Government working on program to slow down migration

Labor Undersecretary for international affairs Manuel Imson said the government is now implementing programs that would give Filipinos the option to stay home rather than go abroad.

"Our migration program is really temporary and we are taking effort to reintegrate our workers back to the Philippines," Imson said.

The statement came in the wake of a government report that said while many Filipinos are earning much higher salaries abroad, most of them are actually planning to come home and stay here for good.

There’s no still place like home to invest in and put up their own business based on information gathered by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), said its chief Marianito Roque.

"Reports from our different posts abroad indicate that many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are interested in putting or investing their hard-earned money into viable enterprises that they can manage once they have returned from their overseas sojourn," Roque said.

Imson said that aside from the reintegration program, the government is also doubling efforts to generate local employment for Filipinos.

"The government is implementing reintegration program coupled with employment promotion so that eventually less workers would be going overseas because they can find jobs locally," he explained.

Roque also disclosed that the government is now accelerating the implementation of programs for the reintegration of returning OFWs.

"The government’s comprehensive reintegration program aims to provide economic and psycho-social support for our returning Filipino workers," he explained.

Last Friday, Roque said the OWWA signed an agreement with a private federation of agri-fishery multipurpose cooperatives to transform OFWs organizations into viable enterprises.

Under the agreement, the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. will provide cooperative training while OWWA will extend loan packages to enable OFWs and their families to put up their own business.

"We are now making it very easy for OFWs to access business financing and help them make good use of their money by giving them a viable option to establish livelihood enterprises they can call their own," Roque said.

Attracted by larger salaries, an estimated eight million Filipinos are employed overseas although the number could be higher with many workers undocumented by the Philippine government.

Many of the OFWs scattered all over the world work as doctors, accountants, housekeepers, nurses and seafarers.

The flight of doctors, nurses, teachers and other professionals from the Philippines, while socially debilitating, is economically beneficial to the country with remittances reaching an estimated $10 billion a year.

Countries with reportedly large Filipino populations include the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and the Middle East.