Chapter 1: Filipino Families in Motion

The scale, extent and diversity of international labor migration from the Philippines has become legendary. The statistics are remarkable. Some 10 percent of the country's population - 7.41 million as of December 2001 - live and work abroad. In the late 1990s, the yearly deployment of Filipino workers averaged 800,000 each year. In 2003, 867,969 left to find work in more than 100 destinations. In the same year, some $7.6 billion worth of remittances were ploughed back into the economy, a major boost to the country's lifeline.¹ There is more beneath and beyond the statistics and the dollars.

The migration of Filipinos to work in other countries has been a source of mixed blessings to the country. On the one hand, the economic benefits of migration have enabled ordinary Filipinos to attain a better life. Remittances have bankrolled the building of homes, the education of children and some businesses. For the country, remittances mean revenues and a major source of foreign exchange. On the other hand, the social costs are a cause of great concern. Unlike economic impacts, socials costs are more difficult to measure. The very act of migration itself raises serious questions. What does it mean that many Filipinos are leaving the country to find work elsewhere? Are people losing hope in carving a future in the country? Since migration is not always safe, there are also concerns about the safety and protection of Filipino nationals abroad. Most of all, there are anxieties about the consequences of separation for families. How can families weather the strains brought about by separation? What kinds of adults will result from children who will be growing up without fathers, mothers, or both?

These questions have assumed more importance - and have also been laced with greater alarm - with the increasing participation of women in international labor migration. In the 1970s and 1980s, the departure of fathers, mainly to the Middle East, already caused apprehension. Somehow this was assuaged by the thought that mothers were around to pull the family together. Also, fathers leaving the home to find work elsewhere was part of their role as providers. In the 1980s, women started to take up jobs abroad and the trend has become irreversible. With women's migration, more questions came up and more unease was felt.² Given the role of women as the primary caregiver in the family, their departure has put the well-being of the family on the line. Can fathers - or other caregivers - take the place of mothers? How will the family adjust to the absence of mothers? How will children be raised without the "light of the home" (ilaw ng tahanan)? The migration of women, thus, posed more concerns about the family, and by extension, Filipino society. What will become of Filipino society if the family were endangered? Considered by Filipinos as central to their sense of well-being (e.g., SyCip, Asis and Luna, 2000), the family is also widely regarded as the source of strength of Filipino society. Former President Corazon Aquino (2002:109) has remarked:

Much of our national traits - both good and bad - spring from our sense of family. On the negative side, this has tended to breed nepotism, overdependence and parochialism, stunting the growth of a dynamic, entrepreneurial culture. On the positive side, this strong sense of family has made us rather sensitive - what we might call a "feeling" (more than a "thinking") people. When pulling together, we can be a caring, hospitable, closely-knit community founded on a strong sense of kinship.

Perceptions and Research Findings: Do They Meet?

In the realm of public opinion, the verdict is largely negative. Many stories, rumors and speculations circulate about philandering husbands or wives, spendthrift children and children becoming wayward. Findings from research present a less monolithic picture or at least more variable outcomes.

When men migrate, the left-behind wives indeed assumed more responsibilities with their dual roles as fathers and mothers (e.g., Go and Postrado, 1986; Arcinas and Bautista, 1993). Although the experience was not easy, the wives acknowledged that they learned new things about themselves. Capable wives were also behind families which successfully managed the economic advantages brought about by migration (Arcinas and Bautista, 1993).

When women migrate, it appears that families go through more adjustments _ this is not surprising because changes in women's roles often have more implications for the family than changes in men's roles. If women assume men's responsibilities when the men are not around, men do not as readily take up caregiving. There are indications, however, that gender roles are not immutable. Data from in-depth studies indicate that changes are underway. In their wives' absence, some men had come to experience how it is to cope with the demands of paid work and caregiving, which has opened their eyes to women's multiple tasks; in some cases, men opted to become full-time caregivers (e.g., Asis, Huang and Yeoh, forthcoming; Asis, 2001; Pingol, 2001). Due to the nature of the data, it is difficult to say whether these observations are true only for a few cases or whether they apply to the larger population.

Findings from studies on left-behind children also paint a less pessimistic picture than popular perceptions suggest. Cruz' (1987) survey of high school and college students in selected Catholic schools in Metro Manila, Batangas and Pampanga (n=462) reported similarities between the children of migrants and non-migrants in their values, attitudes and behaviors. The children of migrants did not come out to be more problematic than the children of non-migrants. When asked to weigh the pros and cons of their parents' migration, the children of migrants overwhelmingly saw more advantages than disadvantages. Similarly, a recent study by UP et al. (2002) did not find decisive evidence that the children of migrants were disadvantaged or more problematic compared to the children of non-migrants. Focusing on children 10-21 years old (n=2,388), the nationwide study did not detect markedly positive or negative psychological outcomes. The two groups of children exhibited similar academic performance; in terms of health, the children of migrants perceived themselves to be healthier compared to the children of non-migrants. Qualitative studies also point to similar tendencies. Parreñas' (2002) study of young adults left behind by migrant parents shows that although the children experienced emotional hardship, the support from extended families and communities, communication with their migrant parents, and an appreciation of why their parents had to leave ease their difficulties.

Battistella and Conaco (1998, 1996) investigated the impact of parental absence on the younger children left behind. They surveyed 709 children in the ages 10-12 years old in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal and Quezon. Comparing four groups of children - children of non-migrants (both parents present), children of migrant fathers, children of migrant mothers, and children with both parents abroad - they found that children of migrants were generally well-adjusted and cared for by the extended family. The absence of parents, however, did make a difference in the children's grades and social adjustment. In particular, the children of migrant mothers had lower grades and poorer social adjustment compared to children in the other groups.

Although there has been considerable research delving into the consequences of migration on the left-behind families, the findings are far from conclusive. There are several limitations which characterize existing studies.

• Most studies are limited to communities that are known to be major areas of migration, mainly in Luzon. In other words, a national picture is sorely lacking.

• Very rarely do existing studies utilize probability sampling. Most of the time, the sampling is purposive, which does not allow for findings that can be extended or generalized to the larger population.

• Many studies focus solely on respondents from OFW families or households. While this gives a good picture of the experiences of OFW families or households, the lack of comparison with respondents from non-OFW families or households is a problem.

• Almost all studies have a cross-sectional design which does not capture changes or trends over time.

Aside from design issues, other questions call for further research. What will a nationwide study reveal about the impact of international labor migration on young children? How do children view their parents' migration? What roles do children play, if any, in the adjustment of families to the absence of one or both parents? What kinds of values and socialization process are imparted to children in migrant and non-migrant families? How do children and families left behind view the family in the context of migration? These are concerns that prompted the need for a systematic study.

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¹ The stock estimate of the overseas Filipino population came from: www.poea.gov.ph/docs/Stock Estimates Filipinos Overseas 202001.xls, accessed 30 June 2004; data on the 2003 deployment came from: www.poea.gov.ph/docs/DeployedOFWsBy Destination1998-2003.xls, accessed on 30 June 2004; data on remittances came from: www.bsp.gov. ph/statistics/spei/tab1.htm, accessed on 30 June 2004.

² The Philippines is one of three countries of origin in Asia - along with Indonesia and Sri Lanka - where women comprise the majority of legal migrant workers deployed every year. In the case of the Philippines, women are the majority of the new hires (land-based) deployed every year.