Mumbai: Sonny del Pilar tried for eight years to get work as a sailor so he could join the Philippines’ 8.7 million overseas workers, sending money to his brother’s family of nine rather than living with them in a Manila slum.
Around 1,200 Filipinos have lost jobs overseas this year and as many as 50,000 more may be laid off next year.
The 33-year-old gave up this year and set up a small shop in front of his house selling stuffed toys. He says competition from Indians, Bangladeshis and Syrians is making it harder for Filipinos to find jobs as seamen.
“I work not just for myself but for my family and my siblings,” del Pilar said in Manila. “I don’t know if I can still find work abroad. It depends on God’s will.”
The Philippines, which, for four decades has sent what the government called modern heroes to work overseas, is facing the first decline in remittances in eight years. A global recession is reducing job opportunities abroad just as a surge in cheaper labour from China, India and elsewhere ramps up competition. That’s threatening revenue that accounts for more than one-tenth of the Philippines’ $144 billion (around Rs7 trillion) economy. Read more
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