More Pinoys returning to work in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Believe it or not, more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are coming back home to work here.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the government is now seeing a trend of reverse migration, with more local firms now offering high salaries.

“The Philippines is also seeing for the first time a return migration of our workers from Macau being absorbed by the emerging entertainment and gaming industry in our country,” Baldoz said.

The labor department chief noted that OFWs were lured back to work in the country’s Entertainment City after they were offered the same salaries they were receiving abroad.

At this time, she said, the government is exerting all efforts to reduce overdependence on foreign remittances to sustain economic and social growth. And President Aquino wants to give Filipino workers a genuine choice whether to leave or stay in the country.

“The aspiration that the President has put in the social contract with the Filipino people, the challenge for his administration according to him is really to expand the base of employment here and also to keep on ready the jobs that are here to ensure we have employable work force and to ensure all labor laws are being complied with by the employers so that the benefits that are due to our workers are assured,” Baldoz said.

“So what we are seeing is these new industries (entertainment and gaming) right now are setting the trend on what could be the new face of the labor market,” she added.

Currently, over 10 million Filipino are working in more than 200 countries and remitting $22 billion to their families annually.

Baldoz said that based on surveys, migrant workers always identify four priorities: daily consumption, education, health, and housing needs of their families.