international migration data in the philippinesnap.psa.gov.ph/ncs/12thncs/papers/invited/ips-32...

12th National Convention on Statistics

October 1-2, 2013, EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, Mandaluyong City

International Migration Data

in the Philippines Issues and Prospects

Nimfa B. Ogena

University of the Philippines

Population Institute



Background

• In the Philippines, international migration is often

confounded with labor migration and overseas Filipinos

(OFs); therefore its measurement becomes problematic.

• While data on remittances from overseas Filipinos (OFs)

are systematically documented by financial institutions

and special surveys, measures for stock and flows of

international migration remain in the back burner as OF

and OFW statistics are becoming more easily available.



OFs, OFWs and International Migrants

• Overseas Filipinos (OF) are migrant workers, other

Filipino nationals and their dependents abroad

• Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) or Migrant

Workers are persons who are engages in or has

engaged in a remunerated activity in a state at which he

or she is not a citizen or on board a vessel navigating the

foreign seas other than the government ship used for

military or commercial purposes, or on an installation

located offshore or on the high seas

Source: IRR of the Migrant Workers’ Act of 1995 and amended in RA No. 10022



Are OFs and OFWs international migrants?

First, what is Migration?

• It is the movement of people

– across a specified boundary

– during a given time interval and

– involving a change of residence



Boundaries Crossed

• The terms immigration and emigration are used to refer

to moves between countries (international migration)

• In-migration and out-migration are used for internal

movement between different areas within a country

(internal migration).



Time Reference

• Lifetime Migration

• Period Migration

Five-year Migration

Two-year Migration

One-year Migration



(Spatial) Mobility

• Spatial, physical or geographic movement with no

permanent change of residence.

• Other types of movement:

– Circulators (Circulation) or Commuters

– Sojourn/Labor migrants

– Nomads and transients

Source: Haupt & Kane, 2004; Shryock, Seigel and Associates 1976



Migrant and Mover

• Migrant – a person who changed residence from one

political area to another.

• Mover – a person who moved from one address to

another.

Source: Shryock, Siegel and Associates, 1976



Lifetime Migrant

• One whose current area of residence is different from

the area of birth (mother’s usual place of residence NOT

place of birth per se) regardless of intervening

migrations.

Return Migrant

• A person who moved back to the area where the migrant

formerly resided.



Issues in measurement of migration

• Intention to stay/Duration of “residence”

– Permanent

– Temporary

• Point of reference (Origin/Destination)

• Completeness of coverage

• “Double-counting” – in place of origin and in place of

destination

• International comparability

– complexity and diversity of definitions

– classification systems used in different countries

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General sources of data on international migration

• Administrative data

– Statistics collected on the occasion of movement across

international borders mostly as by-products of the administrative

operations of border control

– Passenger statistics from sea or air transport manifest

– Passport, visa and work permit processing statistics

• Census data conducted regularly

• Survey data

– Periodic national population surveys through inquiries regarding

previous residence, place of birth, nationality, or citizenship

– special or periodic inquiries regarding migration, such as a

registration of aliens or a count of citizens overseas

• Population registers

Source: Shryock, Siegel and Associates, 1976



Source: Country Migration Report: The Philippines 2013, p. 281



The CPH considers OFWs and other OFs as

members of the household

The CPH lists the following as members of the household:

• Those who are present at the time of visit and whose

usual place of residence is the housing unit where the

household lives

• Family members who work overseas for less than 5

years and are expected to be back within 5 years from

the date of last departure

• Those whose usual place of residence is the place

where the household lives but are temporarily away at

the time of the census for the following reasons:

– On vacation, business trip or training within the Phils. but expected to be back with in 6 months from the date of departure



– On vacation, business trip or studying/training abroad and are expected to be back within a year from the date of departure

– Working or attending school in some other place but usually comes home at least once a week

– Confined in hospitals for a period of not more than 6 months

– Detained in a jail or military camp for a period of not more than 6 months

– on board coastal, interisland or fishing vessels in Phil. territories

– on board oceangoing vessels but are expected to return within 5 years from the date of departure

• Boarders/lodgers or employees of household operated

businesses who do not usually return/go to their

respective homes weekly



• Citizens of foreign countries who have resided or are

expected to reside in the Phil. for at least a year from

their arrival except members of the diplomatic missions

and non-Filipino members of international organizations

• Filipino “balikbayans” with usual place of residence in a

foreign country but have resided or are expected to

reside in the Phils. for at least a year from arrival

• Persons temporarily staying within the household who

have no usual place of residence or who are not certain

to be enumerated elsewhere



Survey of Overseas Filipinos (SOF) also considers

OFWs as members of the household

• The SOF aims to provide data on overseas Filipinos

particularly the OCWs and their contribution to the

economy. Specifically, the survey has the following

objectives:

– to obtain national estimates on the number of overseas Filipinos including overseas workers and their socio-economic characteristics;

– to provide estimates on the amount of cash and in kind transfers received by the families and the mode of remittance.

• For purposes of the survey, only those family members

who travelled outside the Philippines within the last five-

year reference period for any reasons are included.

18

Source: http://www.census.gov.ph/data/technotes/notesof.html; Retrieved 10 Sept 2009

http://www.census.gov.ph/data/technotes/notesof.html



Emigration data issues

• The 2010 census data have 1.505 million listed as

overseas workers

• The October round of the LFS/SOF in 2010 identified

2.085m OFWs

• CFO data have 86,075 registered Filipino emigrants in

2010

• In 2010, OFs by migrant category estimated at 9.453

million (4.423m permanent, 4.324m temporary, and

0.704m irregular)

• Phils. data on migrant stock for 2010 do not tally with

statistics at countries of destination as reported to the

UN and OECD (UNPD: 1.854 million; OECD: 1.766

million)



Immigration Data issues

• Census data shows that there were 177 thousand

foreign nationals in the Phils. In 2010

• In 2010, BI has registered 22,018 aliens and BLES

issued 14,325 work permits to aliens

• BI collects info from international travellers using the

entry and exit cards but processing is done by DOT for

data analysis on tourism; other data collected are not

processed

• Immigration data are not readily accessible (not posted

on the website) but need to be requested

• Very little information are available on the socio-

economic profile of immigrants to the Philippines



International Migration Data Prospects

• Inclusion of immigration and emigration data, particularly

stocks and flows, as designated statistics in the PSS,

which would require

– provision of standard definitions and indicators/questions/items to be adopted by data collection agencies

– revision of standard forms used to accommodate additional information for the profiling of immigrants and emigrants

– Inter-agency collaboration in the collection, processing, analysis and publication of international migration data

• Conduct of a National Migration Survey to examine

various types of moves/migration (e.g., return migration,

circular migration, chain migration, among others)



International Migration Data

in the Philippines Issues and Prospects

Nimfa B. Ogena

University of the Philippines

Population Institute

(email: [email protected])

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