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From brain drain to brain hemorrhage

My column for UPI-Asia this week.

Depletion of human resources was once referred to as "brain drain." In the Philippines, it is now described as "brain haemorrhage" or "brain waste" to underscore the huge exodus of highly skilled and experienced Filipino workers and professionals.

There are more than 8 million overseas Filipino workers scattered in different parts of the world. Almost 1 million are leaving each year, most of them young and skilled professionals. Overseas workers are hailed as "new heroes" because of the huge remittances they send back home. The Philippine economy is surviving because of two things: the government keeps borrowing from foreign banks and overseas workers are remitting more than US$1 billion each month to local banks.

The migration of Filipino workers is not a new phenomenon. A hundred years ago, workers from the Philippines were hired to work in the sugar plantations of Hawaii. Massive migration started in the 1970s. The Marcos government adopted a temporary economic policy encouraging local workers to take advantage of the high demand for construction workers, engineers and doctors in the Middle East and United States. From that moment, exporting labor became a permanent economic program of the government.

Filipino workers started leaving the country in droves. Teachers became domestic helpers in Hong Kong and Singapore. College graduates became janitors in Dubai. Countries in need of low-cost but skilled labor accommodated Filipino workers who were desperately looking for better living and working conditions.

The government did not discourage workers from leaving the country. In fact, the government continued to rely on overseas remittances to keep the economy afloat. Besides, a landless peasant working in a factory in Taiwan meant one less peasant who could be recruited to join the revolutionary movement in the Philippine countryside.

Academicians are more concerned with the exodus of workers. They blame the failure of the local economy to produce enough jobs for young and old workers. Career promotions, opportunities and work incentives in the country are disappointing. Overseas workers also cite the peace and order situation and the perceived hopelessness of Philippine politics as among the reasons they have chosen to live in other countries.

It seems that almost everybody has left or is planning to leave the country in the near future. Doctors, nurses, weather specialists, pilots, geologists, engineers and marine officers are now working abroad. In short, the Philippines is losing its "brains, brawn and beauties."

A perfect example of the negative impact of unrestrained emigration of workers is the current status of the country's health care sector. The Philippines is now the number one exporter of nurses and second highest exporter of doctors in the world. Nursing schools mushroomed because of the extraordinary high demand for nurses. Even practicing doctors and other professionals are going back to school to study nursing. The top qualifier in the 2004 medicine board examinations opted to become a nurse in New York.

Because of the exodus of nurses and doctors, hospitals are closing down. The quality of health care has deteriorated. Health personnel who remain are given heavier hospital duties. Hospitals are forced to reduce standards in hiring health workers. Rural communities have no access to modern medical practitioners. Enrolment in medicine is down. Nursing education has become popular, but quality has been sacrificed.

The negative consequences of the emigration of health personnel prove that the Philippines will stand to lose more as its best and brightest workers continue to leave by the thousands every day. Overseas remittances may provide short-term relief but the loss of skilled professionals will hurt the economy more in the long run. There is already a shortage of supply of highly qualified workers in many sectors. Professionals who will manage industries and spur economic growth are to be found in foreign lands. It will take another three to four years to educate young people and train more workers before domestic industries can meet their manpower requirements.

The Philippine experience clarifies the limitations of concepts like "brain exchange" or "brain gain," which highlight the dynamism of labor migration and the benefits it contributes to developing countries. Some scholars argue that overseas workers can bring more than just investments in the country. They can share knowledge, skills and new technologies they learned abroad to energize the domestic economy. This theory may be valid for certain industries, like the Information Technology sector, but this is not wholly applicable to other aspects of Philippine life and economy, especially the health sector.

Three decades of unimpeded labor migration did not produce spectacular economic gains for the Philippines. Perhaps it's time to review the labor export policy of the government. Perhaps it's best to review other options to generate high revenues without making it necessary for workers to leave the country.

Related entries:

Labor as export
Indian doctors in RP hospitals
The doctor is out
Exporting nurses
Exporting the working class

posted by: mongpalatino at July 24, 2007 09:54 | link | comments |
economy

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