PHILIPPINE MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT NEXUS: AN OVERVIEW

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PHILIPPINE MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT NEXUS: AN OVERVIEW

Commission on Filipinos OverseasResponding to the Challenges of Migration and Development

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I. Remittances and Beyond: Taking the Wider View on Migration’s Contribution to Philippine Development

II. Mainstreaming Migration into Development Planning: Challenges in Carving A More Effective Role for the Government

III. Creating a Sub-Committee on Migration and Development (SCMD)


OUTLINE

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PART 1

REMITTANCES AND BEYOND: TAKING THE WIDER VIEW ON

MIGRATION’S CONTRIBUTION TO PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENT


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STOCK ESTIMATES OF OVERSEAS FILIPINOS

As of December 2012

PERMANENT 4,925,797

46.96 %

TEMPORARY4,221,037

40.24 %

IRREGULAR1,342,790

12.80 %

Permanent

Temporary

Irregular

TOTAL : 10,489,623


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OVERSEAS FILIPINOS REMITTANCES

• Overseas Filipinos cash remittances grew by 7.4 % in 2013 to a total of USD 23 billion constituting 9.5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Source: http://www.bsp.gov.ph/statistics/keystat/ofw.htm


USD Year Percentage

USD 18,763,000.00 2010 8.2

PHP 20,117,000.00 2011 7.2

PHP 21,391,000.00 2012 6.3

PHP 22,968,000.00 2013 7.4

http://www.bsp.gov.ph/statistics/keystat/ofw.htm

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OVERSEAS FILIPINOS REMITTANCES


• Critical sources of foreign exchange and a key driver that has promoted macroeconomic stability

• Overall positive impact of remittances on access to basic yet critical services such as education and health

• Almost universal recognition of positive impact on poverty reduction, at the very least among recipient households.

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BEYOND REMITTANCES: OTHER MIGRANT CONTRIBUTIONS

• Transfer of skills and knowledge• Source of direct investment in critical

industries• Philanthropic contributions: CFO

directly received P2.6 billion in donations from Filipinos abroad between 1990 and 2012

• Social and political remittances: ideas, practices, identities, and social capital that migrants “remit” home


In short, OFs value extends beyond the money they send home. Frequently overlooked in policy discussions on migration and development are the OFs themselves – the human capital, networks, skills and ideas they have acquired while abroad and that are potentially useful to Philippine development.

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“COSTS” OF MIGRATION

• Migration’s impact effect on the labor markets for those who stay at home

• Whether the departure of migrants actually eased unemployment, increased real wage and resulted in brain drain, or even brain waste

• Effect of remittances on inequality• Unimaginable social costs to migrants and their families straining the

very fabric of the Filipino society.


Making migration work for development also requires an understanding of the potentially negative impact of migration on the development strategy.

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Responding to the Challenges ofMigration and Development

1. Reducing the costs of migration on Filipino migrants, their families and communities left behind

2. Maximizing the development potential of migration by harnessing migrant resources and implementing sound emigration policies


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H.E. BENIGNO S. AQUINO IIIPresident of the Republic of the Philippines

16-POINT CONTRACT WITH THE FILIPINO PEOPLE

Point No. 10 which is migration related:

“From a government that treats its people as an export commodity and a means to earn foreign exchange, disregarding the social cost to Filipino families…….. to a government that creates jobs at home, so that working abroad will be a choice rather than a necessity, and when its citizens do choose to become OFWs, their welfare and protection will still be the government’s priority.”

PRESIDENT AQUINO’S SOCIAL CONTRACT

“A Commitment to Transformational Leadership”


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PART II

MAINSTREAMING MIGRATION INTO DEVELOPMENT PLANNING:

CHALLENGES IN CARVING A MORE EFFECTIVE ROLE FOR THE GOVERNMENT


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Mainstreaming Migration into the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016

• Inclusion of 60 migration and development related provisions in 7 out of 9 chapters of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016

• Inclusion of more policy statements during the Mid-term review of the PDP


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Interagency committees were created in recent years to deal with various issues concerning migration, particularly on leveraging remittance flows and protecting migrant workers.– Remittances for Development Council (ReDC)– Consultative Council on Overseas Filipino Workers

(CCOFW) reconstituted in May 2013 as the Overseas Landbased Tripartite Consultative Council (OLTCC).

INTERAGENCY COMMITTEES


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PART III

CREATING A SUB-COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION AND

DEVELOPMENT (SCMD)


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SCMD COMPOSITION

• Under the Social Development Committee (SDC) of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)

• Chair: NEDA• Members:

• Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)• Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)• Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO)• Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)• Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP)


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The current MTPDP’s broad thrusts are already clearly laid out.

The Philippine government is focusing towards:

• massive infrastructure development• employment generation particularly on high-quality and

high-productive industries; • higher governance standards;• human development and human capital formation,

particularly on improving access to health care and education; and direct poverty-relief.

The SCMD aims specifically to understand and locate migration’s role in achieving progress in these priority areas.


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SCMD Duties and Functions

1. Prepare a research program for the conduct of policy studies and recommend to the SDC policies, programs and projects related to migration and development consistent with national development objectives and priorities;

2. Report the implementation of multi-stakeholder and/or multi-agency programs and policies on migration and development and recommend to SDC, actions required therefrom, especially after evaluating impacts of such programs and policies; and

3. Respond to the directives and needs of the SDC cabinet in terms of formulating migration and development-related policies.


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THANK YOU!


PHILIPPINE MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT NEXUS: AN OVERVIEW

Documents

challenges of migration

filipinos overseasresponding

development nexus

development planning

importance of remittances

development scmd commission

overseas filipinos ofs

remittances smooth consumption