More overseas Filipinos are marrying foreigners - CFO

The number of overseas Filipinos bound in inter-marriages in host countries has reached 309,745, latest data from the Commission on Filipinos overseas (CFO) show. At a conference on overseas Filipinos organized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, acting CFO director Golda Roma said that the number of inter-marriages in 2006 at 24,954 was triple the number in 1989, which stood at 7,819. In terms of distribution, the US has the highest number of Filipino inter-marriages with 124,638 or 40.24 percent of the total. Japan follows with 94,792 or 30.60 percent. Australia is third with 25,073 or 8.09 percent. Ranking fourth is Canada with 12,401 or 4 percent, and fifth among the top five is Gemany with 11.307 or 3.65 percent. The United Kingdom has only 5,780 or 1.87 percent. Among Asian host countries, Taiwan has the highest number with 6,950 or 2.24 percent. South Korea follows with 4,582 or 1.48 percent. The remaining 21, 989 or 7.10 percent are distributed in other countries. Director Roma said that most of the information gathered were taken from the records of Philippine foreign services posts and from the census of host countries. Official records show that overseas Filipinos are now scattered in 193 countries all over the world. -Luis Gorgonio, GMANews.TV