More Pinoys likely to work abroad

More Filipinos are likely to seek employment abroad where they may be exposed to abuses because of lack of job opportunities at home, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

In its message on the occasion of the 26th National Migrants’ Sunday today, the CBCP – through its Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI) – said “labor contractualization that was legalized since 1995, incredibly low wages, very high underemployment and constantly soaring joblessness are just some of the major reasons why Filipinos are not encouraged to stay but would take any opportunity to work abroad in order to improve their economic situation. The country even had developed a culture of migration.”

The CBCP-ECMI’S message came on the heels of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing the country’s unemployment rate at 24 percent, representing some of 9.7 million Filipinos.

The Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported at least $20.12 billion in remittances from OFWS last year.

ECMI, in its report, cited the tremendous psycho-social costs of migration. It also cited government helplessness in staying the execution of Filipino drug mules in China and the refusal of many Filipinos in strife-torn countries like Egypt, Libya and Syria to be repatriated for fear of not being able to find jobs in the Philippines.