, was in 1906,
when we started sending sugar cane cutters to Hawaii. By then the
Philippines had reverted to the United States after more than 300 years of
Spanish rule. To satisfy nationalistic longings of Filipinos, the North
American colossus consented to establish a Commonwealth run by the native
elite, and that required training in government. Against this backdrop, a
wave of scholars called pensionados left to attend American colleges and
universities.
After World War II, Filipinos who served in the U.S. Armed Forces
were allowed to migrate to the United States with their dependents. In
subsequent years, an increasing number Filipinos, this time mostly
professionals and skilled workers, leave for Canada, the US, and Australia as
these countries repealed laws barring the entry of Asian migrants in 1962,
1965, and 1966, respectively.
The third wave of Filipino migration came in the form of contract
workers in the 1970s, when the unemployment rate in the Philippines rose
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to 11.8 percent. Towards the end of the Marcos dictatorship in 1985,
unemployment reached 12.7 percent, the highest ever in the countrys
history. At that period in history, Middle East countries, awash in
petrodollars, had embarked on an ambitious infrastructure development.
The stage was now set for the influx of workers, and the then Ministry of
Labor seized the day. The Philippines has since been the worlds leader in
the export of workers, although other countries have subsequently followed
its example.
Apart from the Middle East, legions of Filipino migrant workers have
also been leaving for South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore since these
countries emerged in the 80s and 90s as economic powerhouses in the
region. The types of occupations also shifted, from construction and
engineering services to communication technology, health care, tourism and
related occupations, and, yes, domestic work/
Categories of migration flows from the Philippines
As of December 2006, an estimated 8.23 million overseas Filipinos1
are found in over 190 countries, and they fall under three distinct
categories: 3.5 million permanent or settler migrants, mostly in the United
States, Canada, Australia, Japan, United Kingdom and Germany; 3.8 million
guest workers known as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in local parlance,
in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Japan, and, in
recent years, Italy and Spain; and more than 800,000 illegal or
undocumented workers. Because of their status, undocumented workers are
1 2006 Stock Estimate of Overseas Filipinos. Commission on Filipinos Overseas
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most vulnerable to exploitation, thus posing a continuing challenge to the
Philippines as well as to the host countries.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Program
In 1974, the Philippines enacted the Labor Code, which paved the
way for the establishment of the Overseas Employment Development Board
(OEDB) and the National Seamen Board (NSB) to oversee worker
deployment, conduct overseas labor market surveys, and regulate private
sector participation in the recruitment and placement industry.
By institutionalizing the overseas employment program, then
President Ferdinand Marcos envisioned an increase in national savings and
investment levels, and in the long run, the transfer of skills that is essential
in the expansion of the countrys industrial base.
In 1982, OEDB and NSB were fused, resulting in the Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration. Since then, this agency has been
responsible for regulating private recruitment agencies, setting benchmark
on acceptable working conditions in the receiving countries, and
adjudicating cases on illegal recruitment as well as labor disputes.
One key aspect of the setup is the enforcement of joint liability
between the local recruitment agency and its foreign principal. Under this
policy, a worker who feels provisions in his work contract are violated by his
employer has the legal option to seek redress in Philippine courts against his
recruitment agency.
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At about the same time the POEA came into being, the Welfare
Training Fund for Overseas Workers, which was created to maintain a pool
of skilled Filipino workers, was reorganized into Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration (OWWA). Aside from its original responsibility, OWWA now
also imposes a fixed migrant worker-employer contribution for every work
contract. The amount serves as premium payment to provide migrant
workers insurance benefits on top of those already extended by their
employers. Originally, the coverage was confined to indemnity in case of
death and disability, whether partial or permanent. Now, the benefits
include small interest loans for the departing worker and retraining
scholarship upon his return, as well as micro financing for livelihood
projects.
After democratic rule was restored in 1986, civil society made its
presence felt in public policy making, and that included insistence that the
government address the social costs of labor migration. At that time, it had
become common for children of school age to have fathers in the Middle
East or mothers in Hong Kong or Singapore.
The Migrant Workers Act of 1995
The much execution of a Filipino domestic helper in Singapore named
Flor Contemplacion, who media reports say was unjustly convicted of
murder, drew an outcry. By no means was Contemplacion the first overseas
Filipino worker to run afoul of the law in another country, but advances in
communications technology have brought the reality in sharp relief. The
local media, powerless to influence events outside the country, turned its
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ire on Filipino Foreign Service officials, accusing them they did not do nearly
enough to defend Contemplacion in court and pressure the Singapore
government to spare her life after her conviction.
Amid calls for a more proactive government, the Philippine Congress
enacted the Migrant Workers and Other Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. The
legislation created the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers
Affairs, under the Department of Foreign Affairs, charging it with the
responsibility of providing on-site legal assistance to overseas Filipinos in
distress, with provision on the allocation of fund for the purpose. It also
instituted a one-country team approach, placing all attach services
under the administrative leadership of the Head of Mission or the
Ambassador in matters concerning overseas Filipinos in distress.
Through the Migrant Workers Act, the Philippines has developed a
government framework, whereby it seeks to ensure the well-being of
Filipino migrants, at all stages: pre-employment, pre-departure, on-site
deployment and, finally, reintegration.
On the pre-employment level, the POEA, based on information
gathered in more than 80 Philippine embassies and consulates, could ban
the deployment of workers to any country deemed unsuitable as a
destination either because of its deteriorating law and order situation or its
inability or unwillingness to protect the interest of guest workers. Once a
ban is imposed, POEA will not approve any work contract of workers in the
country subject to the prohibition. Unfortunately, people often find ways to
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leave for that country no matter what when the pull of higher wages
beckons.
Take the case of US military camps in Iraq. All Philippine passports
are stamped with a notation not valid for travel to Iraq, yet an estimated
6,647 Filipino workers2 are employed in camps run by an American private
security company. A quick investigation shows, these workers fly to a transit
country such as Kuwait or United Arab Emirates.
POEA also conducts pre-departure briefings consisting of a quick
review of the laws, customs, and practices in the host countries where the
workers are headed.
On-site assistance is perhaps the most important feature of the
countrys migration governance. In 27 countries with high concentration of
Filipino nationals, the Philippine Embassy or Consulate includes an Overseas
Labor Office, which looks after the interest of Filipino workers in distress.
Staffed by a labor attach and a number of welfare officers, the
Overseas Labor Office also runs a halfway home for such workers and
formulate and implement exit strategy in the event of catastrophe or
widespread civil disturbance.
The Philippines always coordinates with the International
Organization for Migration and other relief agencies to facilitate large-scale
repatriation, as in the case of the Iraq Desert Storm and the Lebanon crisis.
If it has to, however, the country, through OWWA, is ready to undertake a
large-scale repatriation of its nationals in that volatile region. And OWWA
2 Cimatu (September 2007). Report to Senate by the Special Envoy to the Middle East.
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has enough funds to do it, too, thanks to the contributions of the workers
themselves.
The National Reintegration Center, established under the Department
of Labor and Employment, helps the returning migrant worker find
livelihood in his own country. The process of reintegration, which starts
while the migrant worker is still abroad, includes counseling on livelihood
opportunities currently available in the country.
Once the workers are back to the country, the government opens up
to them a wide selection of courses to prepare them for jobs in the
hospitality trade and the booming business outsourcing industry. For those
who wish to go into business acumen, it offers microfinance schemes
through cooperatives.
Other legislations affecting overseas Filipinos
For the past 10 years, remittances of Filipino migrants have
contributed US$87 billion to the Philippine economy.3 In 2007, remittances
reached all-time high of US$14.4 billion, accounting for about 10 percent of
the countrys Gross Domestic Product.4 In comparison, the Official
Development Assistance the country receives from its trading partners came
to only US$1.25 billion.5
3 Central Bank of the Philippines4 Tetangco (2008). Governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines5 Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
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It is this vast amount of remittances that keeps the country afloat
economically.
In grateful appreciation of the role played by migrants, President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed, Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, Overseas
Absentee Voting Act, and Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act. The
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act hews closely to the provisions of the United
Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, which the Philippines
ratified two years earlier. Its stated purpose is to provide Filipino migrants
the legal remedies against sexual exploitation, work contract substitutions,
forced labor, and debt bondage, among others.
The Overseas Absentee Voting Act grants Filipino citizens residing
abroad the right to vote in Philippine national elections in absentia, thus
making them feel they have a stake in the countrys political affairs.
On the other hand, the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act
restores citizenship lost in the process of naturalization. Under the law,
former Filipinos can exercise all the rights of citizenship in the country of
their birth. They can own land in the country, engage in business, and
practice their profession, things foreigners cannot do.
Permanent migrants and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas
No picture of the countrys migration history would be complete
without a discussion of those who settle permanently abroad. In fact, there
are 2.4 million Filipinos falling under this category, nearly half of the
diaspora. Of this number, 70 percent reside in the US and make up the
second largest Asian minority in that country. To a certain extent, the
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coontiuous stream of migrants of this type may be attributed to family
reunification policy, where the principal immigrants are allowed to petition
their family members to join them. Like the US, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, United Kingdom, and Germany look favorably at family
reunification in varying degrees.
At this point, let me point out that Filipinos who acquire foreign
citizenship maintain their ties with the mother country, at least with their
relatives left behind.
It is the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), which keeps the
ties strong between the emigrants and the country of their birth. While
POEA and OWWA cater to the needs of labor migrants, CFO strengthens the
political, economic, and cultural ties between the migrants and the country
country, with the end in view of harnessing their potential for national
development.
CFO is responsible for providing advice to the President and Congress
of the Philippines on the development of policies that affect the Filipinos
overseas. It is for this reason that much of the recent laws expanding the
political and economic rights of overseas Filipinos were incubated in the
Commission.
Institutions are in place, and the laws are strictly enforced to ensure
the welfare and well-being of migrant workers. We cannot declare victory,
however, until the countries that host our people join us in the fight against
exploitation and abuse. In addition to the legal protection they must extend
to the guest workers within its shores, such countries have a moral
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obligation, we believe, help us mitigate the negative consequences of
international migration.
Future policy directions for governance in migration
Migrants of both sexes can fall victim to abuse and exploitation, but
women are especially vulnerable. The increasing number of women joining
the exodus in response to the demand for entertainers, caregivers, and
housekeepers brings this reality home.
Female workers in bars and nightclubs deal with men who think they
are entitled to sex for the price of a few drinks. However, the woman
placed in such a situationand this occurs practically everydaycan always
stand up and leave the drunken customer.
Unfortunately, maids and housebound caregivers do not have such
escape route. The husband may force himself into her or the lady of the
house may inflict harm on her at the slightest provocation, and theres not
much she can do about it.
In a 2001 survey, the Asian Migrant Centre found out that 22 percent
of Filipino foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong experienced abuse, the
most common of which was verbal. The figures are even higher for
Indonesian and Thai domestic workers.6
The most numerous and the worst cases of abuse occur in the Middle
East, especially in those countries where people have a low regard for
women, especially foreign women. Early this year, the Philippine
government imposed a deployment ban of domestic workers to Jordan citing
escalating cases of abuses against domestic workers.
6 Asato (2004). Negotiating Spaces in the Labor Market: Foreign and Local DomesticWorkers in Hong Kong. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2004.
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Upgrading human resource development and training
The POEA started implementing a training program for household
service workers last year. The intention is to upgrade the skills of migrants
falling under this category so that they can enter more desirable labor
markets such as Spain and Italy. It has also adoptedthe first and so far the
only country to have done soa minimum wage for this type of workers. The
goal is to give maids the salary commensurate to their education and skills
and to stop the race to the bottom practice so prevalent in many
receiving countries. Of course, we could prohibit recruitment of maids
altogether, but such a drastic measure would only result in unauthorized
migration for women desperate enough to land a job in a foreign country,
no matter what.
Here, let me correct the impression that we are so obsessed with labor
export. To us sending our excess labor abroad is only a part of national
economic strategy. Our ultimate goal is to train a highly skilled workforce
for the local industry that is now in the process of expansion.
Encouraging Migrants to Become Entrepreneurs
A study conducted by the Asian Development Bank in 2004 shows that
most earnings of overseas workers are used to finance excessive
consumption. It is thus recommended by this regional lending agency that
the government do something to educate overseas Filipino workers on the
productive use of capital. The agency warns that
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The compensatory nature of remittances presents a moral hazard or
dependency syndrome that will likely impede economic growth as recipients
would tend to reduce their participation in productive endeavors.
The challenge is two-fold: first, to create a climate that is conducive
to small start-up busineses; and second, to encourage migrant workers and
their families to save and invest.
Along this line, OWWA offers low interest loans to organized migrant
family circles for the purpose of financing a community grocery store.
In an effort to reduce the risk of business losses, the Department of
Trade and Industry and the Philippine International Trading Corporation
have set up a counseling center to assist migrant workers and their families
who decide to establish small- and medium-scale enterprises.
From all indications the strategy is paying off. It is noted that the
franchising industry owes its growth to the investment of overseas migrant
workers who have decided to turn their earnings into something that would
sustain their familys needs in the long run.
Encouraging return migration
It is estimated that more than 3,000 Filipinos leave the country
everyday. Obviously, all these people will have to come back sooner or
later. This is especially true in the case of overseas Filipino workers in
Middle Eastern countries, where permanent migration is prohibited outright.
The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 provides the
administrative machinery to address return migration flow. The Re-
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placement and Monitoring Center, created by that law and placed under the
Department of Labor and Employment, provides and mechanism to
reintegrate returning migrant workers into the Philippine society, and this
means identifying their skills and directing them to the appropriate industry
that might need their services.
In 2007, the National Reintegration Center was created, specifically
to help returning migrant workers readjust to life in the country after years
of absence. The Center offers assistance in the search of another job here
and abroad or, if the migrant workers have the aptitude, in establishing a
business venture.
In 1985, the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) was created to
make the country a retirement haven for former Filipinos and foreigners.
The program has so far attracted 2,620 retirees, whose especial
requirements generate 10,480 jobs. Feeling there is need to do more,
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the agency to coordinate more
closely with the private sector to develop residential subdivision that take
the need of retires in consideration.
The Philippines is also capitalizing on its large pool of health
professional to turn the country into medical tourism Mecca. It can do it
too, with low-cost but high standard medical services. Consider the
following example: The cost of heart value disorder repair is about $48,000
in US7; the same procedure can be availed of in an internationally
accredited hospital in the Philippines at 20 percent of that amount8. As for
concerns about quality of healthcare and competence of health workforce,
7 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2000)8 Medical care rates of the Medical City Hospital in the Philippines (2005)
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the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
(JCAHO), an independent, nonprofit organization, puts two private hospitals
in the Philippines at par with 15,000 other healthcare organizations and
programs all over the world. It is also a known fact that next to Indians,
Filipinos constitute the largest group of foreign-born physicians and nurses
in the US.
Other private hospitals in the country are in the process of acquiring
he same accreditation
Harnessing diaspora philanthropy
In the last five years, remittances sent home by migrant workers
through formal banking channels accounted for about 9.4 percent of he
countrys Gross National Product. However, a 2004 ADB study shows that
many of the workers utilize informal means of sending money to relatives
back home, so the actual amount of foreign exchange inflow in much higher
It is the nature of Filipinos to seek out their own kind. That explains
the fact that there are over 4,000 organizations, alumni associations, and
professional groups in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and
Germany. All members are proud of heir roots and deeply interested in the
development in the motherland. They contribute cash for the construction
and repair of schools, churches, and water systems in the old hometown.
They grant scholarship to poor but deserving students, create livelihood
opportunities, finance feeding programs for undernourished children.
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For lack of a better term, the academe and non-government
organizations refer to this phenomenon as diaspora philanthropy, where
migrant associations organize to assist development efforts in the home
country.
CFO established Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino or LINKAPIL to manage the
outpouring of assistance from Filipino individuals and groups abroad. The
total amount of cash donations went up to record highs in the aftermath of
Mount Pinatubo eruptions in 1989 and disastrous Central Luzon earthquake
in early 1990s. Over the past two decades, the agency received and passed
on to intended beneficiaries P2 billion worth of donations.
CFO, through LINKAPIL, serves as a conduit between Filipinos
overseas and the mother country.
In 1991, the Office of the President instituted a program to recognize
and honor Filipino individuals and groups who contribute to national
development
Lessons from the Philippine experience
The lessons weve learned in migration management are all hard-
earned. There was no benchmark against which we could measure our
progress. Some programs succeed, while others fail to make the grade.
However, failures, as well as success, serve us well. We keep them in mind
We lay bare our experience so that other countries can profit from it.
Hopefully, these countries would someday be able to enrich the pool of
knowledge from which we too could draw for our edification.
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Here, based on our experience, are recommendation that you may
want to consider as you promulgate your response to international
migration.
1) Migrant protection as Cornerstone of Labor Export. Obviously, a
government has limited options when it comes to protecting its nationals in
a foreign country. It is therefore necessary for such a government to
conclude agreements, wherever possible, with receiving countries to set
minimum standards for the protection and welfare of migrant workers. To
begin with, it should adopt a wage floor and insist on the need for humane
treatment that is consistent with international laws. 2) Highly trained
workers key to success of labor export program. A country earns its
reputation from the quality of workers in the global market migrant. It is
therefore important that it should set minimum education requirements for
workers in all job categories and put in place a training program that will
enable them to meet those requirements. Apart from providing departing
workers with the right mix of talent and skills demanded by the receiving
countries, the program, if religiously implemented, would also ensure that
the domestic labor pool is constantly replenished with competent workers,
which is so critical for national, long-term development.
1) A labor export policy should not lead the country toneglect the imperative of national development.
Remittances provide the country with much needed foreign
country, but they cannot replace trade as a driver of
development. Still, there is need to expand the countrys
industrial base against the day when demand from rich
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countries for migrant workers dries up. It is only through
growth in trade that industries can offer higher wages to
retain workers and encourage return migration.
4) A government must deal with problems associated withinternational migration. As tempo of out-migration increases,
the government must provide an adequate regulatory mechanism
to curb illegal practices in the recruitment process and to arrest
and prosecute the criminals that prey on the vulnerability of
migrant workers.
The responsibility receiving countries
It was mentioned in the early part of this paper that countries hosting
migrant workers have to share the responsibility of mitigating the negative
consequences of migration.
Migration is a two-way street. It occurs because one country has
excess labor that another needs. So much has already been said about
migrant sending countries, so let me now shift the discussion to the
receiving countries.
According o the UN Population Diovision, the population of developed
countries are projected to become smaller and older as a result of below-
replacement fertility and increased longevity. In the absence of migration,
the study points out, decline in population size will be greater and ageing
more rapid. Few believe that fertility in thos countries will recover
sufficiently in the foreseeable future to remedy the situation. The paper
concludes that population decline and population ageing will have
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profound and far-reaching consequences, forcing Governments to reassess
many established economic, social and political policies and programmes,
including those relating to international migration.
The truth be told, most developed countries have ambiguous if not
negative perceptions about international migration, when there is very little
empirical evidence to suggest that migration, authorized or not, cause an
undue burden on the host countries social services. Quite contrary, studies
have shown that migrants often occupy jobs that resident nationals shun,
such as that of sanitation, household work, factory work, education, and
health services.9 These are jobs that are clearly essential to public health
and safety, if not a contributing factor to a countrys competitiveness and
productivity. Of course, the September 11 terrorist attacks against the
United States did invoke feelings of xenophobia, discrimination and
paranoia, which cast immigration in altogether sinister light.
But perhaps the best possible evidence that origin countries have
failed to engage receiving countries insofar as migrant rights is concerned, is
the dismal ratification status of the 1990 International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their
Families. As of May 2007, no major migrant receiving country has ratified
the Convention. Despite having entered into force in July 2003, the absence
of support coming from major receiving countries creates a gap in terms of
protection migrants are entitled to in their host countries. The same
9 Garson (1999). Where do illegal migrants work? The OECD Observer.
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hesitation seems to pervade negotiations under Mode 4 of the General
Agreement in Trade-in Services (GATS)10, as it remains to be at the tail end
of the agenda for liberalization, perhaps because of political sensitivities
attendant to the issue.
Regardless on the trend of negotiations concerning the liberalization
of services under GATS, receiving countries should realize that problems
attendant to migration cannot be addressed by sending countries alone.
Stricter border controls and tighter entry requirements do not address
unauthorized migration, it only perpetuates an underground economy for
smugglers and traffickers to continuously exploit economic migrants, as
evidenced by the United States experience with Mexico. It is within the
interests of both sending and receiving countries to keep migration orderly
and managed, thus, international cooperation remains essential.
In October 2008, the Philippines will host the 2nd Global Forum on
Migration and Development with the theme, Protecting and Empowering
Migrants for Development. The forum shall have three roundtable
discussions focusing on: migration, development and human rights; the
stronger development impact of legal migration; and policy and institutional
coherence and partnerships. I feel that the focus of the forum also seeks to
answer the question of how governance in migration can be improved in the
regional and global levels.
10 Mode 4 refers to Movement of Natural Persons, defined as the supply of a service by a
service supplier of one Member, through presence of natural persons of a Member in theterritory of any other Member.
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First, we believe that the protection of migrants should be a
shared responsibility of both sending and receiving countries, inasmuch as
both benefit from their contribution in their respective economies: in terms
of remittances for the former, and in terms of productivity for the latter.
Migrant workers are entitled to decent work and wage conditions and the
mobile nature of their work situation should reflect on policies related to
the portability of their social security benefits. Migrant workers should be
free from exploitation and abuse and should be provided equal and
impartial access to judicial and quasi-judicial remedies, should they find
themselves in distress. Part of this shared responsibility is the recognition
that migrants can be active agents of development in their host and origin
countries, and that part of the solution lies in reducing emigration pressures
from host countries by leveraging on remittances to spur development in
origin countries.
Second, we believe that legal migration provides the best
framework for achieving development in home countries. This means
sending countries, if they have none, should create unencumbered
structures that facilitate migration orderly. Host countries, on the other
hand, should strive to create greater transparency in their migration
frameworks and labor market needs. As much as practicable, host
governments should seek to establish global communities that create
linkages between the host and origin countries in terms of training,
education and employment. These global communities not only serve to
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enhance the integration of migrants in their host communities, it also
provides a mechanism for their return in their home countries and
facilitates transfer of skills and technology.
Lastly, we believe that receiving countries should take a more
proactive role in regional consultative processes insofar as mitigating
the consequences of brain drain and leveling the playing field insofar as
trade in services is concerned. Education is a form of public investment
that origin countries fail to utilize when their nationals migrate due to the
pull of higher wages. As such, we feel that remittances do not fully
compensate the opportunities that are lost to a country whose skilled
workforce opts to migrate. We applaud receiving countries which have
instituted reverse brain drain arrangements or developed ethical guidelines
for recruitment of health professionals from developing countries.11 Where a
fully liberalized trade in services is untenable, increased trade and foreign
direct investment in origin countries may substitute for migration and
further reduce emigration pressures through local job creation.
As I draw this presentation to a close, I wish to share with everyone
thoughts about the Filipino diaspora by a Filipina teen who won the 2004
International Public Speaking Competition sponsored by the English Speaking
Union. In her winning piece, she said:
11 This is particularly true in the case of the United Kingdom and Bahrain.
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A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not
so much abandonment but an extension of identity. Even as we take,
we give back.
We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UK's National Health
Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million seafarers manning most of
the world's commercial ships. We are your software engineers in
Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors
and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London's
West End.
Nationalism isn't bound by time or place. People from other nations
migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they
are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a
melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a
borderless world!
Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's coming back that is.
Indeed, a very poignant description of the Filipino diaspora from one
so young and so hopeful. I hope that my presentation has contributed
significantly to our discourse this morning and towards moving the global
dialogue on migration forward.
7/29/2019 DAA Speech on Migration
24/24
From the Philippines, our heartfelt thanks for your time and
attention. Mabuhay!