In search of greener pastures
Filipino professionals are being siphoned overseas due to lack of employment opportunities in the country
The number of highly skilled Filipino professionals going abroad is rapidly growing. Comprising 25% of of those who went abroad in the 1990s, the proportion grew to 31% in 2000.
| Ordinary nurses in the country only receive salaries of up to P5,000 monthly. Nurses in the US receive 43 times this amount (up to P215,000) and 17 times this amount in Canada (P85,000). |
They comprise, among others, nurses, doctors, teachers, engineers and accountants. Most of them go to the US, Canada, the United Kingdom and other European countries.
Unemployment and inadequate wages are the foremost reasons why professionals go abroad.
According to the reactionary government's statistics last January, 10.6% were unemployed while 16.1% were underemployed. Their numbers are mounting due to the worsening economic crisis.
Even if they are fortunate enough to find jobs, professionals receive very low wages. For instance, ordinary nurses in the country only receive salaries of up to P5,000 monthly. Nurses in the US receive 43 times this amount (up to P215,000) and 17 times this amount in Canada (P85,000).
Regime�s labor-export policy
The government supervises up to 200 registered and unregistered caregiver schools in Metro Manila. These schools train applicants for caregiver jobs overseas.
The government is currently implementing a labor-export policy. The regime hopes that the massive export of workers and professionals will save the country's prostrate economy through the influx of remittances.
There are at present up to 10 million Filipinos working in other countries. Their numbers swell by 2,700 daily. According to the National Statistical Office, OCWs remitted up to P67.7 billion from April to September last year, 18.3% higher than in the same period the year before.
"Brain drain"
Because professionals, espcially from the health sector, have been going abroad in massive numbers, there is now a greater lack of doctors and nurses in hospitals.
According to the Alliance of Health Workers, up to 800 nurses (or 17% of the total) in 11 hospitals surveyed have gone abroad. According to the reactionary government, there are at present up to 300,000 registered nurses abroad.
Despite all this, the regime continues to turn a deaf ear to the struggle of workers in the private and public sector for higher wages and better working conditions.
In a society where government fails to take care that its citizens live decently and prosperously, it is but fitting for workers and professionals to fight for their rights and livelihood.
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