The article, Fillipino labour migration – Cross Roads Towards Phillippine Economic and Social Progress, by Gerado P. Sicat, illuminates multidimensional factors towards understanding how labour migration influences the Philippines, the country Filipino migrants migrate to, and the migrants themselves.

Two perspective Siact frames labor migratory phenomena is 1) migrants hoping to acquire permanent residency and eventually citizenship in the country they are migrating to 2) forms of temporary labour migration.

Labour migration is often tied to economic reasons. From a micro level individuals often choose to work abroad in order to attain higher wages for the same amount of labour they would perform in their country of origin. From a macro perspectives many time the policies of countries are tailored to accommodate certain migrants to fill certain sectors. However, even though such policy implementation can potentially foster stronger international relations it often perpetuates the “brain drain” which has severe repercussion upon local economies and the social composition of countries like the Philippines.

The link below to Sicat’s article further considers some of the benefits and drawbacks to migration, migration considered historically and contemporarily through census report statistics, discrimination faced by migrants, and further socio-economic repercussions migration has upon the Philippines.

http://www.philstar.com/business/2012-09-12/847951/filipino-labor-migration