An Unnoticed Modern Exodus from the Philippines

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An Unnoticed Modern Exodus from the Philippines

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At the turn of the 20th century, a significant movement of peoples began to flow towards the "first-world nations" and has continued unabated to this day. Two stimulating factors have been war—for example, the massive exodus of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees from their homeland—and economic conditions that govern the supply-and-demand dynamics of world labor markets.

My focus now is on the little-known, labor-related exodus from my country, the Philippines. Able, qualified, and willing Filipino workers must go abroad to find employment. Seeing little hope in our country's current political and economic situation, a recent Pulse Asia Survey revealed that Filipinos who expressed an intention to migrate rose from 26% to 33% just between July and October of last year. Visually corroborating this data is the perennial long queues of hopeful visa applicants at Western embassies in Manila.

The Philippines (pop. about 80 million) is one of the world's largest suppliers of a diverse assortment of exported workers. They range from doctors, engineers, nurses, teachers, technicians and entertainers to caregivers and domestic workers. It sometimes has been said that if every Filipino seaman were pulled from every sailing ship, the world's maritime industry would come to a halt.

On the supply side of the labor market, the Philippines produce thousands of graduates every year with no local employment opportunities. The scarcity of the new employment opportunities is so desperate that practicing medical doctors now re-train to be registered nurses because of the greater demand for them abroad.

In a recent issue of the Philippine STAR (a national daily newspaper), columnist Alejandro R. Roces lamented this exodus of Filipino doctors to the United States. One article titled "Doctors' Exodus Continues" said at least 2,215 doctors went abroad as nurses in the year 2004 alone. Patricia Sto. Tomas, the Philippine Labor Secretary, adds that an average of 5,000 nurses leave the country monthly. In the first 10 months of last year alone the total number deployed abroad reached 58,759!

Adding it all up, the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency estimates the total number of Filipino workers deployed abroad last year was over one million, an increase of almost 10 percent over the previous year. Based on accumulated government data available at the end of December 2004, the total number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) has now reached more than eight million (8,083,815). This figure represents more than 10% of the total Philippine population!

While this great mass of OFW is generating income equal to 10% of the Philippine economy, it is also causing an alarming "brain drain" from our nation. Filipino workers are in high demand due to their proficiency in the English language, their training in Western standards of education, their reputation as hardworking, resourceful, adaptable, and patient employees with a willingness to accept a lower pay rate and, as a bonus to some employers, their adherence to some basic Christian values.

This migration of Filipino workers from their own country is merely one example of this type of exodus of peoples from their native lands. It involves other Asian nationals as well.

A case in point is the stream of Chinese immigrants entering western Canada. I was recently on a direct flight from Manila to Vancouver which was filled with Chinese nationals. Since this has been going on continuously and cumulatively for many decades, Vancouver has come to the point—though unknown to many—that it can now in part be considered Canada's New Hong Kong!

Apart from obvious cause-and-effect economic factors, are there other reasons why these events are happening before our eyes? The Bible reveals that Noah prophesied—after the destruction of all people except his immediate family by a worldwide flood—how certain segments of the descendants of his three sons would ultimately relate to one another.

Only Noah's son Shem followed his example of showing respect for God's instructions. Especially significant is Noah's statement, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem" (Genesis 9:26-27).

Shem was the ethnic ancestor of the Semitic and Anglo-Saxon people of today. Japheth was the ethnic ancestor of most Asiatic and Pacific Rim peoples. The descendants of Canaan, a son of Noah's third son Ham, settled in what is modern Palestine and consistently opposed people of Israel.

The massive ethnic migrations today are consistent with Noah's prophecy. Learn more about how the Anglo Saxon and Jewish people are the central focus of end time prophecy. Request or download now your free copies of The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy and You Can Understand Bible Prphecy.