Multi-level Policy Approach in the Governance of Labour Migration: Considerations From the Philippine Experience

With 40 years of experience in labour migration, the Philippines has designed a comprehensive approach for its governance that other countries of origin in Asia look up to. The objectives of the migration policy consist in facilitating the employment of Filipino workers abroad and the consequent economic benefits, while ensuring safe and decent conditions for the workers, through a variety of measures, including regulating the recruitment industry, training migrants through specific programmes, supervising the terms and conditions in the labour contract, and making available a system of redress for victimised migrants. These objectives are reached through the national migration policy. However, the national policy has inherent limitations, both in terms of design, implementation and reach, as the outreach of the Philippine government while migrants are abroad is limited to diplomatic and other services. For this reason, the Philippines has engaged both in bilateral and multilateral cooperation. This paper, after presenting the development of migration from the Philippines at the three policy levels, will briefly assess the efficacy of such policies, using indicators, such as growth of migration flows and coverage, to conclude that all three levels must be pursued, with some preference for the bilateral approach within a multilateral framework.