Number of OFWs in US, Canada doubled in 2006

The number of Filipino workers who left for North America more than doubled in 2006 compared to the previous year, Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said on Friday. Brion said Filipino workers deployed to the United States jumped to 11,406 in 2006, which was 7,278 more than the 4,128 who left in 2005. The figure elevated the US to the 11th rank among the top destinations of documented OFWs across the globe. Quoting figures from the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), Brion said Filipino workers who went to Canada last year grew from 3, 629 in 2005 to 6, 413, making Canada the 17th top destination among more than 180 host countries around the world. Brion said growth in the OFW deployment to US and Canada is significant considering that documented workers are at the heart of the Philippines’ international acknowledged global migration management system. The global migration management system of the Philippines revolves around a "circular" process of migration wherein skilled OFWs on legitimate work visas are properly contracted and deployed for overseas jobs, the labor chief explained. He said that after the OFWs complete their work contract during a specified period, they return to the country either to be reintegrated into the economic mainstream, or rehired, on renewed visas, for overseas work. "The Philippine system of managing migration on a global scale is recognized by no less than the United Nations, primarily because it averts and prevents illegal entry of alien workers prejudicial to both the host and home countries of migrants," Brion cited. According to him, the initial growth in OFW deployment to Canada has been spurred by the recent accord forged by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Ministry of Advanced Education and Employment in Saskatchewan for "Cooperation in the Fields of Labor, Employment, and Human Resource Development." But above all, he said the growth in deployment in both countries is attributable to the role of documented OFWs in providing the needed services and skills to boost their economic growth and graying populations. BLES's statistical data reveal that prior to a 176 percent (+7,278) growth to 11,406 last year, the annual deployment of documented OFWs to the US, in the past five years, totaled 3,405 in 2000, 4,689 in 2001, 4,058 in 2002, 3,831 in 2003, 3,831 in 2004, and 4,128 in 2005. Likewise, the BLES's figures showed that documented OFW deployment to Canada totaled 2,020 in 2000, 3,132 in 2001, 3,535 in 2002, 4,006 in 2003, 4,453 in 2004, and 3,629 in 2005, before increasing by 76.71 percent (+2,784) to 6,413 in 2006. - GMANews.TV