UN Expert Group Meeting on Measuring International Migration
December 4 –7, 2006, UN New York
MEASURING INTERNATIONAL
MIGRATION IN THE
PHILIPPINES
(With Focus on Emigration Statistics)
 by
Lina V. Castro
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
OUTLINE
• Background
• Existing Data Generation Systems
• Initiatives/Coordination Efforts in the
PSS
• Recommendations and Future
Directions
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
I. Background
The Philippine Statistical System
a decentralized system that is composed of:
 a policy making and coordinating body, NSCB
 a general purpose statistics producing agency,
NSO
 a statistical research and training center; and
 all government agencies engaged in the
generation of statistical information
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Framework of the PSS and How It is Coordinated
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
National Statistical Coordination Board
serves as the highest policy making and
coordinating body on statistical matters in the
Philippines
Functions
• formulates policies
• allocates responsibilities
• coordinates and prescribes standards in the
generation of statistics
• designates statistical activities that will be
undertaken by the government
• Develops and maintains statistical
frameworks (e.g. PSNA)
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Existing Data Generation Systems in
the PSS on Emigration
• Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO)
• Department of Tourism (DOT)
• Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
(POEA)
• National Statistics Office (NSO)
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
1. Commission on Filipinos
Overseas (CFO) Major
Functions
•
•
Provide advice and assistance to the President and the
Congress of the Philippines in the formulation of policies
concerning or affecting Filipinos overseas;
Develop and implement programs to promote
the interests and well-being of Filipinos overseas;
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
CFO Clientele
•
Filipino Emigrants and permanent residents
abroad
•
Filipino Nationals who leave the country as spouses or
other partners of foreign nationals
•
Descendants of Filipinos overseas
•
Filipino youths abroad
•
Exchange visitor program participants
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Statistics
I. Stock estimate on Overseas Filipinos
II. Statistics on Filipino Emigrants
a. Immigrants and Permanent Residents
b. Filipino spouses and fiancées of
foreign nationals
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF
FILIPINOS OVERSEAS
In million
8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
20
02
20
01
20
00
19
99
19
98
19
97
19
96
19
95
19
94
19
93
0.00
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Sources: CFO, DFA, POEA and other
Categories of Overseas
Filipinos (CFO)
I. Permanent – immigrants or legal permanent
residents abroad whose stay do not depend
on work contracts
II. Temporary – persons whose stay overseas is
employment related, and who are expected to
return at the end of their work contracts
III. Irregular – those not properly documented
or without valid residence or work permits,
or who are overstaying in a foreign country
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF
FILIPINOS OVERSEAS
Year
Permanent
Residents
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
1.92
2.15
2.33
2.48
2.55
2.74
2002
2.82
Temporary
Residents
2.71
2.94
2.96
2.98
2.99
3.05
3.16
Irregular
Migrants
Total
1.86
1.88
1.91
1.83
1.84
1.62
6.41
6.49
6.97
7.20
7.29
7.38
7.41
1.60
7.58
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Sources: CFO, DFA, POEA and other sources
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF OVERSEAS FILIPINOS
(As of December 2002)
OVERSEAS
FILIPINO
WORKERS
3.17M
PERMANENT
RESIDENTS
IRREGULAR
TOTAL NUMBER OF OVERSEAS
2.81M
1.60M
Sources : CFO
POEA
FILIPINOS: 7.58 M
PECs
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
58,020
53,953
48,867
56,350
49,338
45,269
42,481 41,551
63,149
62,464
55,745
66,390
64,531
64,154
60,913
56,242
57,720
54,059
52,054
51,031
39,009
55,137
40,507
19
81
19
82
19
83
19
84
19
85
19
86
19
87
19
88
19
89
19
90
19
91
19
92
19
93
19
94
19
95
19
96
19
97
19
98
19
99
20
00
20
01
20
02
20
03
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
,0
,0
,0
,0
,0
,0
,0
0
0
0
0
0
0
00
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Registered Filipino Emigrants
N = 1,238,934
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION
BOARD
Source
: CFO
Distribution of Registered Emigrants
by Major Countries of Destination
(1981-2003)
CANADA
169,443
(13.7 %)
U.S.A.
869,973
(70.2 %)
U.K.
6,229
(0.5 %)
GERMANY
9,427
(0.8 %)
JAPAN
68,419
(5.5 %)
AUSTRALIA
86,223
(7.0 %)
TOTAL: 1,238,934
Other
Countries:
24,115
NATIONAL
STATISTICAL
COORDINATION BOARD
(1.9 %)
SOURCES OF DATA
 Emigrant registration from CFO
 Statistics on departing overseas Filipino
Workers from POEA
 Reports from Philippine Embassies and
Consulates
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
From the number of passports issued
Reports on inter-marriages
Assistance-to-Nationals cases
Head Count
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
SOURCES OF DATA
 Statistics on tourist arrivals from DOT
 Reports from Filipino associations and
organizations overseas
 Reports from foreign Embassies and
Consulates
 Census of foreign governments on their
immigrant population
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
LIMITATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS
 Double counting
 No comprehensive and accurate data on
returning Filipinos
 No comprehensive data on 2nd and 3rd
generation overseas Filipinos
 No available comprehensive data yet on
those who acquired foreign citizenships
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
 Use of embarkation and disembarkation
card of Bureau of Immigration to enhance
collection of data on departing and
returning Filipinos
 Use of census on families of overseas
Filipinos
 Enhance the collection of data of
Philippine Embassies and Consulates
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
 Adopt a specific and common procedure
and mechanism in gathering statistics on
overseas Filipinos (particularly on the
number of irregular migrants)
 Adopt common definition of terms and
international statistical standards
 Analysis and interpretation of statistical
data and flow
 Conduct an international conference on
stock estimation ofNATIONAL
migrants
STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Department of Tourism: CONCEPTS
OUTBOUND PHILIPPINE RESIDENTS:
“
… departures of Filipinos who are
permanent residents of the Philippines as
well as aliens and naturalized citizens of
the Philippines with permanent residence
in the country.”
Source: DOT Statistical Report
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Travel and Tourism Statistical System
(TTSS) by DOT
•Objectives
–To generate statistics on the profile and
travel characteristics of outbound Philippine
residents, former Filipinos and overseas
Filipinos
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
TTSS Scope and Coverage
Included in Visitor Count
Tourist
Excursionist
Cruise passengers
Overseas Filipinos
Not Included in Visitor Count
Transit /change plane
Aliens with pre-arranged
employment in Phil.
Immigrants
Overseas Filipino workers
Returning Residents
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
TTSS Scope and Coverage
Included in Outbound
Philippine Resident Count
Not Included in Outbound
Philippine Resident Count
Overseas Filipino
Visitors/tourist to the Philippines
Workers
Overseas Filipinos
Foreign Residents/Expatriates
Filipino Residents
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
TTSS Sources
of Data
Arrival/ Departure Card
The Arrival/Departure Cards
Processing Center (ADCPC)
located in NAIA is responsible
for the gathering, collection,
encoding, data validation and
downloading of initial files in
NAIA, Cebu, Laoag, Davao,
Subic and Clark. The
downloaded data are further
processed by the DOT’s TTSS.
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
TTSS Outputs
• Statistics on visitor arrivals by
– country of residence
– demographic profile
– travel characteristics
– mode of travel
– port of entry
– nationality
• Statistics on the actual volume of Overseas Filipino
permanent residents abroad
• Statistics on former Filipino citizens by country of
residence
• Statistics on Outbound Philippine residents
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
TTSS Outputs
• Statistics on Outbound Philippine Residents
– by port of disembarkation
– demographic profile
– travel characteristics
– by nationality
– mode of travel
– port of entry
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
3. Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration
(POEA) and Overseas Workers
Welfare Administration
(OWWA)
Shared OFW Database
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Mandate
Sec 20 of Republic Act No. 8042
• Establishment of a Shared
Government Information System for
Migration
DFA, Commission of Filipinos Overseas,
DOLE, POEA, OWWA, DOT, DOJ,
Bu of Immigration, NBI, NSO
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Concepts & Definitions
• Migrant Worker or OFW - a person who is to
be engaged, or has been engaged in a
remunerated activity in a state of which
he/she is not a legal resident
• Documented OFW - a migrant worker with
valid visa or work permit whose employment
contract has been processed by POEA
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Concepts & Definitions
• Undocumented OFW - a migrant worker with
insufficient employment documents, whose
employment contract has not been processed
by POEA
• Name-Hire - an OFW who was able to secure
an overseas employment without the
assistance or participation of any recruitment
agency
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Concepts & Definitions
• Worker on-Leave - an OFW who is on
vacation and is returning to the same
employer (Balik Manggagawa)
• Seafarer - Any person who is employed
or engaged in any capacity on board a
seagoing ship navigating the foreign
seas other than a government ship used
for military or non-commercial purposes
e.g. fishermen, cruise ship personnel and those serving on
foreign maritime mobile offshore and drilling units.
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
What is the NSO Survey on Overseas
Filipinos (SOF)?
• A nationwide survey that gathers information on
Filipino citizens who left for abroad during the last
five years
• It is undertaken every year
as rider to the October
round of the Labor Force
Survey (LFS)
National Statistics Office
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 2
Objectives of the SOF
• Obtain national estimates on the number of
overseas Filipinos
• Provide estimates on the amount of cash
received by the families
National Statistics Office
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 3
Who are the Overseas Workers?
 Filipinos who are presently and temporarily
working overseas during the 5-year reference
period.
 They may or may not have an existing work
contract abroad.
Landbased
National Statistics Office
Seabased
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 4
OFWs in April to September 2004 reach
1.18 million...
2004
1.18 M
20.2%
2003
0.98 M
National Statistics Office
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 6
OFWs in April to September
2004 reach 1.18 million...
17.7%
2004
OCW = 1.10 M
1.18 M
2003
OCW = 0.93 M
0.98 M
National Statistics Office
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 7
Majority of OFWs were in Asia...
Asia
76.4 %
Australia
1.9 %
Europe
10.7 %
Other Countries
0.5 %
National Statistics Office
Saudi Arabia 258
Thousand
N & S America
9.2 %
Africa
1.3 %
Japan
115 Thousand
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 11
Remittances from April to September 2004
amounted to 79.3 billion pesos…
PhP 8.9 B
PhP 79.3 Billion
PhP 70.4 Billion
2003
National Statistics Office
2004
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 13
Seven out of ten OFWs used banks in
sending their cash remittances…
71.9 %
22.7 %
Banks
Door
to
Door
National Statistics Office
2.9 %
1.8 %
0.7 %
Agency
Friends/
Co-Workers
Others
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD 14
More than 66 percent of the cash remittances
came from OFWs in Asia…
N&S America
Total = PhP 7.2B
Ave = PhP 80,800
Europe
Total = PhP 8.4B
Ave = PhP 81,000
Asia
Total = PhP 37.4B
Ave = PhP 52,000
National Statistics Office
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
15
Current Initiatives in the PSS
• IAC on Shared Government Information System
for Migration (IACSGISM)
– Objectives/Plan: (1) Make available among all
concerned information contained in existing
databases; (2) Linking of databases for free-flow of
data exchanges and sharing
Lead: Department of Foreign Affairs assisted by the
CFO
Issues:
Lack of funds in implementing an integrated
system
Convened last in 2002, but hold small group
meetings with CFO
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Initiatives in the PSS
• Central Bank’s IAC on Overseas
Employment and Tourism Statistics
– Aimed at rationalizing data collection and
harmonize measurement methodologies
concerning Overseas Filipino Workers’ (OFW)
incomes and international travel variables
– Initial outputs:
• Assessment of current practices and
methodologies
• Average salaries of OFWs
• Common methodology in estimating economic
contribution of OFWs
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Most Current Initiatives
• NSCB Task Force on Overseas Filipino
Statistics’ Terms of Reference
– Review and evaluate the data generation
activities of all concerned agencies for
monitoring the stock and flow of overseas
Filipinos
– Review concepts and definitions
– Formulate recommendations on appropriate
concepts and definitions and the estimation
and utilization of data on the stock and flow
of overseas Filipinos
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Outputs
• Assessment of existing data generation systems
including issues and concerns of the various
agencies
• Proposed Operational Framework which situate
the Overseas Filipino Workers(OFWs) among the
Overseas Filipinos (OF), and OFs classified into:
– Permanent
– Temporary
Proposed Standard Concepts and Definitions
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Framework
• Permanent Overseas Filipinos
• Temporary Overseas Filipinos:
– Documented OFWs
– Visitors
– Undocumented Filipinos
– Others (Students and dependents of OFWs,
etc.)
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Concept of Overseas Filipinos
• Are Filipino nationals abroad
categorized as:
– Migrant Workers
– Permanent residents or immigrants
– Former Filipino Citizens
– Holders of non-immigrant visas like
tourists/visitors, students, medical patients,
those on official mission and others
– Descendants of Filipino nationals overseas
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Permanent Overseas Filipinos
• Shall mean Filipinos who are permanent
residents abroad, including Filipino
immigrants who are already citizens or are
still Filipino citizens awaiting naturalization,
recognition or admission
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Temporary Overseas Filipinos
• Shall mean Filipinos whose stay overseas
is employment related and are expected to
return at the end of their work contracts
(including their dependents), holders of
non-immigrant visas like tourists/visitors,
students, medical patients, those on official
mission and others
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
Future Directions
• Optimal utilization of the A/D card to enhance
collection of data on departing/returning Filipinos
• Revision of the A/D card to reflect information on
length of stay and purpose of travel
• Adoption of common definitions
• Harmonization of reporting systems of DFA and
CFO
• Revisiting the design of the NSO Survey of
Overseas Filipinos
• Reactivating the IACSGISM
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD
»Thank You!
NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD