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The Hurting Heroes: The COVID-19 Crisis and

Overseas Filipino Workers
Filipinos around the world are contending with the impact of COVID-19.

By Mary Manlangit
May 18, 2020

This article is free

The Diplomat has removed paywall restrictions on our coverage of the COVID–19 crisis.

With exemptions on flights carrying

medical supplies and other essential airlift
operations, the Philippine government
imposed a moratorium on flights for a week
that started May 3. In a letter from the
COVID-19 National Task Force Chief
addressed to the Transport Secretary, the
decision was “in view of the need to ramp
up the capacity of [the country’s] systems to
properly process the growing number of
Filipino repatriates coming back to the
In this Tuesday, March, 2020, photo, volunteers and
Philippines.” As of May 6, the total number
government workers for a line as they wait to be checked
of Filipinos repatriated by the Southeast before entering a local city hall as the government
Asian government had reached 23,000, enforces the enhanced community quarantine to prevent
the spread of the new coronavirus in Metro Manila,
many of whom were Overseas Filipino
Philippines.
Workers (OFW) who had lost their jobs due
Credit: AP Photo/Aaron Favila
to the pandemic.

The Philippines has one of the largest

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diasporas in the world. There is an estimated 10 million
Filipinos abroad, roughly a tenth of the country’s population,
working for the promise of higher wages and better
opportunities for themselves and for their families back home.
In 2019, remittances from OFWs reached a record high of $33.9
billion, equivalent to about 10 percent of the country’s gross
domestic product (GDP). With the ongoing global health crisis,
how can a country in which 12 percent of households are Download PPT Infographics
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OFW-dependent, be able to cushion the imminent economic infographics. Unlimited Downloads
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threat?

The OFWs as They Grapple with the Pandemic

On May 6, the COVID-19 National Task Force informed the Filipino public that another
45,000 OFWs are expected to return home by the end of June, bringing the list of
repatriates close to 70,000. Said figures are even conservative as the medium- and long-
term effects have not been taken into account, as admitted by the national chief of the
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). In a policy brief authored by a top
Philippine university, about 300,000 to 400,000 OFWs are estimated to be affected by the
pandemic, from pay cuts to layoffs to eventual repatriation.

Among the OFWs who have been repatriated was Dwayne Infante, who worked as a
customer service executive for a bus sightseeing company in Singapore. Before the
pandemic started crawling into every economic sector, it had crippled first the tourism
industry and Dwayne’s almost three years working for the company did not a stand a
chance in deferring his employer’s layoff decision.

For OFWs who were able to stay abroad, the seeming luck of keeping their livelihood does
not guarantee immunity from the dangers that COVID-19 poses. As of writing, there are
1,819 Filipinos who have contracted the coronavirus, 214 of whom have succumbed,
including the country’s ambassador to Lebanon.

While a third of OFWs are employed in low-level positions (37 percent) per the latest
national survey, a significant number of Filipino workers are also deployed to professional
sectors such as the healthcare industry. The Philippines is well-known as a source country
for medical professionals, particularly registered nurses, a trend that had been on the rise
since the early 2000s. Many local universities and colleges offer nursing programs geared
toward meeting global demand.

In times like this, Filipino nurses are on the frontline to take care of patients of their host
countries and are thus at risk of acquiring the coronavirus. Rish (who wished not to
disclose her full name) is one of them. A first-time OFW, she is currently a nurse in a
private hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As she was fully aware of the symptoms of the
coronavirus, she hurriedly insisted on having herself tested. In the second week of April,
she was confirmed for COVID-19 and was admitted to the same hospital she works for. Rish
is in her mid-20s and is generally healthy, which allowed her to recover within a month.
Thankfully, all expenses were covered by the state and her employer continued to pay her
salary, despite a month’s worth of sick leave.

A better quality of life overseas, particularly in developed

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countries, has been the pulling factor why OFWs pack their
bags. In fact, it is becoming pervasive among the Filipino
youth. According to the 2019 report of the World Economic
Forum (WEF), about 53 percent of the country’s young people,
aged 15 to 35 years old, wanted to work overseas.

A few years after college graduation, Jirehl Carlos decided to

pursue a postgraduate degree in Canada following the 1500+ PowerPoint Infographics
footsteps of her relatives who had been in the country for Lifetime Access to Over 1500+
Premium infographics. Unlimited
more than 10 years. Her studies was supported by a Downloads

combination of merit scholarships and wage earnings from

working for a fast food chain. After obtaining a Canadian
diploma and landing a communications role in a local school, Jirehl is now planning to
emigrate permanently in the country. However, the processes for acquiring a permanent
residency have been halted by the movement restrictions both the Philippine and the
Canadian governments had imposed at varying levels to contain the pandemic. While her
host country continues to accept immigration applications, the undeniable delays that
COVID-19 caused present a bleak outlook.

In the Philippines, the acronym OFW is synonymous to “bagong bayani” (modern-day

heroes) particularly attributed to their contribution to the country’s economy despite
personal sacrifices. They were first lauded as such in the 1988 address of former President
Corazon Aquino before the Filipino workers in Hong Kong. The term remains relevant
today, but with the global health crisis, the impacts of which are out of the hands of these
Filipino modern-day heroes, the Philippine government has to step up, in various
necessary ways, to embrace its returning OFWs and to relieve some pressure for those who
are able to stay abroad.

The Philippines in Bearing the Weight of OFWs’ Plight

N
The Philippine economy saw a decline of 0.2 percent in the
DIPLOMAT BRIEF
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER first quarter, its steepest in more than 20 years. As for its full-
year GDP contraction, the country’s economic team projects
Get first-read access to major that the Philippines will suffer a 2 to 3.4 percent contraction;
articles yet to be released, as well although the Socioeconomic Planning Secretary is hopeful that
as links to thought-provoking the country will recuperate in the second half of 2020 and
commentaries and in-depth follow a V-shaped recovery.
articles from our Asia-Pacific
Nonetheless, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is
correspondents.
doubtlessly missing its remittance cushion. The Central Bank
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expects remittances to contract by 2 to 3 percent this year, a
conservative estimate in comparison to the massive $10 billion
drop (around 35 percent of the 2019 statistic) earlier forecasted by an ex-cabinet official.

While the 2008 financial crisis may have faltered remittance inflows from most affected
countries into the Philippines, the economic risk that COVID-19 is generating is more
complicated as the pandemic is penetrating in all corners of the world. More so, falling oil
prices in the Middle East, the top destination of Filipino workers, has exacerbated the
ordeal.

In the middle of the Philippine government’s implementation of modified lockdowns

throughout the country, lies the looming impact of COVID-19 on its labor migration.
Policymakers need not only to innovate with the economic loss from disturbed cash
inflows but also to instigate a best-of-situation strategy to reintegrate repatriated workers
in their home country despite the increasing levels of unemployment and other socio-
economic factors.

In April, the Philippine government imposed a mandatory COVID-19 testing and a 14-day
facility-based quarantine for all returning Filipinos. The testing and all-related expenses of
OFWs, both land-based and sea-based migrant workers, are to be covered by the
government. Non-OFWs, however, are to shoulder their accommodation costs. At present,
OWWA is overseeing 110 quarantine facilities in Metro Manila and nearby provinces while
appealing for Filipino workers’ understanding over quarantine rules as some have aired
on social media their disappointment on the lack of inter-agency organization.

Similar to many governments in the world, the Philippine government has so far unveiled
a stimulus package worth 200 billion Philippine pesos ($3.93 billion) to fund the
administration’s measures in containing the pandemic and to shore up the economy.
Among the parked budget requirements was an emergency relief for displaced workers
due to COVID-19. The government has allotted over $29.6 million OFW cash aid targeting
150, 000 affected Filipinos. The emergency assistance program grants a one-time $200 to an
approved OFW applicant. While the Labor Department has already disbursed assistance to
some 86,000 OFWs, it is still requesting for a higher allocation from the national
government after receiving over 230,000 applications.

Beyond these measures, the administration has been urged by

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the academe and labor experts to secure welfare protection
programs for OFWs. Inter-governmental dialogs should be
initiated to negotiate retainment of Filipino workers in their
jobs and if possible, their inclusion in social amelioration
programs. The Philippines may also tap multilateral labor
organizations in assisting the distressed workers. Moving
forward, the government should ensure expansive
employment and social protection coverage for Filipino
workers so as to safeguard them from any crisis the world
might have again witness.

The Philippines has already harbored the reputation of being a

resilient nation. Prior to the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic in domestic and global
scenes, the country was already confounded by the erratic eruptions of an active volcano
and now as the typhoon season is launching, its citizens can only choose to be strong.
Above the systemic government fractures rise the Filipino people who continue to depict
such resilience in both home and abroad.

Mary Manlangit is an international relations professional, and an overseas Filipino worker

(OFW), based in Singapore. She is a postgraduate alumna of S. Rajaratnam School of
International Studies at Nanyang Technological University.

TAGS

ASEAN Beat Society Southeast Asia Philippines 2020 Coronavirus COVID-19 Overseas Filipino Workers Philippines coronavirus

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