Module 4: The Filipino Migration Culture

A. The Role of Pioneer Migrants

B. Relationship between migration, education, age, and years of migration experience;
C. Factors relating to decisiveness to migrate;
D. Primary reasons for choosing destination among aspiring migrants; and
E. Reasons that can strongly prevent an aspiring migrant to leave

Philippine Migration Situationer

- The Philippines is one of the top labor-sending countries in the world. Each year, around
2 million Filipinos venture abroad in search for greener pastures.
- For many migrant workers, labor migrants are not just one-time, temporary means of
livelihood, it has become the way of life.

From a public policy viewpoint:

- This requires constant vigilance and informed decision-making with regards to policies
and programs that look after the welfare of migrant workers deployed each year.
- There is a constant increase in the migration that is happening in the country.

From the study conducted:

- Most people living in Camachile are laborers and unskilled workers
- The community has a strong exposure to the culture of migration. About a third (31%) of
the 1,103 individuals aged 18 and above are either current or former migrant workers;
- Migrant workers are slightly more educated than the non-migrant population.
- According to the researchers, 44.9% of the migrant workers go to Saudi Arabia
- What are the jobs they get when they move abroad? 33.5% work at trades and related
workers, 17.6% are laborers and unskilled workers.

Education and Migration

- Migrant workers earned an average of php 44,600 or US $990 monthly income based on
2016 prices.
- High earnings are correlated with migration experience and schooling. Those who have
over two decades of migration experience have received the highest average around
php 140,000 compared to the newcomers who are just receiving around php 37,000.
(Makes sense because when they renew their contracts and the employer would see
that they have work experience, the salary increases from time to time.)
- More educated ones tend to receive higher pay than those who had fewer years in
school. (If you are educated, then you have the advantage to compete abroad and get
corporate jobs that pay higher than the rest.)

Monthly earnings from Migration

Age Group Average Amount

15-24 33,169
 25-34 39,502
35-44 36,028
45-54 47,968
55-64 52,576
65 and above 53,436

- The older you are and the longer you have migration work experience, then it’s most
likely that you have higher income.
- Age, years of migration, and educational experiences are advantages and considered
factors in getting a higher salary abroad.
- Type of support provided to migrant workers by their kin: financial support, paying credit,
etc.

Role of Pioneer Migrant

- Honesto belongs to the first batch of Filipino migrants who went to Saudi in 1978 where
he worked. He became a good model of worker abroad.
- He became a semi-agency, he made sure that these Filipinos going to the same work
that he has would fit into the qualifications required by his bosses.
- He retired in 2013 after spending 35 years working from one country to another. Even
after retirement, his overseas contacts continued to occasionally seek his help when
they needed people to fill jobs they could see.
- Honesto is a great example as to how a pioneer migrant can help the community.

Migration Motivations
- Seek job information or recommendations from their kin who are migrant workers
- Save up borrow money from relatives and friends to meet the costs associated with
overseas job application
- Apply for work or visit visa, conduct overseas job search through the internet or other
sources
- Seek the services of prospective employers or recruitment agencies

Primary reasons for choosing destination among aspiring migrants:

- High income/earnings
- Where i can be with relatives or friends
- Where application for overseas is relatively easy
- Good and fair working environment, safe/no violence, open country, good government,
good climate, not too cold/hot

Awareness of Financials
- 21% of migrants noted that they do not want to take in loans while 28% do not have an
idea of what the acceptable rate is.

Reasons that can strongly prevent an aspiring migrant to leave

- Family related reasons
 - Health and age related reasons
- Job and wage related reasons

Reasons for not wanting to go abroad

- Could not leave family behind
- Illness
- Not interested
- No money for processing papers

Summary:
- Migration intentions do not exhibit a simple leave-or-stay dichotomy. People differ in their
degree of decisiveness.
- Migration intentions are largely driven by economic reasons
- If people do have a choice, they would rather stay and be with their families
- Many filipino migrant workers spend so many years of their lives working abroad
- Prospective migrants do not rely on government government agencies/entities when it
comes to obtaining much-needed migration related information
- Dependence on personal social networks also reflects the hesitance of many to take
great risk by relying mainly on recruitment agents’ information due to the rampant cases
of illegal recruitment
- Enhancing employment opportunities at home is an obvious way to lure individuals to
remain in the country.

Module 5: Displacement Migration and Security in Mindanao

A. Causes and Patterns of Displacement
B. Causes of Security Problems in Mindanao
C. Who are the Internally Displaced People? What are the causes why Internally Displaced
People (IDP) received less support from the Government or NGO’s?
D. Discuss Conflict-Induced Displacement

Causes and Patterns of Displacement

Causes
- Escape perceived military attacks.
- Affected by armed conflict.
- The rural–urban migration in Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces is
generally caused by the conflict between the Moro Fronts and the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (Notre Dame University & Commission on
Population, 2004).
- Increased militarization.
- According to a UNICEF study, counter-insurgency operations are responsible for
an "invisible" form of displacement. Civilians are forced to move away from their
sources of livelihood, relatives and communities to escape political persecution.
 Patterns & Coping Mechanisms
- Mass evacuation due to military operations tend to be on very short notice,
leaving the displaced with little or no time to take anything with them.
- Some displaced communities can rely on strong and effective local networks to
assist them during the evacuation, while others prefer to rely on individual family
initiatives.
- Depending on the level of trust with the government, some displaced
communities would avoid the evacuation centers and seek refuge closer into
MILF territory.
- Temporary evacuation centers for IDPs are usually schools, churches,
gymnasiums and other public structures large enough to accommodate
many people.
- Most displacement caused by the fighting between the rebel MILF and the
military follow and rural-urban migration pattern.
- Usually, the displaced make prolonged stops in 2-3 places before reaching
their final evacuation center, which consists of schools, public buildings or
tent cities, where conditions are generally inadequate. In most cases, the
IDPs end up residing permanently in the host communities
- Because first, the heads of the displaced families have found employment
in the host communities and that the families have regular source of
livelihood.
- Second, the displaced families have their children enrolled in schools of
host communities.
- Third, families have already adjusted to the life in host communities.
- The type of displacement produced since 2000 is qualitatively different from
those seen in recent years. There now exists a tendency toward longer-term
displacements for the first time since the 1970’s.
- Conflicts generally arise when the host communities are not ready or prepared to
address the needs of the displaced persons.

Causes of Security Problems in Mindanao

- Security problems in Mindanao are mostly caused by the conflicts and intense
fighting between military and separatist rebel forces such as MILF using heavy
artillery, ground assaults as well as air bombardments to flush out the rebels and
disregarding human rights of civilians in affected areas. Some of these are the
following:
- Fighting between MILF and army in Lanao del Norte.
- Intense fighting between MILF rebel and government forces in North Cotabato.
- Military accused of disregarding human rights of civilians in Sulu offensive
against Abu Sayaff.
- AFP's counter-insurgency approach tends to disregard any distinction between
combattants and civilians.
 - Local human rights group accuses army of human rights violations in Surigao del
Sur.
- Civilians are threatened and are stressed with the hovering military presence in
the already stressful conditions of their places.

Who are the Internally Displaced People? What are the causes why Internally Displaced People
(IDP) received less support from the Government or NGO’s?
- Internally displaced people are those who have been forced or obliged to leave their
homes behind, notably for reasons related to armed conflict or other violence, and who
remain within the borders of their country. IDPs stay within their own country and remain
under the protection of its government, even if that government is the reason for their
displacement.
- The displaced often live in inadequate evacuation centers or with relatives. While many
are able to return home quickly, a consistent group of several hundreds of thousands of
people remains displaced without sufficient access to clean water, food or education,
and job opportunities. National and international agencies continue to have difficulties in
their humanitarian response, due to financial constraints, coordination problems, and
insecurity on the ground.
- Though intended as temporary shelters, centers have sometimes become a home for
months or years. People’s health problems and the psychological effects of the flight and
the violence witnessed have gone largely unattended. The economic consequences
have also extended to farmers and fishermen losing livelihoods.
- The recurrent fighting and displacement overstretched the capacities and financial
means of regional, provincial, and municipal authorities. International assistance has
significantly diminished. Many displaced people have not received the assistance they
need. The conflict situation has further limited humanitarian access, as UN travel ban for
Sulu and Basilan provinces has been in place for several years.
-

Conflict-Induced Displacement
- Conflict-induced displacement describes the situation where people leave their homes to
escape civil and political violence
- Conflict-induced displacement affected several million people, mainly in the southern
island group of Mindanao
- The conflict in Mindanao is rooted in the underdevelopment of the region, the unequal
distribution of wealth, the lack of government efforts to integrate the Muslim minority into
the political institutions of the overwhelmingly Catholic country, widespread banditry and
clan disputes
- The people have fled from confrontations between the army and the communist rebels
(NPA) and also the heavy fighting between the army and Muslim Moro separatist rebels
in Mindanao
- Since September 2001, the government has also conducted its own “War on Terror”
against the Abu Sayyaf Group and counter-terrorist military operations
 - These conflicts resulted in the displacement of several hundred thousands to millions of
people, making it a conflict-induced displacement

Module 6: Youth Migration in the Philippines

A. Brain Drain; its causes and effects
B. Brain Gain; its concepts and advantages
C. Brain Circulation vs Brain Waste

Brain Drain
- Refers to the large outflows of educated and skilled labor migrants
- Skilled migrants are defined and distinguished from other labor migrants as those who
have completed tertiary education or have a university degree, and may have additional
academic qualifications or extensive work experience in a particular field.
- The outflow of skilled migrants or foreign talent leads to adverse consequences for the
sending country, mainly a loss of human capital, manpower and skills, which in turn
leads to decreased resources for national development and economic growth.
- Large migration flows were found from smaller and poorer countries, indicating brain
drain due to a loss of skilled human capital.
- Direct impacts of brain drain include:
- Lowered economic growth and productivity
- Fiscal loss
- Reduction of wages for the unskilled population and the increase of wages
for the remaining skilled persons, thus exacerbating (worsening) inequality
- Decreased opportunities and weakened competitiveness for attracting and
gaining foreign direct investment
- Loss of opportunities for research and development activities
- Indirect impact consists in the loss of accumulated and invested education and
training, which are important for building a workforce to promote development
- Thus, brain drain is even more felt among less developed or poor countries with a small
skilled workforce and a weak education system.
- In addition, source (home) countries also suffer from the loss of tax contributions and
grow dependent on remittances.
- Women were found to be “over-represented in the brain drain”
- The poorer the country of origin, the higher the outflow of highly skilled female migrants
- The Philippines had the highest number of highly skilled female migrant workers

Brain Gain
- Refers to migrants who return home with accumulated knowledge, expertise and
skills, all of which are deemed potential contributions to the development and
growth of the country of origin.
- The notion of brain gain has challenged the concerns over brain drain, emphasizing the
benefits and development potential of international migration.
- With accumulated financial capital, migrants are able to start businesses or projects, or
to share their learned skills through conducting training seminars.
 - Return migrants are assumed to be more productive and can boost growth and
productivity through the transfer of new ideas, investments and technology to the
country of origin.
- Return migrants can weaken the impact of brain drain and can also offset and reduce
net brain drain.
- A different way by which brain gain can occur is through a process of substitution. The
educated unemployed will be advantageous to the economy eventually, since a worker’s
long job search could lead to better skills matching.
- Diaspora contributions have been viewed as a means through which migrants can
give back to their home countries.
- Diaspora: the dispersion or spread of people from their original homeland
- Some skilled migrants give back to their home countries through knowledge
transfer, sharing their expertise by serving as consultants, investors, lecturers and
short-term trainers.

Brain Circulation
- Looks at the benefits of temporary returns of migration, implying that a migrant does
not have to permanently return to the homeland in order to contribute to its development.
- The movement of knowledge, skills and talent through circular migration
- The intake of highly skilled migrants among developed countries, accompanied by high
rates of return, has opened up the possibility of “brain circulation.”
- Understood as the mobility of skilled migrants involving intermittent departure from
and returns to the country of origin, can also contribute to a circulation and eventual
return flow of expertise, knowledge, skills and manpower.
- Aside from remittances, knowledge and skills are circulated through the regular
movements of migrants between home and destination countries and through diaspora.
- Potential brain circulation is associated in particular with temporary migration and
circular migration. These types of movements address seasonal and sectoral demands
in labor markets, and yield return benefits ranging from knowledge transfer, remittances,
and to the creation of business networks.
- Migrants develop social connections, which could be useful in conducting activities and
ventures in the future.
- Shifting the approach from brain drain to brain circulation has positive implications and
minimizes losses, as countries of origin can gain much from a continuous inflow
and circulation of knowledge and skills.
- Countries of destination also benefit since skilled migrants do not have to permanently
leave.

Brain Waste
- Refers to situations in which migrants take on jobs that do not correspond to their
skills sets.
- Different reasons for brain waste:
- Lack of access to job opportunities
- Lack of information about vacancies
 - Imperfect transferability of human capital
- Resorting to a job requiring lesser skills in order to increase chances for
migration
- Large numbers of migrants who obtained education from the home country were not
able to obtain jobs in the destination country parallel to their educational level. This is
partly due to the lower quality of education obtained, according to the study
- Brain waste affects both countries of origin and destination.
- For host or destination countries, the underemployment of skilled immigrants translates
to underutilized talent and can also lead to failure to maximize worker productivity.
- For home countries, brain waste can severely limit the potential for migrants to maximize
remittances and the capacity to circulate expertise, knowledge, technology and skills,
among other forms of capital.