SA PINAS IKAW AY MA’AM AT SIR (SPIMS): IMPLEMENTATION OF

REINTEGRATION PROGRAM FOR MIGRANT FILIPINO TEACHERS IN

THAILAND
CHAPTER I

Background of the Study

The most common choice for Filipino teachers aiming for a better life is taking the

opportunity of utilizing their expertise to work abroad. This is considered a significant challenge

for these individuals as proving their worth in the global landscape of the labor force is a

necessity. It was declared that the Philippines is a migrant labor source and it is one of the

biggest internationally (Fernandez et al., 2020). Excelling professionally is a journey and a

chore in the country but a specific group of individuals has taken up a liking in trying their best

efforts and striving to share their knowledge and skills in a different cultural realm by working

abroad. At a rate of 2.2 Million Filipino Migrant Teachers working abroad as of 2020 (OWWA,

2020), we can assume that a high rate of licensed teachers in the Philippines chose to go abroad

to achieve a life on a green pasture. Migrant Filipino Teachers abroad has their fair share of

struggles such as difficulty in acculturation (Chua, 2021), struggles in communicating (Tsang &

Lower, 2018), negative impacts to physical health (Pogoy & Cutamora, 2021) and emotional and

psychological distress (Chua, 2021). Filipinos bet on themselves that they could blend in with

not just the educational system of the country but also blending to the educational community in

the foreign land.

When Overseas Filipino Workers experience distressing situations such as illegal

recruitment, policy changes, and war conflicts from the host country, this requires deportation

back to the home state. While these situations lead to numerous negative outcomes such as mood

disorder symptoms (Suárez-Orozco et al., 2021), financial struggles (Saguin, 2020; Golash-Boza,
2019), relational stress (Ojeda et al., 2020), and unproductive reintegration to home state and

families (Afsal & Reshmi et al., 2020), it can be counteracted with the presence of programs that

will help them adjust better and increase the likelihood of sustainability upon returning to the

home country. Currently, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration has reintegration

programs that helps migrant returnees to prepare and be active in having a productive life in their

home country. As of now, three programs are helping migrant returnees to the Philippines in

financially rebuild namely Balik Pinas! Balik Hanapbuhay! Program, OFW Enterprise

Development and Loan Program, and Tulong PUSO. The Balik Pinas! Balik Hanapbuhay!

Program by OWWA helps the migrant returnees by offering livelihood support in providing

immediate and accessible relief to returning OFW’s under the conditions that they are displaces

at a maximum of 20,000 Philippine Pesos. On the other hand, the OFW Enterprise Development

and Loan Program is a project by OWWA in collaboration with the Land Bank of the

Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines in supporting OFWs in starting

enterprises of their own in industries such as franchising, construction, service and trading,

transport, or any business that meets the condition that it should generate a net cash flow

sustainable enough to pay the amortization of the loan. Lastly, the Tulong PUSO program of

OWWA and DOLE is also a livelihood financial grant that helps proposed collective business

plans for start-up OFW groups. These three reintegration programs are financially-centric. The

emphasis on helping OFW returnees through reintegration programs focuses on the financial

aspects and helping them to earn money for survival yet the mental aspect is forgotten. While

reintegration programs with the aim of helping with financial status of returnee migrant OFWs

significantly help, the need for mental health support and social protection arises from these

experiences of migrant Filipino workers (Saguin, 2023). Institutions involved in the initiatives
towards proper reintegration and return migration has effectively put immediate concern to this

stage of the migration cycle (Opiniano, 2021) yet it can be improved with studies comprehending

the current state of reintegration programs in the Philippines (Ang & Tiongson, 2023).

With the experiences detailed by migrant Filipino Teachers, it is also important to

understand how can they return productively to their home country and properly reintegrate into

their families. Using their experiences, skills, and savings acquired during renumerated labor

overseas, returnee migrants are expected to use these for new employment and starting new

businesses. This study aims to comprehend the life experiences of overseas Filipino teachers in

Thailand in order to understand how a tailored reintegration program will significantly help their

chances of being productive in their new endeavors and how can they be supported financially,

physically, and mentally once they return to the Philippines.

Statement of the Problem

This study examines the life experiences of migrant Filipino Teachers in Thailand and the

factors they will consider for effective reintegration programs. Specifically it answered the

following questions:

1. What are the life experiences of migrant Filipino Teachers in Thailand?

2. What are the challenges and coping mechanisms applied by migrant Filipino Teachers in

Thailand?

3. What reintegration program can be proposed and developed for migrant Filipino

Teachers in Thailand in consideration of the challenges and coping mechanisms

employed in their life experiences?

Scope and Delimitation

The research has significant scope and delimitations that should be considered. First, the

participants needed for the study are migrant Filipino Teachers who reside at Thailand for the

duration of the data gathering and migrant Filipino Teachers who are currently situated in the

Philippines within 1 month of returning from working as a professionally licensed teacher within

1 month from the date of their participation in the study with the use of purposive sampling to be

qualified to be part of the study. Second, individuals who has history of psychiatric diagnosis

were not included in the inclusion criteria. Third, the research instrument used is a researcher-

made questionnaire which is only standardized in the study’s sample. Further validation and

reliability studies are needed for the research instrument to eliminate the presence of possible

self-biases, mainly participation bias and respondent bias. Fourth, the data will only be collected

for the duration of the study as it is a cross-sectional research design. Observing data for an

extended period of time is not possible and it can only detail qualitative data but not infer

association and causation. Fifth, the study has a small-n design which implies that it has low

statistical power and low generalizability only limited to the participants included in the study.

Lastly, there is insufficient past literatures that may support or contrast the results of the study in

regards to reintegration programs in the Philippines.

Socio-demographic variables such as age, highest educational attainment, culture, and

age are related to the lived experiences of migrant Filipino Teachers in Thailand. The inclusion

criteria are Filipino men and women currently working at Thailand for a minimum of 3 months

as a professional Teacher. Filipino men and women that are currently in the Philippines within 1

month of working in Thailand and bound to return to Thailand for work within 1 to 2 months

from the date of their participation of the study are also included in the study. Having internet
access is required and be able to read, write, and speak clearly. The exclusion criteria are

individuals that their last employment in Thailand was more than 1 month prior to their

participation in of the study.

The study only covers the lived experiences of migrant Filipino Teachers in Thailand

particularly the challenges faced during working abroad and the coping mechanisms they

employ. In addition, their perception on what is an effective reintegration program once they

return to the home state and to their families in order to develop a reintegration program that

ensures productive reintegration to their families, environment, and culture after working abroad.

A total of (N) respondents will be the representative sample of the population. The researcher

will employ an interpretative phenomenological analysis for the study design. It is important to

note that this design does not answer causation. The researcher will meticulously examine the

sociodemographic variables of the respondents in the development of the sample criteria. Due to

the nature of the sample characteristics which limit the possibility to conduct the study face to

face due to concerns in proximity of the researcher and the participant, the researcher will utilize

Google Meet or Zoom applications to gather data from the respondents.

Significance of the Study

The study focuses on comprehending the lived experiences of migrant Filipino teachers

currently in Thailand with emphasis on their challenges and coping mechanisms employed with

the goal on understanding what factors should be considered in developing a reintegration plan.

A greater understanding of their lived experiences will transpire into new discussions and

knowledge in educational institutions.

The Mental Health Practitioners

Mental health practitioners will be able to utilize the information yield from this study as

it will tap into the avenue of understanding the unique experiences of Filipino teachers in

Thailand and what is needed in order to reintegrate them properly and productively back into the

society from their home state. This will enable mental health practitioners to support and help

individuals when returning to the country in order to reintegrate them properly back into their

home culture. This also provides initiatives for mental health practitioners to put attention in

understanding the phenomena involved with Overseas Filipino Workers and reintegration

programs.

Overseas Filipino Workers

This study will help Overseas Filipino Workers to comprehend that their lived

experiences particularly the challenged and coping mechanisms employed to adapt to living

abroad contributes into their ability to reintegrate back to their home environment.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration

The results of this study will help the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to

be aware on what could enhance the effectivity and accessibility of the established reintegration

programs in the Philippines. This will also help the institution to collaborate with mental health

officials to develop initiatives in supporting Overseas Filipino Workers.

DEFINITION OF TERMS
Overseas Filipino Worker. In this study, the operational definition of Overseas Filipino Worker

was adapted from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. Overseas Filipino

Workers (OFW) refers to individuals with Filipino nationalities who is to engage, is engaged, or

has engaged in labor activities in a state or country of which the worker is not a citizen (POEA,

n.d.).

Reintegration Programs. In this study, the researcher adapted Overseas Workers Welfare

Administration’s definition of reintegration programs. Reintegration programs refers to programs

that are implemented for Filipino working abroad with the goal of helping them return to their

home country and environment productively. It aims to assist Overseas Filipino Workers who are

displaced from their overseas employment due to conflict in the host country, policy changed by

the host government, victim of illegal recruitments, human trafficking, and other distressing

situations (OWWA, n.d.).

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