Where the grass is greener

TO the portfolios already existing, we have just added one: the Department of Migrant Workers, an obvious recognition of the fact that Filipinos overseas are a concern of the government for two reasons: As citizens of the Republic, they deserve its protection and succor. And then there is the equally crucial concern that the mass migration of young Filipino talent overseas is not in the country's interest.

To explain that Filipinos vie for job opportunities overseas because there is not enough promise in the Philippines is to belabor the obvious. What private enterprise can pay and the salary scale of government employees are dependent on an economy that is, to put it mildly, "developing," although "precarious" would seem to be more accurate. For those who work overseas as skilled laborers or in domestic services, it is easier to be cognizant of the fact that openings for the services they offer are scarce in the country. But professionals — particularly health care workers — are a different matter. A survey of migrant professionals will show that most of them were employed at the time of migration. They had jobs, many of them stable and paying rather well. Obviously, it is the lure of higher returns — double or even triple the sum they presently receive — that is irresistible. This prompts the question: How much higher is good enough? How much more is more?