Overseas Filipino
An
Overseas Filipino is a person of
Philippine origin who lives and works outside the
Philippines. The poor performance of the Philippine economy over recent decades, combined with a widespread knowledge of
English, a legacy of the Philippines' position as a former
United States colony, have made Filipinos one of the most internationally mobile nationalities. Often works overseas will support extended families back in the Philippines. As a result, many countries around the world have a substantial Filipino community
There are more than 8.7 million overseas Filipinos worldwide, about 10% of the total population of the Philippines. However, the number may be higher due to a large rate of illegal Filipino migrants who overstayed or carry a lapsed visa. The population could be projected to be at 11 million.
Each year, the Philippines sends out more than a million of its nationals to work abroad. They are typically employed as doctors, accountants, housekeepers, nurses, engineers and domestic helpers.
The Filipino diaspora is the third largest in terms of population. The
Chinese is the largest, with about 35 million followed by the
Indian diaspora at 22 million.
Filipinos on Holiday
While many Filipinos prefer overseas employment, others also travel outside the Philippines for business and pleasure. These travellers are mostly business owners and entrepreneurs, famous actors, politicians, as well as people who are in the high and middle classes of society.
Filipinos on holiday also go abroad for the intent of visiting their loved-ones who are engaged in overseas employment. Seafering on oceangoing vessels is popular as well.
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United States. Despite race relations problems of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the American Northwest, most
Filipino-Americans today find it easy to integrate with American society. According to the American Community Survey, in 2005, about 3,252,678
Filipinos and
Filipino-Americans live in the United States. However, this number is speculated to be at more than 5.5 million, according to many Filipino-American organizations, with 1 million that are undocumented. They are also the second largest
Asian-American subgroup only after the
Chinese. Filipinos are also the second largest immigrant group up to this day, only after the Mexicans. They remain active in many issues, including the controversial immigration policies. In 2006, the
United States Congress hailed the 100th year of Filipino migration to the nation. An average of 85,000 Filipinos migrate to the US annually as legal permanent residents, while an estimated of 400,000 visit for business and pleasure.
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Canada. Only a small population of Filipinos resided in
Canada until the late 20th century. There are currently between 300,000 to 350,000
Filipino Canadians and immigrants in Canada. They are also the third largest
Asian Canadian subgroup in the nation.
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Spain. With around 55,000 citizens, the Filipinos form the 2nd largest Asian community in Spain behind the Chinese. Although many Filipinos did immigrate or ran away to Spain after the
United States took over the islands in 1898, most of the Filipinos moved to the old metropoli during the 60s and 70s seeking jobs, which in many cases were related to house keeping or industrial activities. There's also a significant group of Spaniards of Filipino origins (some of whom are from 3rd and 4th generations) including some famous people like
Isabel Preysler, mother of famous singer
Enrique Iglesias.
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Italy. There are more than 500,000 "listed" Filipinos in
Italy. Ironically,
Italy gained more momentum in regard to receiving Filipino immigrants than Canada despite the longer and more historical migration of
Filipinos to the
North American nation. However, their population may be closing in to 1 million due to the influx of undocumented Filipinos.
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Hong Kong. There are 140,000
Filipinos in Hong Kong, of whom most are domestic helpers (30,000 of them being members of the Filipino Migrant Workers Union). Filipino maids are known by the locals as amahs, or more often feiyungs (less politely bun mui or bun bun). A Hong Kong work visa requires some amount of higher education; and in some cases Filipino women with college degrees and perfect command of
English are willing to work as maids and nannies for a salary higher than they could make at home.
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Taiwan. According to 2006 data of the government of the
Republic of China (ROC), there are 96,000 of "alien workers" from the
Philippines. Of the 96,000 Filipinos in Taiwan, 58,704 are in manufacturing industries, and 34,602 are in social or personal services (eg. housekeeper). According to 2004 data of Filipino government, there are 2,037 stay permanently, 154,135 stay for work contracts, and 4,500 stay irregularly, which make a sum of 160,672.
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Middle Eastern countries. Many Filipinos work in as domestic and construction workers in the countries of the
Gulf Co-operation Council. More than 1.5 million Filipinos are predicted to have made the
Middle East their home.
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Japan. Some 500,000 Filipinos and
Filipino-Japanese are listed to be living within
Japan's geographic confines. However, this number is speculated to be larger, surpassing the one million mark, in relation to many unlisted and illegal Filipino nationals in the Land of the Rising Sun.
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South Korea. In
South Korea some 70,000 Filipinos work in various types of employment.
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Australia. In 2000
Australia recorded about 127,000 Filipinos and/or
Filipino-Australians. Filipinos In Australia all have permanent residency or Australian citizenships, due to the fact that Australian government does not issue working visas to Filipinos. Despite this fact, there is still a very small number of Filipinos who live in Australia illegally with most of them having overstayed their visitor visas. The main criteria to enable a Filipino to migrate to Australia are skills and education, thus most of the Filipino migrants in Australia are professionals and skilled people. Most Filipino-Australians hold very good positions as health professionals, educators, engineers, computer programmers, trades people and even as public servants. There are a small number of Filipino migrants who are employed in the blue collar industries, such as factory workers, hospitality workers and construction labourers.
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United Kingdom. Nurses and caregivers have begun flocking into the
United Kingdom these past years. The island-nation has welcomed about 20,000 nurses and other Filipinos of various employment and lifestyle during the past 5 years. The
United Kingdom may be home to some 100,000 Filipino nationals.
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Malaysia. As North Borneo is very close to the Philippines, there are a lot of Filipino residents, as well as illegal immigrants there. Filipinos make up about 30% of the entire population of
Sabah and they enumerate up to 900,000. Historically, Sabah is part of the
Philippines. Until now, the Philippines has a dormant claim on the territory. Native Sabahans themselves are closely related to southern Filipinos. Many of the Filipino residents come to work in construction industries, fisheries, and other labor intensive sectors in hopes of a better living. Most live in stilt slums scattered behind cities or on offshore islands. Linguistically, they are often much closer to Bahasa Melayu than Tagalog. The Philippine government also has promised to establish a consulate provide any necessary help to its nationals.
Many overseas Filipinos face many obstacles when they arrive in their country of destination. Usually, they are deprived of a wide range of employment rights since domestic work does not fall within the scope of protection laws.
Some of them are withheld their pay, while others have their documents confiscated or hidden by their employers. Furthermore, many of these domestic workers are abused, assaulted, or sexually harassed by their employers.
However, low-skilled workers are not deprived by their government. Philippine embassies and consulates have established a strong and stern connection with its nationals in their respective host countries. Many OFW's are urged to report any misconduct or abuse by employers to the said Philippine agencies rather than the local authorities. This is a much better and preferred way by many since the contengencies offered through this are more promising and protective. It is also to avoid any types of prejudice and racial discrimination.
Ironically, some Filipinos of professional work and/or field are also facing this type of issue.
An
Overseas Filipino Worker (often abbreviated
OFW) is a term for a
Filipino who is employed in work outside the Philippines. Some eight million Filipinos, out of a population of 80 million, have left the country to seek work abroad, attracted by jobs with salaries that far exceed those of jobs available in the Philippines. These jobs often include nursing, technology, fishing and teaching. Money sent by OFWs back to the Philippines is a major factor in the country's economy, amounting to more than US$10 billion in 2005. [
1] This makes the country the fifth largest recipient behind
India,
China,
Mexico, and
France. The amount represents 13.5% of the country's
GDP, the largest in proportion to the domestic economy among the five countries. [
2]
However, the exodus of workers from the country includes an increasing number of skilled workers taking on unskilled work overseas, resulting in serious
brain drain, particularly in the health and education sectors. Also, the exodus can result in
underemployment, especially in cases where doctors undergo retraining to become nurses.
According to the World Bank, the Philippines received an amount of $12 billion worth of remittances, ranking fourth globally. tied with
France. Remittances to the Philippines by overseas Filipinos are pivotal, especially in helping the local economy and currency, as well sustaining the lives of their loved-ones back home.
General statistics from Philippine government
STOCK ESTIMATE OF OVERSEAS FILIPINOS (
MS Excel format),
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), 2004, on overseas Filipinos (work and/or live overseas):
* 3,187,586 stay permanently, 3,599,257 stay for work contracts, and 1,296,972 stay irregularly (without proper document), which make a sum of 8,083,815.
2004 SURVEY ON OVERSEAS FILIPINOS, Philippine National Statistics Office, on OFWs:
* 1.06 million Overseas Filipinos Workers
* 33.4% are unskilled workers, 15.4% are Trades and related workers, 15.1% are plant and machine operators and assemblers.
* 49.3% are males, 50.7% are females.
* Remittances are 64.7 billion
Philippine pesos (equals 1.2 billion USD then)
STATISTICAL DATA ON OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS (OFWs) (
MS Excel format), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, 2005, on OFWs:
* 733,970 are landbased, 247,707 are seabased, which make a sum of 981,677. There is a 5.15% growth since 2004's 933,588.
* Remittances are 9,727,138,000 USD. There is a 26.6% growth since 2004.
From other governments
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Alien Workers in Taiwan-Fukien Area by Industry and Nationality (
JPG and
PDF format), 2006 February, CLA,
Taiwan.
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Economy of the Philippines*
Filipinos in Hong Kong*
Little Manila*
Filipino-American
