Labor Export

Nagsimula bilang pansamantalang pang-ampat sa krisis ng disempleyo (unemployment) noong dekada 70 sa ilalim ng diktadurang Marcos ang Labor Export Policy (LEP), at mula noo'y naging permanente na itong patakaran ng mga sumunod na administrasyon sa Pilipinas. Ilalahad at susuriin ng artikulong ito ang pinagmulan, debelopment, at mga kasalukuyang problemang dulot o kaugnay ng LEP sa Pilipinas, sa lente ng Teoryang Dependensiya. Saklaw ng kritikal na pagsusuring ito ang lahat ng administrasyon mula sa diktadurang Marcos hanggang sa ikalawang administrasyong Aquino na pawang nagpatupad sa LEP bilang kasangkapan sa paglikha ng trabaho. Sa pangkalahatan, ang artikulong ito'y ambag din sa patuloy na intelektuwalisasyon ng wikang Filipino sa larangan ng ekonomiks.

The Philippine Labor Export Policy (LEP) was an initially temporary policy implemented in the 1970s to help resolve the unemployment crisis under the Marcos dictatorship, and from then on became a permanent fixture in successive regimes' policies. This article presents and analyzes the origins, development, and current problems brought by or related to the Philippine LEP, using the lens of Dependency Theory. This critical review encompasses all regimes from the Marcos dictatorship to the second Aquino administration which all implemented the LEP as a job generation scheme. In general, this article also contributes to the continuing intellectualization of the Filipino language in the field of economics.

Abstract -- Filipino migration is characterized by taking up positions abroad that conform to gender roles, while nonmigrating household members take over the duties of the absent migrant. When those duties do not conform to one’s gender role, one is less likely to perform the duty. In the case of a mother migrating, the father (who is “traditionally” seen as the main breadwinner, but not as the primary parent) is put into a position wherein he earns less than his wife and is expected to take care of the children. However, men are also commonly considered less capable of raising children, despite communications technology having advanced so that dual parenting can still be accomplished from abroad; fathers do not have to be seen as the only parents in this situation. The stigmatization that men experience as a result of their wives migrating has a serious effect on their feelings of masculinity and is further exacerbated by the “New Heroes” national script put forward by the government, which praises migrants as saving the nation while ignoring the equal (or greater) labor carried out in their absence. This thesis, built upon fieldwork conducted in Cebu City, disputes the widespread reputation of men as incapable fathers who rely entirely upon their wives’ remittances, and advocates calling more attention to the gender- and vocation-biased praise of the New Heroes propaganda.

Migrant social capital can reduce the costs and risks of migration and thereby increase the likelihood of cumulative migration among network members. However, several ethnographic studies of transnational migrant networks have highlighted repeated and regular instances of current migrants refusing to provide migration assistance to network contacts in the home country. Extending this nascent body of research, this article proposes a multi-factor framework at the individual, dyad, network, job, market and country levels that influences current migrants' helping decisions, particularly when it comes to labour migration assistance. This framework is constructed using interview data from 95 Filipino migrant domestic workers in the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong. These interviews showcase the dynamic and differentiated nature of migrant social-capital mobilisation in terms of the volume, type and conditionality of the assistance provided.

Migrant social capital can reduce the costs and risks of migration and thereby increase the likelihood of cumulative migration among network members. However, several ethnographic studies of transnational migrant networks have highlighted repeated and regular instances of current migrants refusing to provide migration assistance to network contacts in the home country. Extending this nascent body of research, this article proposes a multi-factor framework at the individual, dyad, network, job, market and country levels that influences ...