Foreword

The Philippines has developed institutions, policies and good practices for governing the various phases and types of migration by virtue of decades of experience as a source country for international migrants. The creation of the Sub-Committee on International Migration and Development (SCIMD) in 2014 was one step forward in its pursuit of multi-level migration governance. The policy-making approach has also evolved from a primary concern to increase overseas employment opportunities, to an emphasis on migrant protection and the linkages with development. Recent attention to development has led to the inclusion of international migration in the two national development plans, the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, which continued in the newly approved Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022.

In this context, the OECD Development Centre and the European Commission began a project to provide empirical evidence on the interrelations between public policies, migration and development (IPPMD) in ten countries around the world, including the Philippines. This report, which presents the Philippines’s findings, is the result of four years of fieldwork, empirical analysis and policy dialogue, conducted in collaboration with the Scalabrini Migration Center, and with strong support from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas.

The report examines how the various dimensions of migration affect key policy sectors – the labour market, agriculture, education, and investment and financial services. It also analyses how policies in these sectors influence a range of migration outcomes, such as the decision to migrate, the use of remittances and the success of return migration. The empirical analysis is based on fieldwork in the Philippines, which involved collecting quantitative data from 1 999 households and 37 communities across four provinces, and conducting 40 qualitative stakeholder interviews.

This report is published in parallel with nine other country reports and one comparative report, which analyses the cross-country findings and provides a coherent policy framework drawn from the fieldwork and analysis in the ten partner countries. The Philippine report is intended as a toolkit for better understanding the role that public policies play in the migration and development nexus. It also aims to foster policy dialogue and provide guidance on how best to integrate migration into national development strategies. Building on discussions with key stakeholders and policy makers in the Philippines, the OECD Development Centre and the Scalabrini Migration Center look forward to continuing their co-operation to enhance the positive contribution of migration to the country’s sustainable development.

Mario Pezzini

Director of the Development Centre and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Development, OECD

Graziano Battistella

Director Scalabrini Migration Center