Fewer Pinoys leaving country as illegal workers

MANILA, Philippines -  Fewer Filipinos are leaving the country as “illegal” workers.

Data from the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) showed a declining number of undocumented Filipinos abroad in the past decade.

From a total of 1,840,448 in 2000, the number of irregular Filipino workers worldwide dropped by more than half or 61 percent to 704,916.

Based on CFO data, over 7 million Filipinos overseas are permanent residents or documented or undocumented workers in 2000.

The number of Filipinos abroad increased to more than 9.4 million after a decade.

As of 2010 CFO data, the largest number of irregular Filipino workers are in Malaysia and the United States with a total of 200,000 and 156,000.

A decade ago, undocumented workers in Malaysia reached a high of 509,000, while irregular workers in the United States then totaled 278,000.

Large numbers of undocumented Filipino workers can also be found in Singapore, France as well as countries in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan. 

The same CFO data indicated a growth in the number of Filipinos remaining permanently abroad.

From 2,551,549 in 2000, the number of Filipinos seeking permanent residency abroad doubled to 4,423,680 in 2010.

The bulk of those permanent residents or 3,481,263 are in the Americas, including the United States with total of 2,882,420 and Canada with 581,095.

The number of permanent Filipino residents in the United States doubled from 1,804,288 in 2000.

European countries also recorded a high of 314,710 permanent Filipino residents in 2010, from 147,408 a decade ago. 

CFO defined permanent residents as immigrants or dual citizens or legal permanent residents abroad whose stay does not depend on work contracts.

Meanwhile, Filipinos can now seek re-employment in South Korea without any difficulty, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said.

POEA administrator Hans Cacdac said South Korea has eased rules on hiring of foreign workers. 

“The law, which will take effect in July 2012, has reduced the waiting period for those foreign workers who have finished their contracts from six to three months,” he said.

Under the revised rules of the Employment Permit System (EPS), foreign workers, including Filipinos can seek re-employment shortly after completing their contracts, he added.

Cacdac said South Korea revised the rules in response to the petition of over 2,000 Filipino workers.

The new regulation also allowed foreign workers to work with their previous employer without need to undergo a Korean language proficiency test or employment training, he added.

However, Cacdac said the new regulation would only cover foreign workers whose employment period of four years and 10 months expires after July 2, 2012.

EPS workers can return to their former jobs if they have a new contract prior to reentry to South Korea and have no record of transfer during the employment period except for justifiable causes, he added.

South Korea is currently experiencing a labor shortage, POEA said.