Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 58

Asian B&R Conference on International Business Cooperation (ISBCD 2018)

The Revelation of Philippine Labor Exporting

Experiences in the Context of the Belt and Road

Jingyan Duan Dan Lu*

International Business School Yunan University of Finance and Economics
Yunan University of Finance and Economics School of Finance and Public Management
Kunming, P. R. CHINA Kunming, P. R. CHINA
[email protected] [email protected]

Abstract—In the background of the Belt and Road, China get more than $12.8 billion pre-year, which support and promote
more opportunities to export surplus labors to other countries. the development of the domestic economy effectively. China
However, there are many issues about labor exporting can learn from The Philippines about comprehensive
management and administration. As the biggest labor exporting management of labor exporting, training, policy support and
country around the world, the Philippines has exported labors legal protection.
since 1960s, and it has rich experience about how to manage and
assistant labor exporting. Therefore, this paper will research and A. More Exporting Destinations and Number of Labors
analysis the Philippines labor exporting experience, and then it
will give suggestions to solve relevant current issues. According to the data from Philippines Statistics Authority,
the Philippines exported labor 24.47 million, including 11.97
Key Words—the Belt and Road; labor exporting; current issues; million males and 12.5 million females in 2015. The
The Revelation exporting destinations are throughout five continents around
the world.
I. INTRODUCTION According to the table above, the Philippines exported
Same as china, The Philippines is a developing country, 83.9% labor to Asia, and most labors was exported to Western
which was named as "Asian Four tigers" with Indonesia, Asia, about 56.3%. Besides, about 16.6% labor was exported
Malaysia and Thailand in the 1990s. However, the 1997 Asian to East Asia, and 1.1% labor was exported to Southeast Asia
economic crisis causes the Philippines economy into a tailspin, and South Asia. Except Asia, the Philippines exported labor
and the Philippines recovered gradually until 2010. The 7.1% to Europe, and 6.1% to the Americas. All above, the
Philippines’ overall economic developing speed is not as fast labor exporting proportion of the Philippines is no more than
as China currently, but the development of the Philippines’s 10% in different areas, except West Asia and East Asian.
tertiary industry is better than China. The tertiary industry is
54.6% of the national economy in the Philippines, the B. Multi-levels of the Exporting Labor
development of service industry is mature, especially labor The Philippines Statistics Authority issued Distribution of
exporting. The Philippines labor exporting started at the Overseas Filipino Workers by Major Occupation Group over
beginning of the 20th century, and it has been the largest labor the years, which shown that the multi-levels of labor
exporting country since 1960s. The population of labor exporting have been formed for years. According to statistics,
exporting is increasing steadily, because of the following the proportion of service and sales workers decreased from
characteristics, more exporting direction countries, 37.8% in 2003 to 17.6% in 2015. In addition, the proportion
multi-levels of exporting labor, perfect exporting labor service of skilled works reached 66.7%, and the unskilled workers is
law system, and effective organization and management. As about 33.3% in 2015.
the largest labor exporting country, the Philippines not only
had very rich experiences in labor exporting, but also The Philippines Statistics Authority issued Distribution of
developed it as the foreign exchange industry. The Overseas Filipino Workers by Major Occupation Group over
management of this industry is very standard and the years, which shown that the multi-levels of labor
humanization, from recruitment, which follows regulations of exporting have been formed for years. According to statistics,
recruitment, training, legal protection, and other legal the proportion of service and sales workers decreased from
problems solving [1]. 37.8% in 2003 to 17.6% in 2015. In addition, the proportion
of skilled works reached 66.7%, and the unskilled workers is
about 33.3% in 2015.
II. LABOR EXPERIENCES OF THE PHILIPPINES
The Philippines is the top one country of labor exporting,
about 10% of national population working overseas to earn

*Corresponding author

Copyright © 2018, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

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 Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 58

TABLE I. DISTRIBUTION OF OVERSEAS CONTRACT WORKERS BY MAJOR SEX AND AERA:2015

Aare % Male Female

Africa 1.1 1.9 0.4

Hong Kong 5.9 0.8 10.7

Japan 3.5 5.1 1.9

East Asia
Taiwan 4.5 3.8 5.2

Other counties（including China & Korea） 2.8 4.1 1.5

Malaysia 3.3 3.3 3.4

Southeast Asia and South Asia Singapore 5.7 3.8 7.5

Other countries 2.0 2.4 1.7

Kuwait 5.8 1.8 9.6

Qatar 5.5 6.4 4.6

West Asia Saudi Arabia 24.7 31.7 18.0

United Arab Emirates 15.5 12.2 18.6

Other countries 4.7 2.2 7.1

Australia 1.6 2.2 1.0

Europe 7.1 10.3 4.1

North America and South America 6.1 7.8 4.6

Other countries 0.1 0.2 －

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, 2015 Survey on Overseas Filipinos

TABLE II. DISTRIBUTION OF OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS BY MAJOR OCCUPATION GROUP:2016

Population Proportion
Major Occupation Group
（Thousand） （%）

Managers 758.6 3.1

Professionals 2324.7 9.5

Technicians and associate

1590.6 6.5
professionals

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Clerical support workers 1321.4 5.4

Service and sales workers 4306.7 17.6

Craft and related trades workers 2887.5 11.8

Plant and machine operators and assemblers 3132.2 12.8

Elementary occupations 8148.5 33.3

Total 24,470 －

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, 2016 Survey on Overseas Filipinos

oversea labor laws showed international characteristics as

C. Well-established Legal System
legal origin, forms, and contents [2].
In the early 1900s, the Philippines set the relevant law and
regulations to protect for migrant workers. These labor D. Effectively Organizing and Managing Labor Exporting
exporting laws and regulations have following features.
The sustainable growth of the Philippine overseas labor
1) Rigorous and practical legal system market contacted with policy encourage, governmental
The code style laws and Anglo-American system laws organizing, managing, and coordinating oversea workers. The
constitute the Philippine relevant overseas labor laws. The following are approaches of how the government manages
former includes Constitution and Labor Law, and the latter labor exporting affairs.
includes Overseas Labor and Overseas Filipino law and 1) Suitable organization management and departments
Overseas Labor Administration Seafarers' Recruitment of
Employment Regulations. The former laws set basic system, The Philippine government established complete and
rights and legal status systematically of the Philippine effective system from the central to the local administrative
overseas labor, which clearly defined roles and region, which in charge of organizing, administrating and
responsibilities of the government to protect labor rights and supervising labor exporting affairs. The overseas employment
interests overseas, and how to manage and get license for supervising agencies are mainly composed of the Department
labor exporting institutions. The latter legislated specific and of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and
practical details about overseas labor recruitment, assignment, Employment (DOLE). The overseas affairs office of DFA
license issuing, regulatory, social security, cost sharing, and takes the responsibilities of protecting overseas labor rights,
relief fund. and evaluating human rights situation and under the
international and regional human rights system. In addition,
2) Perfect legal system DFA set up labor affairs counsellors and secretaries in labor
The Philippines issued Act of Republic 2468 when the importing countries. DOLE has two branches, which includes
large-scale overseas employment boom occurred in 1915, the Philippines Overseas Employment administration (POEA)
which regulated ways and methods of managing recruiting and the Overseas Workers welfare Administration (OWWA).
and exporting workers overseas. According to the Furthermore, president of the Philippines employ overseas
international macro environment and the change of the labor affairs consultant give advices and suggestions about
domestic economic situation, the Philippines formed the overseas labor service markets development, and labor
completed legal system by issuing, modifying, and improving exporting strategies.
relevant laws during the labor exporting developing period.
The overseas labor law system takes Constitution as the core, 2) High targeted regulations
and adopts Labor Law as the basement. The Philippine government departments of labor export
management are very comprehensive, including recruitment,
3) Matched domestic laws and international rules training, international travelling, job searching, and conflicts
The Philippines created international conventions, and the solving. Each aspect has strict rules and specific management
protection and enforcement mechanisms to protect Filipino measures. For example, the Philippine government set rules
working overseas in international conferences. In addition, the about over 18 years old women working abroad, which should
Philippines government signed bilateral or multilateral be able to cope with complex situations.
agreements with different exporting countries or areas to
guarantee working condition, labor protection, and social 3) Specification of the private labor exporting agencies
security of oversea workers. According to the government statistics, the private labor
Furthermore, the Philippines based on international rules exporting agencies exported 95% workers of the total output
to formulate relevant overseas labor laws. For example, based labors in recent years. The government decreased exporting
on the international labor standards, the Philippines agencies from 1023 in 1983 to 642 in 1990 by standardized
government setup Labor Law. Therefore, the Philippines management.

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POEA supervised both the relevant government C. Complete Relevant Laws

departments and the private labor exporting agencies about In view of the existing legal problems, China should learn
exporting activities and whole process by charging guarantee from the Philippines. The Philippines based on its national
deposit and heavy fines, which can manage exporting affairs constitution to formulate laws, such as Foreign Project
effectiveness and efficiency. Contracting and Labor Services Cooperation Management
Law, and Overseas Employment Promotion Law. China also
III. MEASURES TO ADDRESS PROBLEMS ABOVE can base on New Labor Contract Law to supplement relevant
The Belt and Road initiative involves 64 countries and legal regulations, which can identify the illegal behaviors in
more than a hundred cities, including labor exporting aspects including organizing, exporting and protecting
countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia, and labor oversea labors, as well as punishment or convictions of these
demanded countries, such as the Central Asia, Western Asia actions in laws or regulations.
and Europe. Therefore, to solve the existing problems, China government should adopt the margin system to
exporting surplus labor by The Belt and Road initiative would encourage agencies to comply with relevant laws and
be an effective way to create economic benefits as well as regulations. The margin system can increase the entry
social benefits. threshold of agencies, and also can strengthen the
punishments on the offending institutions. The national
A. Increase the Number of Exporting Labors and legislation is the only way to show the importance of labor
Destinations exporting, and it is the valid approach to punish illegal
To increase the number of labors and destinations, it is activities of exporting agencies.
essential to be brave enough to Go-out. According to The Belt
and Road economic development strategy, the Chinese In addition, the relevant laws and regulations should
government should positively seek cooperation opportunities protect the rights and interests of the both pre-exporting and
in international labor market, and directly contact customers overseas workers. The relevant laws and regulations shall
in importing countries to obtain the first-hand information on specify the responsibility and obligations of agencies when
market demands. In addition, a stable network can be built to overseas workers encounter life threats, labor disputes, unfair
expand the sources of information and exporting ways by wages and other urgent situations. Besides, agencies should
finding and cooperating with the reputable human resources provide assistance in the specified time, otherwise it will be
institutions in importing countries with large labor import. held accountable for their inaction and severely punished.

The Internet is the basis for managing talent pool and D. Strengthen the Organization and Services of Labor
collecting market information. Now, the world has entered the Exporting
big data age, so it is very useful and popular to adopt big data The significant issue of China labor export is organizing
pool to analysis and know the talent information. Designing confusion. In order to eradicate a series of existing problems,
Chinese and English bilingual website pages for labor China should tackle them from following aspects, such as
services agencies can provide employment information, labor setting up institutions rationally, enhancing service awareness,
exporters, political regulations, and experience introduction and pre-travel training.
for the job seekers. Besides, it can also provide vacancy
information for the labor demand markets to establish a Firstly, the government should set up institutions rationally.
network between such a large number of applicants and The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Human
employers. Resources and Social Security should set up the management
department together for exporting labor, which should take
B. Expand the Structural Hierarchy of Labor Services responsibility to organize, manage and supervise all kinds of
Export affairs. The new set up department need to coordinate the
Expanding the hierarchy of labor services export is an basic functions of sub-departments to avoid the adverse
effective way to increase the number of exporting workers situations, such as conflicts of functions and matters
and destinations. In industries and positions which are scarce unattended. The effectiveness and efficiency managerial
in foreign countries but with comparative advantages in China. system should be established from the central to local
According to guidance of foreign employers or labor agents, governments completely.
Chinese agencies can recruit and export personnel, such as the In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should set up
accounting, nursing staffs, Chinese medicine practitioners, the labor services managerial department in Chinese
acupuncturist, cooks, food processing personnel, and embassies and consulates around the world, which focus on
electricians, which short in the United Kingdom, Australia, the labor services exporting affairs, such as the exploration of
and New Zealand. Besides, Chinese cooks are short in labor markets, protection of exported labors, and settlement of
German, and Chinese teachers are short in Southeast Asian labor dispute. The above-mentioned managerial departments
countries. According to the needs of foreign labor market, will promote efficiency and effectiveness of oversea labor
integrating the comparative advantages can not only achieve management, and it will protect their rights and interests, if
the targets of increasing both the labor services exporting the above method carried out effectively.
hierarchy and the number of expatriate workers and
destinations, but also enhance China's competitiveness in the Finally, the governmental department need to improve the
market. service awareness to provide necessary services and

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assistance for the exporting process, such as posting service, problems solving assistance, and urgent help.
recruitment information, providing information proved
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
IV. CONCLUSION
To sum up, there are both business opportunities and This paper is sponsored by Yunnan Province Department
challenges in the International Labor Markets. Therefore, it is of Education Research Project No. 2011Y021. Some data and
necessary to follow The Belt and Road initiative to solve information of this paper is from Pro. Yong Yu. Therefore,
current labor exporting problems. The above solutions and thanks for all helps.
countermeasures will improve competitive advantages in
oversea labor markets. This not only alleviates the domestic REFERENCES
employment pressure, but also increases the recognition and
economic benefits of China’s labor exporting. [1] Y. Yang, “The successful experience of the Philippines domestic
service exporting,” Theoretical Research. vol. 51, pp. 178-179, 2014.
[2] L. Wei, “Analysis and reference of the Philippines overseas labor law
system,” Academic Forum, Vol. 5, pp. 105-111, 2015.

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