More OFWs opting to stay in the country

More overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are opting to stay in the country to start their own business or seek employment instead of going abroad again, according to Commission on Filipino Overseas chairman Dante Ang.

Ang explained that the increasing number of OFWs who want to stay in the country presents a new trend of reverse migration in the Philippines.

He said returning Filipinos either want to raise their families, put up their own business, practice their profession or retire here.

According to Ang, Filipino students, businessmen, permanent residents and foreign citizens were returning to the Philippines because “they see a new Philippines full of promise and potential.”

“The stories are anecdotal, the statistics are now well organized and case histories are impressionistic but one gets a sense of a reverse migration, a new longing for home, a new sense of belonging, a new beginning, not for greener pastures elsewhere but for new opportunities and challenges in the home country,” Ang said.

Most returning OFWs come home especially during the holiday season to check on their investments, the progress of the construction of their houses, look at possible business opportunities they can start and the progress of their children in school.

He noted that the Overseas Employment Program has grown to 8.2 million Filipino overseas by the end of 2006.

Out of the 8.2 million, about 3.8 million are documented Filipinos, 3.5 million are permanent residents/immigrants, while 875,000 are undocumented.

He said OFWs have remitted an average $10 billion annually in the last seven years, which have contributed to the country’s dollar reserves, helping the government address its economic problems.