Tuesday, April 24, 2007

FILIPINOS ABROAD

7 Million Filipinos Abroad
According to the Philippine Senate, some 7 to 8 million Filipinos live and work abroad, 2.5 million of them in the United States. There were 105,000 Americans in the Philippines in 1999.

The Philippine Overseas and Employment Administration (POEA) said that in 2001 alone, 866,590 Filipinos left the country on legitimate working visas to work abroad. This translates to 2,374 Filipinos leaving the country each day. OFWs sent a total of US$6.23 billion in dollar remittances to the Philippines in 2001.

2.4 Million Filipino-Americans
According to the US Census 2000, there were 2.4 million Filipino Americans in the US, comprising the second largest Asian group next only to the Chinese Americans. However, there are some who say that the actual number of Filipino-Americans could exceed 3 million. More than 1 million Filipino Americans live in San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles in the west coast.

19 Percent of Filipinos Want to Migrate
A survey conducted by Pulse Asia in March and April 2002 showed that 19 percent of its 1,200 respondents wanted to migrate to another country because opportunities were lacking in the Philippines. The desire to migrate from the Philippines was stronger among upper classes. The survey said that 31 percent of its respondents belonging to ABC wanted to live in another country.

1.2 Million Passports Annually
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issues about 1.2 million passport booklets annually. In the first quarter of 2002, there was a shortage of passports because the number of Filipinos who went abroad for work suddenly surged. The POEA said that from around 2,300 in the previous quarters, the number of OFWs leaving the country each day surged to 2,700 in the first quarter of 2002. The DFA imposes a daily quota of 2,000 passports for individual applicants and 1,500 passports for travel agencies.

204,900 Seafarers
Of the total number of Filipinos who left the country on working visas in 2001, 661,639 were land-based workers while 204,951 were seafarers. Filipino seafarers man about 20 percent of international vessels in the world.

Top destinations of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are Saudi Arabia, which hired 190,732 Filipinos in 2001; Hong Kong, 113,583; Japan, 74,093; Singapore, 26,305; Kuwait, 21,956; and Italy, 21,641. Only 10,000 Filipinos were hired in the US but the number excluded 2.5 million Filipino immigrants who were already there.

2.7 Million Filipino Immigrants
A Commission of Overseas Filipinos study showed that there were 2.7 million Filipino immigrants around the world as of 2002. The figure includes 1.89 million immigrants in the US; 200,000 in Canada; 170,000 in Japan; and 70,000 in the United Kingdom.

51,031 Migrants in 2000
According to the Bureau of Immigration, 51,031 Filipinos migrated to other countries in the year 2000 alone. Of this number, 31,324 Filipinos went to the US; 8,245 to Canada; 6,468 to Japan; 2,298 to Australia; 522 to Germany; 174 to the United Kingdom; and 1,970 to other countries.

US$6.2 Billion Remittances
Dollar remittances sent by OFWs amounted to US$6.235 billion in 2001. About US$5.142 billion of the total amount was sent by land-based OFWs while US$1.093 billion came from Filipino seafarers. Some US$3.2 billion or over half of total remittances came from the United States. The figure excluded dollar remittances that were not sent through the regular banking system.

Richest in New York
According to the 1990 United States Census, the Filipino-Americans living in New York (perhaps the world's most prosperous city) had the highest median income among all ethnic groups. The census revealed that in 1990, there were 43,229 Filipino Americans in New York who had a median income of about US$45,000, surpassing those of European-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Afro-Americans.

15,000 Nurses in the UK
According to British Ambassador to the Philippines Paul Dimond, there were 15,000 Filipino nurses in the United Kingdom as of June 2002. The number is growing, he added. He also disclosed that the British embassy has issued 30,000 visas to Filipinos in 2001 alone, with an acceptance rate of 95 percent among applicants. About 300,000 Filipino nurses reportedly left the country to work abroad in 2001.

150,000 Entertainers in Japan
As of 1998, there were 150,000 Filipino women working as entertainers in Japan. Many of them were vulnerable to abuse and some driven to prostitution.

154,000 Household Maids in Hong Kong
According to The Economist magazine, Filipino women were serving as domestic helpers or "amahs" in 154,000 households in Hong Kong as of 1998. The report added that Filipino women comprised 40 percent of non-Chinese amahs in Hong Kong. Over half of Filipino amahs in Hong Kong have college degrees, and some even hold master's degree in education.

Filipino household maids are also present in Singapore, Taiwan, and the Middle East. Filipino caregivers are in the United States and Canada.

32,000 Teachers as Household Helps
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that as many as 32,000 Filipino teachers had left their profession in the country to work as household maids and nannies abroad."

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