View source for Overseas Filipino Worker

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{{About|Filipino migrant workers|the Filipino diaspora in general|Overseas Filipinos}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group         = Overseas Filipino Workers
| image         = Filipino Men at Work in Brunei.jpg
| image_caption = OFWs in [[Brunei]]
| total         = 2.3 million
| total_year    = 2019<!-- year of total population -->
| total_source  = PSA
| total_ref     = <ref name="psa2020">{{cite web |title=Total Number of OFWs Estimated at 2.2 Million |url=https://psa.gov.ph/content/total-number-ofws-estimated-22-million |publisher=Philippine Statistics Authority |access-date=February 19, 2022 |date=June 4, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Table 3: Distribution of Overseas Filipino Workers by Region of Origin and Place of Work Abroad: 2019 |url=https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/attachments/hsd/pressrelease/2_Attachment%20-%20SOF%20PR%20tables%202019.xls |publisher=Philippine Statistics Authority |access-date=February 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219041649/https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/attachments/hsd/pressrelease/2_Attachment%20-%20SOF%20PR%20tables%202019.xls |archive-date=February 19, 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region1       = {{flagcountry|Saudi Arabia}}
| pop1          = 494,000
| region2       = {{flagcountry|United Arab Emirates}}
| pop2          = 291,000
| region3       = {{flagcountry|Hong Kong}}
| pop3          = 165,000
| region4       = {{flagcountry|Taiwan}}
| pop4          = 147,234
| region5       = {{flagcountry|Kuwait}}
| pop5          = 136,000
| region6       = {{flagcountry|Qatar}}
| pop6          = 123,000
| languages     = '''[[Filipino language|Filipino]]''' {{smaller|(national)}}, [[Philippine English|English]] {{smaller|(co-official)}}<br />[[Languages of the Philippines|Philippine languages]], [[Arabic]]
| religions     = '''[[Christianity in the Philippines|Christianity]]''' {{smaller|(majority)}}, [[Islam in the Philippines|Islam]]
| related       = Filipinos ([[Overseas Filipinos]])
}}
'''Overseas Filipino Worker''' ('''OFW''') is a term often used to refer to [[Filipinos|Filipino]] [[migrant workers]], people with [[Philippine nationality law|Filipino citizenship]] who reside in another country for a limited period of employment.<ref name="VillegasOFWS2022stats"/> The number of these workers was roughly 1.77 million between April and September 2020. Of these, female workers comprised a larger portion, making up 59.6 percent, or 1.06 million. However, this number declined to 405.62 thousand between 2019 and 2020.<ref name="psa17" />
OFW money remittances to relatives in the Philippines are a major contributor to the Philippine economy, reaching a total of P1.9 trillion in 2022, which represented some 8.9% of the Philippines' Gross Domestic Product.<ref name="VillegasOFWS2022stats">{{Cite news |last=Villegas |first=Bernardo M. |date=August 1, 2023 |title=OFWs as a permanent phenomenon |url=https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2023/08/02/537139/ofws-as-a-permanent-phenomenon/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802152359/https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2023/08/02/537139/ofws-as-a-permanent-phenomenon/ |archive-date=August 2, 2023 |access-date=May 2, 2024 |work=[[Business World]]}}</ref>
==Etymology==
The term "Overseas Filipino Worker" (OFW) was used as early as the 1990s to refer to Filipino migrant workers, when Republic Act 8042, also known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 was enacted. The term was officially adopted by the Philippine government when the [[Philippine Overseas Employment Administration]] (POEA) formulated the 2002 POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-based Overseas Workers. Historically, particularly during the administration of [[President of the Philippines|President]] [[Ferdinand Marcos]], the term "Overseas Contract Worker" (OCW) was used.<ref name=martiallaw/>
For statistical and probability purposes, the term "Overseas Contract Worker" refers to OFWs with an active employment contract, while OFWs who are not OCWs are migrant workers currently without a contract who had one within a given period of time.<ref name=psa17>{{cite web |title=2017 Survey on Overseas Filipinos (Results from the 2017 Survey on Overseas Filipinos) |url=https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/survey/labor-and-employment/survey-overseas-filipinos |access-date=May 28, 2018 |date=May 18, 2018}}</ref>
==History==
===Early 1900s===
Filipino migrant workers were working outside the Philippine islands as early as the 1900s, when Filipino agricultural workers were deployed to [[Territory of Hawaii|Hawaii]] to satisfy temporary labor needs in the [[Territory of Hawaii|then-U.S. territory]]'s agricultural sector. Filipino workers then went on to the [[Mainland United States]] to work in hotels, restaurants, and sawmills, as well as getting involved in railroad construction. They also worked in plantations in California and the [[canning]] industry of the then-[[Territory of Alaska|American territory of Alaska]]. Some Filipinos also served in the U.S. Army during [[World War II]].<ref name=martiallaw>{{cite news |last1=Medina |first1=Andrei |last2=Pulumbarit |first2=Veronica |title=How Martial Law helped create the OFW phenomenon |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/pinoyabroad/275011/how-martial-law-helped-create-the-ofw-phenomenon/story/ |access-date=May 16, 2018 |work=GMA News |date=September 21, 2012}}</ref>
===After World War II===
Following the end of World War II, some Filipinos who served in the U.S. Army became American citizens. The United States also saw increased immigration of Filipino medical professionals, accountants, engineers, and other technical workers after the war. From the 1950s to the 1960s, non-professional contract workers began migrating to other Asian countries; artists, barbers, and musicians worked in East Asia, and loggers worked in [[Kalimantan]], the Indonesian portion of the island of [[Borneo]].<ref name=martiallaw/>
===Start of systemic migration===
According to the Philippine [[Department of Labor and Employment (Philippines)|Department of Labor and Employment]], "active and systemic migration"<ref name=martiallaw/> of Filipinos for temporary employment began by the 1960s, when the United States government, contractors of the [[United States Armed Forces|US Armed Forces]], and civilian agencies began recruiting Filipinos to work in jobs in the construction and service sector.<ref name=martiallaw/> This was encouraged by the passage in the US of the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]], which ended national immigration quotas and provided an unlimited number of visas for [[Family reunification#Family reunification in the United States|family reunification]].<ref name="wavesi">{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of multicultural psychology |last=Yo |first=Jackson |year=2006 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-1-4129-0948-8 |page=216 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_hcurFqnQioC&q=waves+of+immigration+filipino&pg=PA216 |access-date=September 27, 2009}}</ref> Filipinos also worked in select areas in the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] and Southeast Asia, namely Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and the US territories of [[Guam]] and [[Wake Island]].<ref name=martiallaw/>
Overseas employment first became the subject of Philippine government policy in the early 1970s, in response to a series of crises brought about by heavy government spending linked to [[Ferdinand Marcos 1969 presidential campaign|Ferdinand Marcos' 1969 campaign for his second presidential term]].<ref name=Balbosas1992>{{Cite journal |last=Balbosa |first=Joven Zamoras |date=1992 |title=IMF Stabilization Program and Economic Growth: The Case of the Philippines |journal=Journal of Philippine Development |volume=XIX |issue=35 |url=https://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/pjd/pidsjpd92-2imf.pdf |access-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-date=September 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921141056/https://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/pjd/pidsjpd92-2imf.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Cororaton1997">{{Cite journal |last=Cororaton |first=Cesar B.  |title=Exchange Rate Movements in the Philippines |journal=DPIDS Discussion Paper Series 97-05 |pages=3, 19}}</ref><ref name="CamilleDiola">{{Cite news |url=https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/golden-era |title=Debt, deprivation and spoils of dictatorship {{!}} 31 years of amnesia |last=Diola |first=Camille |work=The Philippine Star |access-date=May 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626200905/https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/golden-era |archive-date=June 26, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Beginning with the [[1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis]], these resulted in a spike in unemployment, an urgent need for foreign exchange to resolve the country's balance of payments, and a period of social unrest that kicked off with what is now known as the [[First Quarter Storm]].<ref name="Maca">{{Cite journal |last=Maca |first=Mark |last2=Maca |first2=Mark |date=2018 |title=Education in the 'New Society' and the Philippine Labour Export Policy (1972–1986) |url=https://jice.um.edu.my/index.php/JICE/article/view/1Maca/7818 |journal=Journal of International and Comparative Education |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1–16 |doi=10.14425/jice.2018.7.1.1|doi-access=free }}</ref> More Filipino medical workers began to search for work in Australia, Canada, and the United States. This compelled the Marcos administration to create a short-term labor policy that included overseas employment.<ref name=martiallaw/>
In 1974—two years after Marcos' [[Proclamation 1081|proclamation]] of [[Martial Law under Ferdinand Marcos|martial law]]—the Philippine government came up with the Labor Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree 442, series 1974), which included Filipino [[migrant worker]]s in its scope. The decree formally established a recruitment and placement program "to ensure the careful selection of Filipino workers for the overseas labor market to protect the good name of the Philippines abroad". Three government agencies were created to tend to the needs of Filipino migrant workers: the National Seamen Board, Overseas Employment Development Board, and the Bureau of Employment Services, which were later merged in 1978 to create the [[Philippine Overseas Employment Administration]].<ref name=martiallaw/>
The Marcos administration continued to expand the policy, since it served a double function: it helped relieve economic pressure by bringing in dollar revenues, and it also relieved social pressure, because many of the highly educated young people who formed the bulk of Marcos' political critics left the country to find work.<ref name="Maca"/>
Soon, construction workers and engineers also began to be recruited by multinational companies in oil-rich nations in the [[Middle East]], which were then experiencing an [[economic boom]].<ref name=martiallaw/>
===Post–People Power Revolution===
After Ferdinand Marcos was removed from office following the [[People Power Revolution]] of February 1986, his successor [[Corazon Aquino]] issued Executive Order No. 126, which renamed the Welfare Fund as the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). In 1995, the Republic Act 8042, or Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, became law.<ref name=martiallaw/>
700,000 of the world's mariners come from the Philippines, being the world's largest origin of [[Sailor|seafarers]];<ref>{{cite news |title=Pinoy seafarers' concerns taken up with US Coast Guard head |author=VVP |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/291091/pinoyabroad/news/pinoy-seafarers-concerns-taken-up-with-us-coast-guard-head |newspaper=GMA News |date=January 19, 2013 |access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> In 2018, Filipino seafarers sent home the equivalent of US$6.14 billion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://crew-center.com/filipino-seafarers-send-home-record-amount-614-billion-2018 |title=Filipino seafarers send home a record amount of $6.14 Billion in 2018 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=March 3, 2019 |website=Crew Center |publisher=Drupal |access-date=March 14, 2019 }}</ref>
Then-President [[Rodrigo Duterte]] announced that in 2021, the Philippines would limit the annual number of health professionals (including nurses) it sends abroad to 5,000, from about 13,000 that currently leave every year.<ref>{{Cite web|title=World's Supplier of Nurses to Limit Sending New Hires Abroad|url=https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/world-s-supplier-of-nurses-to-limit-sending-new-hires-abroad|access-date=November 23, 2020|website=BloombergQuint}}</ref>
==Magna Carta of Filipino seafarers==
[[Department of Foreign Affairs (Philippines)|Department of Foreign Affairs]] undersecretary Eduardo De Vega has put forward the so-called "Magna Carta for Seafarers", a bill that was to be signed by President [[Bongbong Marcos|Ferdinand Marcos Jr.]] in February 2024 but was put on hold for review. Senate Bill No. 2221, "An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers" (and the House of Representatives' version, House Bill 7325, approved on March 6, 2024) "seeks to provide seafarers with the right to humane working conditions and just compensation by ensuring that recruitment agencies provide them with adequate information about onboard conditions and laws that apply to Filipino seafarers; it also aims to address the lack of domestic laws vis-à-vis the country's compliance with international maritime standards, as well as the seafarers' rights and welfare."<ref>{{cite news |last1= Cabato|first1=Luisa |title=De Vega on Magna Carta for Seafarers bill: 'I hope it passes right away'|url= https://globalnation.inquirer.net/227862/de-vega-on-magna-carta-for-seafarers-bill-i-hope-it-passes-right-away/amp |accessdate=March 12, 2024 |publisher=[[Philippine Daily Inquirer]] |date=March 12, 2024}}</ref>
On September 23, 2024, President Marcos signed into law Republic Act No. 12021, or the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, which provides protection for domestic and overseas Filipino seafarers.<ref>{{cite news |last1=  Esguerra|first1=Darryl John  |title=Marcos signs Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers|url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1233936 |accessdate=September 23, 2024 |work= [[Philippine News Agency]]|date=September 22, 2024}}</ref> In October 2024, the Department of Migrant Workers announced that the Aksyon Fund, a financial assistance program, should benefit not only OFWs currently abroad but also those stationed in Migrant Workers' Offices and those who have yet to leave the country. Justice Secretary [[Jesus Crispin Remulla]] clarified in a legal opinion that the fund "comes without restriction or qualification", and the definition of OFWs includes individuals regardless of their migration status. This ensures broader access to support under the fund for all OFWs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 15, 2024 |title=DMW Increases Financial Assistance (AKSYON Fund) to Distressed OFWs and Families |url=https://assistance.ph/dmw-financial-assistance-distressed-ofws/#google_vignette |access-date=October 7, 2024 |website=Assistance.PH}}</ref>
==Government policy==
[[File:OFW ID Card sample.png|thumb|Official sample of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) ID card]]
The Philippine government has stated officially for decades that it doesn't maintain a labor export policy, and has continued to claim so as of 2012.
===Agencies===
During the presidency of [[Ferdinand Marcos]], three government agencies were created to tend to the needs of Filipino migrant workers, namely:<ref name=martiallaw/>
# National Seamen Board (NSB) : To "develop and maintain a comprehensive program for Filipino seamen employed overseas".
# Overseas Employment Development Board (OEDB) – To "promote the overseas employment of Filipino workers through a comprehensive market and development program".
# Bureau of Employment Services (BES) – responsible for the regulation of "private sector participation in the recruitment of (local and overseas) workers".
In 1982, these three agencies were consolidated to create the [[Philippine Overseas Employment Administration]] (POEA), which later became an attached agency to the [[Department of Labor and Employment]].<ref name=martiallaw/> On December 30, 2021, then-President Duterte signed into law the "Department of Migrant Workers Act" (Republic Act 11641), which consolidates all OFW-related services into one department.<ref>{{cite news|title=Duterte signs law creating Department of Migrant Workers|url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1164079|accessdate=February 21, 2022|work=[[Philippine News Agency]]|date=December 30, 2021}}</ref> The new [[Department of Migrant Workers]] is slated to be operational by 2023.<ref>{{cite news|title=Department of Migrant Workers may start by 2023: POEA|url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1165329|accessdate=February 21, 2022|work=[[Philippine News Agency]]|date=January 13, 2022}}</ref>
===Reception===
The Migrante Partylist has cited two reasons that the Philippine government created a more systemic labor export policy during the administration of [[Ferdinand Marcos]]: To quell dissent brought about by massive domestic unemployment and the political crisis, and to consolidate foreign exchange from remittances.<ref name=martiallaw/>
==Recruitment==
The [[Philippine Overseas Employment Administration]] (POEA) was a government agency tasked with supervising labor recruitment agencies in the Philippines. Recruitment and deployment agencies are mandated by the POEA to monitor the situation of Overseas Filipino Workers, including if they are with their supposed employers and if employers provide assistance to the Filipino worker in case of emergency.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Macasero|first1=Ryan|title='Recruiter's responsibility doesn't end after deployment' – POEA|url=https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/balikbayan/102430-recruiter-responsibility-deployment|access-date=May 14, 2018|work=Rappler|date=August 13, 2015}}</ref>
==Taxation==
Remittances sent by Overseas Filipino Workers to the Philippines from abroad are not themselves subject to taxation by the Philippine government, which has no jurisdiction over foreign [[remittance]]. However, a [[value-added tax]] is imposed on transfer fees charged by the remittance companies.<ref name="dof">{{cite news|title=OFW remittances not covered by tax reform|url=https://www.dof.gov.ph/index.php/ofw-remittances-not-covered-by-tax-reform/|access-date=May 14, 2018|publisher=Department of Finance (Philippines)|date=June 21, 2017}}</ref> Under Presidential Decree No. 1183 and Republic Act No.8042, or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995, Overseas Filipino Workers are exempt from travel tax and airport terminal fees when traveling out of the Philippines from within the country.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bello reminds airlines of travel tax, terminal fee exemption for OFWs|url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/03/17/bello-reminds-airlines-of-travel-tax-terminal-fee-exemption-for-ofws|access-date=May 14, 2018|work=ABS-CBN News|date=March 3, 2017}}</ref>
==Female overseas Filipino workers==
Despite many Filipina migrant workers having received higher education and working as skilled nurses,<ref name=":02">{{cite journal | doi=10.1186/s12905-017-0429-4 | title=A qualitative study of Filipina immigrants' stress, distress and coping: The impact of their multiple, transnational roles as women | year=2017 | last1=Straiton | first1=Melanie L. | last2=Ledesma | first2=Heloise Marie L. | last3=Donnelly | first3=Tam T. | journal=BMC Women's Health | volume=17 | issue=1 | page=72 | pmid=28870195 | pmc=5584031 | doi-access=free }}</ref> 58 out of 100 overseas Filipino women workers are categorized as laborers and unskilled workers compared to 13 out of 100 overseas Filipino male workers in a 2007 survey.<ref>Philippine Statistics Authority. "Overseas Filipino Women". ''National Statistics Office. Manila, Philippines'', June 11, 2009, psa.gov.ph/content/overseas-filipino-women.</ref> Filipino women often fill "the demand for unskilled, low-paid [[Domestic worker|domestic work]] in high-income countries".<ref name=":02"/> They are encouraged to take these overseas jobs due to high unemployment rates in the Philippines and the economy benefiting from remittances.<ref name=":1">UN Women. "Filipino Women Migrant Workers". Fact Sheet. New York, United States. N.d. Web.</ref><ref>O'Neil, Kevin. “Labor Export as Government Policy: The Case of the Philippines.” ''Migration Policy Institute'', March 2, 2017, www.migrationpolicy.org/article/labor-export-government-policy-case-philippines.</ref>
===Medical concerns===
A study conducted by Veronica Ramirez of the [[Center for Research and Communication]] has found that because they are afraid of losing employment and since most clinics are closed on Sundays, which is the typical OFW's day off, a majority of female OFWs find it difficult to obtain medical treatment, resorting to self-medication instead.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 19, 2021 |title="A significant number of women OFWs in Asia eschew health treatments when they are ill" – Ramirez Study of Women OFWs' common health problems |url=https://crc.uap.asia/2021/10/19/a-significant-number-of-women-ofws-in-asia-eschew-health-treatments-when-they-are-ill/ |access-date=December 2, 2022 |website=CRC – Center for Research and Communication}}</ref>
===Mental health concerns===
Despite financial benefits from working overseas, separation from family and cultural ties have proved detrimental to the health of Filipino migrant workers.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4030329 | jstor=4030329 | title='Frustrated and Displaced': Filipina Domestic Workers in Canada | last1=Grandea | first1=Nona | last2=Kerr | first2=Joanna | journal=Gender and Development | year=1998 | volume=6 | issue=1 | pages=7–12 | doi=10.1080/741922629 }}</ref> Many Filipino women working abroad have experienced worsening mental health, reporting symptoms of depression from a loss of belonging, loneliness, and guilt.<ref name=":02"/>
Unsafe workplaces and abuse are another big problem, with "more than 40% of labour Filipino migrants in the USA report[ing] high levels of workplace discrimination".<ref name=":02" /> Filipino women are often associated with stereotypes such as being [[mail-order bride]]s and having submissive attributes, which further adds to their discrimination in and out of the workplace.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.2190/wr.17.2.e | title=Racialised and Gendered Workplace Discrimination: The Case of Skilled Filipina Immigrants in Melbourne, Australia | year=2013 | last1=Limpangog | first1=Cirila P. | journal=Journal of Workplace Rights | volume=17 | issue=2 | pages=191–218 }}</ref>
===Impact on governance===
[[Empirical research]] has demonstrated that Filipino migrants and the remittances they send back to families are correlated with better governance. Exposure to the democratic politics and efficient bureaucracies in host countries allows migrants to use their remittances to urge relatives back home to demand better governance, at least in the context of enhancing the efficient provision of public goods at the provincial level.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1177/2057891118757694 | title=Do migrant remittances improve the quality of government? Evidence from the Philippines | year=2018 | last1=Tusalem | first1=Rollin F. | journal=Asian Journal of Comparative Politics | volume=3 | issue=4 | pages=336–366 | s2cid=158531389 }}</ref>
==Countries==
{{See also|List of deployment bans on Overseas Filipino Workers}}
Overseas Filipino Workers can only be legally deployed to countries certified by the Philippine [[Department of Foreign Affairs (Philippines)|Department of Foreign Affairs]] to be compliant with Republic Act 10022, also known as the Amended Migrant Workers Act.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Medenilla|first1=Samuel|title=POEA lists 24 countries off-limits to OFWs|url=https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/01/01/poea-lists-24-countries-off-limits-to-ofws/|access-date=May 14, 2018|work=Manila Bulletin|date=January 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517005253/https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/01/01/poea-lists-24-countries-off-limits-to-ofws/ |archive-date=May 17, 2018}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Overseas Filipinos]]
* [[Human trafficking in the Philippines]]
* [[Flor Contemplacion]]
* [[Indonesian migrant worker|Pekerja Migran Indonesia]] – Indonesian counterpart
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{commons|Overseas Filipino Workers}}
* [http://www.poea.gov.ph/laws&rules/files/2002%20POEA%20Rules%20on%20Overseas%20Employment%20of%20OFWs%20Full%20Text.pdf POEA Rules and Regulations. Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-based Overseas Workers]
{{Overseas Filipino Workers}}
[[Category:Overseas Filipino Worker| ]]
[[Category:Economy of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Filipino expatriates]]
[[Category:1990s neologisms]]