Lack of jobs causes mass Philippines emigration

As reported by Gulf Today, the current lack of job opportunities in the Philippines is pressuring an increasing number of Filipinos to emigrate in search of work, says the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

As a result, many Filipino emigrants have been vulnerable to abuses by their overseas employers, including the peril of losing their lives, said the CBCP through its Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People during the celebration of National Migrants day.

Aside from a shortage of jobs, the CBCP stressed that other important but adverse circumstances have pressured the rising number of Filipinos to move overseas and thus cultivate a “culture of migration.”

The CBCP revealed that “labour contractualisation” which was legalized in 1995, combined with extremely high underemployment and rock bottom wages are just a few of the biggest reasons why Filipinos would rather take any opportunity to emigrate in order to enhance their economic situation.

The CBCP message came after a report from Social Weather Stations (SWS), which said that the nation’s jobless rate stood at 24%, representing nearly 9.7 million Filipinos. However, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino disputed the SWS figures and ordered government agencies to review their records on the actual state of the nation’s unemployment situation.