Filipino expatriate workers are almost everywhere. They leave the Philippines by the thousands each year to work in host countries where their skills are needed. Their common destinations: the Middle East, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore. At the turn of the century, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, along with a few countries in Europe had begun their Filipino manpower pooling.
Both unemployment and underemployment in the Philippines compel the Filipino to work overseas. They are employed under contractual terms (usually two years) pre-signed by the worker, the agency that represented him, and the company abroad that sought his skills or experiences.
These expat workers work as domestic helpers or housekeepers, drivers, nurses, physicians, architects, engineers, technicians etc. Millions of Filipino expats remit portion of their wages for their families back home.
Their remittances topnotch as the pipeline of the market economy. Sending expats, thus became an industry, pre-empting the Department of Migrant Workers with the Philippine Overseas Employment Aministration as lead agency regulating private recruitment offices.
Even in perennial war torn countries, Filipino expatriates pull their luck. As long as many of them are under the threats of poverty, they will find their way to work and sacrifice - even on the moon!
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