Philippines
Censored
Postal officials have confiscated copies of the international
"socialist renewal" journal Links.
According to Sonny Melencio, a
Philippine member of the editorial board, officials demanded the
"security clearance" - theoretically ablished, along with the Anti-
Subversion Law which was used to censor socialist materials during the martial law period.
This zealous defence of the country's moral values is suprising for a post office which is so corrupt even the diplomatic corps has complained about tampering and theft. [SM/JD] * Protest faxes can be sent to the Philippine's Commissioner of Customs, 527-1953 and the Post Master General's Office, 527-0034 20 International Viewpoint #310 April 1999
But the labor market abroad is no longer expanding and has, in fact, started to contract, particularly with the onset of the Asian financial crisis and the global economic slowdown. The sudden and massive displacement of Filipino overseas workers has become a distinct possibility. Yet, the local economy is in no position to absorb the increasing number of Filipinos who have lost their jobs abroad.
For many years, the country's labor export program thrived because of the high demand for foreign workers badly needed to implement ambitious economic programs in the host countries. In the 1970s, the Middle East provided a vast market for Filipino workers. This was complemented by the increasing demand for service workers, particularly domestic helpers in Europe, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore
The Asian economic boom of the late 1980s and 1990s attracted hundreds of thousands of migrants from the poor countries of the region. It provided an alternative market for Filipino workers after the noted slowdown in the Middle East and the increasingly restrictive immigration policies in Europe and the global North. Impact of the Asian crisis
Today, an estimated 1.3 million Filipino workers are deployed in Asia and Oceania, including over a hundred thousand each in Japan, Hongkong Taiwan, Malaysia and close to a hundred thousand in Singapore.
Although the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, remains the top destination for Filipino contract workers, the Asian region has become the fastest growing labor market for Filipinos since the late 1980s. In a span of just ten years, departures for Asian countries increased by 553%. Departures for other regions expanded by only 10 to 50 percent.
The Asian region, including Southeast Asia, has emerged as a critical labor market for Filipinos. The Asian economic crisis, therefore, has severely affected Filipino migrants and the local economy that is threatened by rising unemployment and decreasing foreign currency incomes.
In the first five months of 1998, total deployments of Filipinos for overseas work decreased by 3.6% compared to the same period a year ago. Deployments to Asian countries decreased by a higher 6.5%, the first decline recorded in more than a decade. Departures for Malaysia decreased by 62%, Korea by 48% and Hong Kong by 18%9.
During the same period, income remittances of Filipino migrants increased by .58%. Remittances from Asia, however, took a nose dive and declined by 24%10. Since July, 1997, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore mounted sustained crackdowns on illegal migrants even as they warned foreign workers with mass layoff if the situation does not improve.
In Malaysia, the Filipinos and Indonesians took the first blow in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Some 5,000 Filipinos have been sent home since then. Meanwhile, Malaysia has formulated a new development thesis saying that over dependence on foreign workers cannot sustain development efforts and may mean the loss of freedom.
In Hong Kong, employers are firing their domestic helpers to save money as they contend with recession and rising unemployment. They have petitioned the government for a drastic 35% reduction of salaries of domestic helpers. Prospects
Intra-Asian migration is here to stay because of the uneven development of economies in the region. For big business and state authorities, international migration provides them with broader options for pursuing their respective business interest and economic goals Globalization and the rapid growth strategies adopted by Asean states have also resulted to widespread contractualization, labor feminization and massive labor migration. Unless labor and migrant groups work together, they will continue to be pawns in a game they do not control. * This document was prepared by KAKAMMPI, the Association of Filipino Migrant Families and Returnees, and presented at the Southeast Asian Regional Conference on Migrant Workers and the Asian Economic Crises: Towards a Trade Union Position November 5-6, 1998; Bangkok, Thailand Endnotes 1 Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) placed deployment at 747,696 in 1997 and 660,122 in 1996. 2 There is no accurate estimate of the stock of oversea Filipinos. Government and media sources estimates range between 6.5 to 7.5 million. Other estimates range between 6 to 7 million. 3 Job scarcity ratio is computed by aggregating the unemployed, underemployed, the overseas workers, unpaid family workers, housewives, disabled and those not looking for jobs 4 The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported unemployment of 13.3% for the first quarter of 1998. I1995, unemployment was reported at 8.7%. 5 POEA Report on Key Performance Indicators cited OFW remittances for 1997 at US$5.7 billion. 6 Share of agricultural sector in GNP is about 20%. 7 POEA Data, Key Economic Indicators, 1995. 8 Philippine Labor, October 1998, p. 8. 9 Ibid.