6,092 OFWs leave the Philippines daily

The number of OFWs leaving daily rose from 2,500 in 2009 to 6,092 in 2015.

Global alliance of overseas Filipino workers belied Pres. Aquino’s claim in his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the number of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) have been reduced due to supposed improved local job generation.

In its SUMA (Summing-Up of the State of Migrants Under Aquino 2010-2015), Migrante stated that under the Aquino administration, the number of OFWs leaving the country increased due to chronic joblessness and low wages – from 2,500 daily before Aquino assumed office in 2009, 4,018 in 2010, to 6,092 daily by early 2015 (per Department of Labor and Employment data).

Migrante International maintained that the number of OFWs has increased significantly since Aquino took office. By 2012, at least one-fourth of the country’s labor force has gone abroad to find work. According to DOLE, there are now 12 million OFWs abroad. Migrante International pegs the number of overseas Filipinos between 12 to 15 million, to include undocumented OFWs.