25 Years of Continuing Diaspora and Hope

Last Tuesday, 22nd of February 2011, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the Philippines would not be experiencing the problems it has today if his father was not ousted from power by the first EDSA People Power Revolution. Asked what the country's situation would be if the late former President Ferdinand Marcos remained in the presidency, the senator replied, "Eh siguro Singapore na tayo ngayon" (We would probably be like Singapore today).

Senator Marcos has obviously prided himself on what would have been of the Philippines today if not for the 1986 event that he wished it did not happen. Apparently, nobody, even the best economists in the country or the senator himself, would surely predict its outcome. Yet for the past 25 years, the country has evidently witnessed the diaspora of Filipinos that continuously seek for jobs overseas. The impact in the country’s economy has its positive effect in terms of inflows on dollar reserves due to remittances, yet has its consequences on the knowledge-based capital or brain drain. The emigration of Filipinos whose talents and intelligence are being used or exploited for the economic gain of the host country instead of its own has its long-term effect on the competitiveness, prospects on Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), as well as the availability of highly-skilled personnel. Likewise, some local entrepreneurs taking their investments in China or other neighboring countries, misses the opportunity on the creation of wealth, local employment, and tax revenue, but that's another story.

The data on Chart 1 represents that from year 2000 to 2009, the total number of overseas Filipinos in various fields (mixed of professionals, skilled and service workers) has increased by 16.2 percent. The US, the Middle East (Asia, West), and South East Asia as shown in Chart 2 are the top three regions who have the highest concentration of Filipino workers1.

Chart 1

Chart 2

In the industry of Science and Technology (S&T) alone, the number of its outbound workers has increased by 148 percent, from 9,877 in 1998 to 24,505 in 2009 based on the initial findings of the Science Education Institute (SEI) on the migration of S&T workers. Dr. Leticia Catris, Officer-in-Charge and Deputy Director of the DOST-SEI said that, “though it is laudable that our S&T professionals seem to be really sought after, it is a sad fact that we are losing them. We hope that we could find ways to make more of them stay in the country and use their talent here2.” Most of the S&T professionals were nurses and midwives with the biggest percentage in 2001 at 53.23 percent or 9,452 personnel. Engineers came in second with as many as 21.82 percent, or around 5,308 engineers. Health professionals like medical doctors, dentists, veterinarians, and pharmacists came in third with as many as 6.28 percent of the OFWs in 2004 or around 838 health professionals. The study represents that with the steady outbound of these S&T professionals, the Research and Development (R&D) sector of the country would definitely be affected in which, the country's current stand is at 165 R&D personnel per million Filipinos which is way below the UNESCO recommendation of 380 needed for economic development.

The causes of the flight among these highly trained S&T personnel, specifically the researchers and scientists, are the continuous decline in the quality of scientific research institutions, company spending in R&D, and the procurement of the government in advance technology products. Since 2009, the rankings out of 139 economies in the latest World Economic Forum Report have been reduced to -6, -24, and -10 places respectively3. The consequences are serious as these personnel continue to seek for higher wages and better working conditions abroad.

Since 1986, the adoption of technoliberalism* has kept the country’s economy and S&T underdeveloped. It has prevented the Philippines from industrializing, making the country lag behind its neighboring countries, i.e. Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and China4. According to Dr. Roger Posadas, one of the eminent physicists in the country, in his report on S&T capabilities and economic catch-up, most Filipino-owned firms such as the National Power Corporation (NPC), have remained technologically backward and dependent, that have continued to be mere users and importers of foreign technology. Instead of designing and producing its own power plants and power equipment, it just imports power plants through turnkey projects. In fact, the late industrializing countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Malaysia have rejected technoliberalism and deliberately defied the principles of comparative advantage to create globally competitive industries such as steel-making, shipbuilding, transport vehicles, IC fabrication, etc4. These industries would definitely provide local employments as well as encourage technological innovation and entrepreneurship that would have minimized the said continuing outbound of the Filipinos.

With today’s Philippine celebration of the 25th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, the country should look back and learn. What become of the nation, that has liberated its people from oppression through its unified cooperation and objective, perhaps this can again be replicated, as one people moving forward and as builders of its own future.

References:
1 Commission on Filipino Overseas, Stock Estimate of Overseas Filipinos as of December 2009
2 ABS-CBN News, abs-cbnNEWS.com, Big leap in 'brain drain' of Filipino science workers, 15 February 2011
3 The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011
4 S&T Capabilities and Economic Catch-Up, by Dr. Roger Posadas, Ph.D., February 3, 2010

*Technoliberalism holds that a firm should not design and produce its own technology if it does not have the comparative advantage to do so or, in other words, when it is easier and cost effective to buy or lease the technology.