Philippine Immigration

Category: Immigration

Becky Cholst

The Philippines is a country in South East Asia made up of a chain of over 7,000 islands. The capital is the metropolic city of Manila, with a population of 1.6 million people, and the population of the entire country is about 85 million people. The ethnic makeup of the poopulation is Filipino and Aboriginal Aetas and a few minority groups. The population makeup results in 84% Roman Catholic, 10% Protestant, and 4% Muslim. This includes a birth rate of 28.43 births per 1,000 people and 6.52 deaths per 1,000 people.
Though the population of the country is growing based on the birth rate, the immigration rate to the Philippines was -2.6 migrants per 1,000 people in the year 2000. About 10% of the popoulation is currently living or working in another country presently, and a survey conducted in 2000 found that one in every five people had an interest in emmigrating.
The reason for the net movement out of the Philippines is simple. While the Philippines are known for certain industries, namesly textiles, pharmecuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly, petrolium refining, and fishing, the opportunities for work are better elsewhere. Work in the United States is especially sought after. The first major move to the United States was in 1906, when a large group of workers moved to Hawaii to work on sugarcane and pinnaple plantations. Others continued to move to the west coast for other agricultural jobs. In the early 20th century, the Philippines were a US territory. This meant that movement to the US was considered internal migration rather than immigration, which allowed for greater movement than would have otherwise been allowed. Laws put into place in 1934 severely limited the number of Filipino migrants that could enter the United States, but they pushed through. In 1965, these quota laws were lifted, which allowed more Filipinos to enter the US, but even before this, from 1946 to 1960, over 10,000 Filipinos immigrated to the United States.
Everyone in the Philippines knows of the immigration problem. The government has stated that the immigration rate is right on target, but the emmigration rate is higher than it would like. However, it is generally socially acceptable to emmigrate. People know that it is easier to work elsewhere. Even for necessary jobs, such as being doctors and nurses, it is easier to find work abroad. This has led to massive losses of people. To compensate for this, the Filipino government is trying to make it easier for tourists and others to enter the country. For people staying less than 21 days, no visa is required for most countries. Longer visits are still relatively easy, and there are many types of visas available, such as the temporary visitor, the pre aranged employee, the treaty traders, the diplomat, and the investors visa. Hopefully an influx of people, even if they are tourists, will create new jobs, which will keep people from moving elsewhere.