The number of overseas workers that left Cebu increased by by almost ten percent -- 9.68 percent -- from January to April compared to the same period last year.
Evelia Durato, officer-in-charge of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in Cebu, said the increase in the number of workers seeking greener pasture abroad should not necessarily be attributed to poverty.
She said many simply wanted to have a more comfortable life.
“I think the main reason (why) people work abroad is to meet (a certain) standard of living and to provide the basic needs (of) their family—shelter and education,†she said.
Higher figuresFrom January to April, the POEA has recorded 8,903 persons who left for work abroad via the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
The figure was higher compared to the 8,117 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were recorded to have left for abroad through the MCIA in the same period last year.
The OFWs who left through the MCIA are not just from Cebu but also from other parts of the country that used Cebu as their departure point, Durato said.
The highest number of workers who left was recorded in January, reaching 3,229, Durato said.
This is not surprising because most OFWs who went home during the Christmas season would usually renew their contracts in January, she said.
Durato said 1,927 OFWs left via Cebu in February, 1,537 in March, and 2,210 in April.
She said the departing OFWs were skilled workers, domestic helpers, factory workers and professionals like Information Technology graduates and nurses.
Top destinationsThe top destinations are countries in the Middle East, such as the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
In April alone, at least 435 OFWs departed for the UAE through the MCIA, she said.
Durato said there were even a few who were headed for Lebanon despite the war that erupted in that country last year.
Many of those who went to Lebanon were domestic helpers that were lured to work in that country because employers there usually pay at least 400 US dollars a month, she said.
Other destinations are Hong Kong and Singapore, and countries in Europe, such as Ireland and the United Kingdom, she said.
(By Jhunnex Napallacan, Philippine Daily Inquirer)Linkback:
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