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Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines

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How We Can Help Carry the Weight of These Realities.

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How We Can Help Carry the Weight of These Realities.

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In order to “carry” the weight brought by these unfortunate circumstances, the Filipino people should learn to elect qualified government officials that would uphold their responsibility of providing better job opportunities in the country. Workers should be treated with dignity, paid for their work and not have to fear retaliation. Moreover, it is important to shed light for businesses and employers to be able to provide adequately for employees, in which they acknowledge their tasks and efforts proportionally to what they earn from their job in the local context, as to not limit the latter to the option of having to work in another country for the sake of earning more only. As small, local businesses are also becoming more popular these days, we could encourage others to support these businesses so that their livelihoods could continue to grow and help contribute to the economy in return.

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When one sees an opportunity for a better life, a man can leave and forget everything behind just to become somebody in the future; like how many victims of war face a new life forgetting who they used to be; the dark images of war made their eyes search for a brighter tomorrow. In this article, the Filipino doctors were no different to the refugees seeking for a greener pasture, forgetting the MD attached to their names and as they go along building a new life on a strange land, they are willing to start from nothing until they establish their new identity.

Citation: “When Pinoy Doctors Become US Nurses.” GMA News Online, 2015, www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/content/105993/when-pinoy-doctors-become-us-nurses/story/. Accessed 10 May 2021.

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Since 2001, the Philippine Medical Association noted that about 5,000 doctors have become registered nurses in the United States, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. GMANews.TV

MANILA, Philippines - Almost every kid once dreamed of being a doctor someday. From the moment they had their first polio shot or underwent a routine check-up, the image of a selfless, patient, and caring doctor has been embedded in children's minds. And who doesn't want to take care of lives? Care for the poor? Or help save the world? If recent statistics are to be believed, a lot of Filipinos grow up not pursuing that childhood dream. Recent studies show a dramatic drop in the number of college students pursuing a career in medicine. The decline in medical school enrollments can be as high as 50 percent while countless go on an exodus to greener pastures overseas. Since 2001, the Philippine Medical Association noted that about 5,000 doctors have shelved their hard-earned MDs (Doctor of Medicine) to become RNs (Registered Nurses) in countries like the United States, United Kingdom or Saudi Arabia. And it's not hard to imagine why Filipino medical doctors want to become nurses in the United States, the country where most health care professionals migrate. While a doctor, say from the Philippine General Hospital earns P25,000 a month, an overseas nurse can earn more than 12 times overseas. Faced with the soaring prices of petroleum and basic commodities, most Filipino doctors are forced to make the difficult choice of crossing over to become nurses which in turn create a huge void in the medical health system in the country. When the doctor is out (of the country) It is a fact that medical schools charge among the most, if not the most, expensive fees compared with other courses in the country. Therefore, there is an expected return-on-investment on the part of the family and also the person who has toiled to obtain the coveted degree. In 2005, the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) noted that about 14,694 medical-related workers, or 4.4 percent of the total share of Filipino migrant workers, were deployed overseas as newly-hired OFWs. This sector was the sixth top occupation for Filipinos abroad that year, next to domestic helpers, entertainers, factory workers, construction workers and caregivers. However, in recent years, the medical profession has experienced a slump. Dr. Fernando Sanchez, executive director of the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges, noted in a 2005 discussion that there is a declining interest in medicine as a career despite the increase of high school graduates - some of whom might have once dreamt of becoming a doctor in their younger years. "The once popular profession of medicine has lost its glitter," said Sanchez during the 2005 Philippine medical summit. "In the early 1980's the attention of the government was called to what is termed as 'reverse education' or the cross-professional migration of doctors to nursing." He explained that the growing unpopularity of the medical profession can be traced to two primary causes: The economic situation and the lack of nationalistic policies and planning. "Medicine used to be the preferred health profession but the course is too expensive for most and takes a long time before one can start earning, "said Sanchez. The World Health Organization has also considered the loss of health professionals as a matter of utmost concern. Its Western Pacific Regional Office commissioned a study in 2001 which concluded that migration was not a "overspill" but a definite loss to the country, and the negative outcomes are both financial (loss of training costs) and social. WHO noted that the shortage or complete absence of doctors in some regions or areas of specialization will jeopardize progress towards healthy communities, possibly leading to a reversal of recent gains, especially as degenerative diseases become more prevalent.

The country loses the best surgeons, bone doctors, obstetricians, anesthesiologists as well as public health doctors with the persistence of cross-professional migration. GMANews.TV

From MD to RN Based on the 2006 Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA) working paper on overseas migration, the scarcity of doctors and nurses are partly to blame for the shut down of more than 100 hospitals all over the country. However, the effect of cross professional migration is felt earlier even before the doctors attain their MDs. Dr. Armando Crisostomo of the Philippine College of Surgeons noted that the number of examinees who took the National Medical Admissions Test (NMAT)-a prerequisite in applying for medical school-has dropped by 33 percent in 2004. Throughout the country, medical school enrollees also decreased from 18 percent to74 (??) percent. "At least three medical schools have closed down due to lack of enrollees," Crisostomo noted. National Institutes of Health Philippines executive director, Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan echoed the same reasons of Dr. Sanchez why the medical professionals leave the country. Tan identified the various push and pull factors why some doctors find it simply irresistible to shift to nursing. According to him, some of the pressing reasons why doctors are pushed out of the country include the "country's stagnating economy, unstable political conditions and a general climate of apathy and hopelessness." Among the pull factors or inducements that for Filipino doctors to try their luck overseas are more socio-political and economic security, attractive salaries and compensation, more job opportunities, career growth, availability of advanced technology and the acquisition of immigrant visa. The medical doctors becoming nurses come from previous specialties like surgery, orthopedic, obstetrics, pediatrics, anesthesiology, internal medicine, family medicine, general practice, and public health. "Their age range is from 25 years old to 60 years old. Years of practice as physicians range from zero to 15 years, "Tan said. Since 2001, about 5,000 of the country's MDs left the country as RNs, most of them preferring plum posts in the US, UK and the Middle East. Migrant Filipino professionals prefer countries like the US and the UK since some of them offer benefit packages not only for the doctors or nurses but also for their families whom they can petition to join them abroad. The nursing trend has indeed attracted doctors to shift that based from the preliminary findings of Tan, at least 43 nursing schools are offering abbreviated nursing course "tailor-made" for doctors. The cross-professional migration, Sanchez asserts, is evidenced by a drop in the enrollment of freshman medical students (an average of 30 percent in 2006) as well as the decrease in applicants for residency positions in training hospitals (dropping from 50 to almost 100 percent). In 2006, about 6,000 doctors enrolled in nursing schools that have mushroomed throughout the country, according to Health secretary Francisco Duque. He added that the number of MDs taking a step back for a more financially rewarding RN license, has steadily increased since 2000. CMA noted that between 1994 and 2003, more than 85,000 nurses left the Philippines. Duque fears that the alarming rate of Filipino doctors leaving the country would pose as a big threat to the situation of the health care system in the Philippines. To curb the mass migration of health care personnel, Duque formed a team which will work on a bill requiring doctors to serve three to four years in the Philippines. 'Limited' impact? According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the exodus of doctors and nurses worldwide bears little impact on the countries they leave behind. In its 2007 International Migration Outlook, the group found out that the migration of medical professionals to 30 developed countries throughout the world represents only a small fraction of the needs of health care sectors in developing countries. "In short, although stopping the flow, if this were indeed possible, would alleviate the problem, it would not by itself solve the shortage issue," the OECD explained. The report has challenged the perception that doctors or nurses are over-represented among the number of skilled immigrants who leave their respective countries to more industrialized economies. It noted that in 2000, 18 percent of doctors working in other countries were foreign-born. It indicated that 50 percent of the immigrant health professionals working in OECD members are in the United States, 40 percent in European countries, and the rest are scattered in Australia and Canada. Filipino nurses and Indian doctors each represent 15 percent of all nurses and doctors in the OECD. The OECD also said that in countries identified as large suppliers of overseas medical workers like India, China and the Philippines, "the number of health professionals working overseas, although high, is low relative to the domestic supply and the number of doctors per person has not been strongly affected." This means that despite the perceived high outflow of medical professionals from the Philippines, there are still enough left behind to cater to the health care needs of the country. As far as the OECD study is concerned, migration's impact on poor countries' health care is 'limited.' But with more and more health care professionals leaving the country, the government fears of a looming crisis in the medical sector. The void left by the departure of medical professionals has now reached an alarming rate and left an indelible effect on the country.

Doctors seek more socio-political and economic security, attractive salaries, more job opportunities, and availability of advanced technology in looking for overseas employment. - GMANews.TV

Recommendations To address the looming crisis in the medical health sector, caused by the exodus of Filipino doctors, the Philippine Medical Association's 2005 summit suggested steps to mitigate the problem. Among the recommendations of the group is entering into bilateral agreements between the Philippines and countries like the US, UK, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Ireland that are considered as major importers of our health human resources. It also includes provisions on mutually beneficial agreements like the establishment of a trust fund to be used for health professional scholarships and continuing education; the encouragement of exchange of information between the Philippines and the health human resource importing countries; the formulation of rational and nationalist-oriented programs and the creation of medical tourism centers in several growth areas all over the country. However, Duque was quoted in a news report as saying that if he had it his way, doctors should be prohibited from migrating elsewhere to work. "While we're out there treating other people, the irony is we don't have anyone to treat our own people. Of course, the authorities will not allow it. Political leaders will not allow that. I will not allow it. If I have to respond to it today, I will close the door," Duque said. The government is planning to ban the migration of Filipino doctors by imploring the provision of Republic Act No. 8043, better known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. Duque invokes Section 5 of the law which stipulates that "the government, in pursuit of the national interest or when public welfare so requires, may, at any time, terminate or impose a ban on the deployment of migrant workers." He noted that the same provision was used to counter the alarming exodus of Filipino pilots in the late 1990s. But for the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), banning doctors from seeking greener pastures overseas is not the real solution to the problem. According to Dr. Gene Alzona Nisperos, HEAD secretary general, Duque's move does not address the real roots of the problem, the government's lack of support in the health care delivery system. "The DoH (Department of Health) is proposing solutions without recognizing the roots of the problem. This is why their solutions are untenable and token at best," said Nisperos. With the country's economy facing a recent slump, the exodus of medical health professionals has no sign of stopping anytime soon. - GMANews.TV

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Since 2001, the Philippine Medical Association noted that about 5,000 doctors have become registered nurses in the United States, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. GMANews.TV MANILA, Philippines - Almost every kid once dreamed of being a doctor someday.

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In human's natural survival instincts, there are acts that are perceived as questionable for some of those who were not in that actual life-death situation; in a much simpler sense, not everyone has completely understood a terrible decision unless they were placed in the others' shoes and forced to make it. The story of a grade 6 teacher named Mary Anne shows how she sacrificed her title as a teacher in being a domestic worker where she was forced to work in Hong Kong because of the higher salary offered to her.

Citation: ABS-CBN News. “Bandila: DOLE, DepEd to Help Teachers Working as Household Workers Abroad.” YouTube, 26 Apr. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Rf0pzRX-k. Accessed 10 May 2021

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Bandila: DOLE, DepEd to help teachers working as household workers abroad

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Marizon Ortega is a Science teacher in Cebu City who had to take into consideration working in Mongolia in order to fulfill financial needs for her family including her ill father in need of medical support and her siblings who need educational support. Relating her being an OFW to the chosen line from the poem, it shows to say how her reason for doing this may be regarded as only a job opportunity for her in the other shore or in this case the country she’s heading to, but in understanding its essence in the country where she came from carries a more profound meaning, which extends to not just a job opportunity to meet financial necessities of the family but to provide care and attention for her family’s well-being.

Citation:
Mendizabal, S. "A TEACHER ABROAD: A STORY OF A 32-YEAR-OLD SCIENCE TEACHER WHO AVAILED THE “SA ‘PINAS, IKAW ANG MA’AM/SIR” PROGRAM". GOV.PH, http://nrco.dole.gov.ph/index.php/latest-news/34-a-teacher-abroad-a-story-of-a-32-year-old-science-teacher-who-availed-the-sa-pinas-ikaw-ang-ma-am-sir-program. Accessed 10 May 2021.

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The resolve to sustain the financial needs of her family was one of the main reasons why Ms. Marizon C. Ortega, a 32-year-old Science Teacher considered work abroad as an option. Life was hard for her family in Zamboanga City back then. Apart from taking care of her husband and children, she was the breadwinner of her sick father who needed medical attention and provided the educational support of her siblings. With the meager financial resource, she decided to resign from her Php 8,000 a month teaching job at Tagbao National High School, a public school located in the mountainous area in Cebu City, to pursue an overseas job.

There was an offer for her to teach abroad. On August 27, 2008, a day after her birthday, her aspiration to work overseas came into fruition. Despite of her apprehension to teach abroad due to the possibility of uncooperative students, she grabbed the opportunity and brought her three-year experience as a high school Science Teacher in the Philippines to the Ulaan Baatar Elite International School, in Mongolia, a school administered by Turkish Nationals.

She taught as a Science Teacher and acted as Head of Science Department and Coordinator of the Science Olympiad for the span of seven (7) years which allowed her to receive a monthly salary of eight hundred (800) US dollar plus overtime at eight (8) dollars per hour and tutorials. The experience made her realize what it feels to teach outside the Philippines.

It came to pass that in 2014, Ms. Ortega had to decide on the future of her teaching career overseas. Faced with the near completion of her work contract and an opportunity for renewal for another three (3) years, she was in the midst of deliberating, once and for all, whether to continue her teaching stint abroad or to return back to the country for good. In her own words she revealed her decision.

"During that time, I have made up my mind to return back to the Philippines. It was the last year of my contract and I did not intend to renew for another three years since I really wanted to go home. My husband convinced me to go home since that time he was also applying to work abroad as a seaman. We were faced with the scenario that if both of us will work abroad, what will happen to our children? My husband argued and told me about the importance of money or family? We thought that family was more important."

Ms. Ortega made up her mind to return back to the Philippines having realized that she had successfully sent her siblings to school for them to graduate. She also had to compensate for her presence to provide the time, company and guidance of her children. She felt her family life was not normal anymore due to the distance, since for many years she was away from her husband and their children.

Amidst the uncertainties and fear of going back to the Philippines without a job, she applied online for a teaching position and sent her applications in several educational institutions in the Philippines. Then, on September 2014, she came across an article online about the "Sa Pinas Ikaw ang Ma'am/Sir" program for OFW LET passers of the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO), which she inquired thru the Department of Education (DepEd).

In December 2014, she received the needed information on how to apply the program. By January 2015, hoping to become an availee of the program, she applied online by filling up the survey form.

Her online application bore its fruits upon her return to the Philippines in June 2015, and in her own words she said: "I got the news that I was part of the program. During that time I was at the airport in Manila for my domestic flight bound for Zamboanga City. It was around the afternoon that I got hold of the list provided by the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) thru Facebook. Ms. Jennifer Cunanan of NRCO called me up for instructions and I was really very happy. I was thinking that after I will arrive in Zamboanga, the following day I will visit the DepED district office relative to my inclusion in the program. It's really timely."

At present, Ms. Ortega is working as a regular Science Teacher and a Human Resource Designate at the Zamboanga City National High School West, Zamboanga City. She thought of her experience overseas and this is what she has to share:

"Financially, it's much ok abroad. But, you know, family is more important especially the relationship. Now, I have the opportunity to guide my kids, and I can do the role as a mom, which I was not able to do...And then I can now attend to the needs of my husband when he arrives and my bonding with my kids and husband become more stronger. The emotional and psychological part becomes stronger," she said.

She has a message to her fellow OFW LET passers. "Being an OFW is a very tough job. I know it, because I have experienced being one for a long time. You are not just affected because of distance but you also fear for your safety. The only shield that you have is your prayers and faith to the Almighty God that everything will be in the right place. So just be very strong always and look at the brighter side of life."

Sa 'Pinas Ikaw ang Ma'am/Sir' is a program of the NRCO which aims to re-direct OFW-teachers to pursue or resume their teaching careers in the Philippines.

Launched in the last quarter of 2014, it is a pioneering convergence project of the DOLE, Department of Education, Professional Regulations Commission, and other relevant government agencies and seeks to provide licensed teachers who are working abroad as domestic workers or in non-teaching occupations to return to the Philippines to teach.
END (S. Mendizabal)

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A TEACHER ABROAD: A STORY OF A 32-YEAR-OLD SCIENCE TEACHER WHO AVAILED THE "SA 'PINAS, IKAW ANG MA'AM/SIR" PROGRAM

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The resolve to sustain the financial needs of her family was one of the main reasons why Ms. Marizon C. Ortega, a 32-year-old Science Teacher considered work abroad as an option. Life was hard for her family in Zamboanga City back then.

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The video narrates how 40 million Europeans between the years 1840 and 1914 left their respective countries in order to seek new job opportunities, to avoid starvation, and to find better lives in other countries like America. Unfortunately, similar to the situation today, many of them were repeatedly lied to, herded like animals, or discriminated, even if they had a lot to offer.

Citation: Green, John. “Migration: Crash Course European History #29”. Youtube, uploaded by CrashCourse, 11 Dec. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN8fjAjLLpg&t=2s

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Migration: Crash Course European History #29

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Brain Drain: The Importance of the Philippine Workforce

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Brain Drain: The Importance of the Philippine Workforce

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In most cases, immigrants face prejudice that being educated in another country does not meet the same educational standard as receiving an education from a more developed country. However, that is not the case for highly qualified and trained professionals coming from the Philippines wherein a phenomenon called “brain drain” occurs in which these workers seek careers abroad where they will be compensated more for their labor compared to being overworked and underpaid back home.

Citation: Cepeda, Cody. “PH Trails behind India, China on Countries Where Highly Educated Migrants Come From.” INQUIRER.net, Nov. 2020, newsinfo.inquirer.net/1366469/ph-trails-behind-india-china-on-countries-where-highly-educated-migrants-come-from. Accessed 10 May 2021.

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The Philippines trails behind India and China when it comes to the most common birth countries of highly educated migrants living in countries under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

India topped the list, with 3.12 million migrants known to be residing in OECD nations as of 2015 to 2016, as per the OECD via Statista. China followed suit with 2.25 million migrants, the Philippines with 1.89 million migrants, the United Kingdom with 1.75 million migrants and Germany with 1.47 million migrants.

The statistics was based on a working paper from the OECD published last Feb. 20, "A Global Profile of Emigrants to OCED Countries: Younger and More Skilled Migrants from More Diverse Countries." It was reported that 120 million people make up the adult foreign-born population (above 15 years old) of OECD countries in 2015 to 2016.

Health care professionals, especially nurses, comprise much of the highly skilled Filipino migrants in OECD countries and elsewhere. Citing a 2005 working paper on Philippine health workers migration commissioned by the International Labour Organization, the report found that Filipino nurses represented the largest category of health workers leaving the country, followed by midwives and doctors.

This phenomenon is informally referred to as "brain drain," or the exodus of highly educated and highly trained people from their birth country for jobs in other countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has inevitably affected the deployment of Filipino nurses abroad. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, during a hearing on the proposed 2021 budget of the Department of Labor and Employment at the Senate on Oct. 1, told solons there is a "strong clamor" from other countries for the services of Filipino nurses.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration issued Governing Board Resolution No. 09-2020 in April, which temporarily suspended the deployment of Filipino health care workers abroad because of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the lifting of the temporary deployment ban, as per Bello on Nov. 21, thus allowing Filipino nurses to go overseas.
RELATED STORIES: There is 'strong clamor' for Filipino nurses abroad, says Bello Graduate returns to fields with immigrant farmer parents to mark journey Hospital workers honor nurse who donated organs in her passing
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PH trails behind India, China on countries where highly educated migrants come from

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The Philippines trails behind India and China when it comes to the most common birth countries of highly educated migrants living in countries under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). India topped the list, with 3.12 million migrants known to be residing in OECD nations as of 2015 to 2016, as per the OECD via Statista.