Why more Filipinos will leave for jobs abroad

HOW 142 young, sometimes

debt-strapped, Cebuano domestic

helpers in Hong Kong help out their

families indicates that there will be no

let-up in the efforts of others ''seeking greener pastures'' abroad,

well into the 21st century.

This trend is analyzed by Anna Maria Pasion Talam in a

University of San Carlos masteral thesis titled ''Transfer

Payment Behavior of Cebuano Domestic Helpers in Hong

Kong.''

Talam surveyed and interviewed Cebuano DHs working in

Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories.

Wide economic and social disparities between Hong Kong and

Cebu continue to stoke a human diaspora. At the threshold of

the third millennium, 15 persons out of every hundred in the

labor force work overseas.

Economic gap

Hong Kong's annual per capita income of $24,445 is roughly

ninteenfold of what Cebuanos earn, according to the United

Nations Human Development Report.

This economic gap is reflected in the USC study finding that the

income of a Cebuano DH in Hong Kong, before the Asian

financial crisis struck, was roughly 62 percent more than the

average family income at home.

Most of the DHs were young, between 22 and 34. The youngest

respondent was 22 and the oldest, 48.

Almost half (46 percent) were college graduates. Most (79

percent) had a brush with college courses. This background

explains why almost four out of five never worked as domestics

before.

But Kong Kong's economy enables them to earn more than

what a professional gets back home. This enhances their

capacity to pay for basic and other family needs.

Dependents

Most shoulder considerable dependency burdens. Thirty-seven

percent supported families with more than four members. A

minority (26 percent) helped families of one or two members.

Talam found that almost a third (31 percent) sent back, through

banks or handcarried padalas, ''sometimes half of their

incomes.'' Another third sliced off ''more than a quarter'' of what

they earned.

Many of these generous givers were not college-burnished

workers but those from high school. They tended to be above

35 and had less than two years of experience. After that, the

years and distance seem to slice into generosity.

''Most well-educated workers do not send the highest transfers.''

But the study adds: A small group (8 percent) that didn't send a

red cent home were also in the high school bracket. Not all are

deadbeats.

Placement agencies strap them with heavy IOUs for papers, air

tickets and jobs. Almost half who ran up debts blame exorbitant

placement fees. DHs are often strapped for cash and are,

therefore, vulnerable, especially in the initial recruitment

process. Almost all had ''no liquid assets.''

Job security

Premature termination of contracts emerged as another recurring

problem. ''Employment security in Hong Kong can not be

guaranteed,'' the study adds.

Presidential visits to show case economic progress in the

Philippines make little impression. Most (82 percent) remain

pessimistic about improved prospects at home.

The survey discovered that more than half (58 percent) saved

for the rainy day. This group tended to send home about 25

cents out of every dollar from their incomes.

One out of five ''maintained more savings in Hong Kong than in

Cebu.'' Banks should aggressively seek to reach these migrant

workers ''since only 60 percent of them had made less than a

quarter of their income as transfer.''

''The Philippine government should stipulate reasonable

recruitment/placement fees,'' Talam writes. This will prevent

dumping ''full costs on migrant workers.''

The ''3-S Strategy,'' adopted by many Asian countries, is

starting to reduce migrant flows, the Asian Development Bank

notes. Entry visas are now stamped only for ''skilled workers for

short-term employment in specific sectors.''

That raises the level of frustration in a population that, during

the height of the Asian financial crisis, saw joblessness careen

to 9.6 percent.