Analsis on relations between migration and development policies in the Philippines

Abstract

Migration and development have been actively discussed in tandem since the two issues are highly inter-related. The fact that migration has a variety of impact on economics, society, culture and politics in both the countries of origin and destination has garnered increasing attention. The recognition of migration within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework and its targets exemplifies the growing association between migration and development.

In this research, the relations between policies for both migration and development in the Philippines have been analyzed. The Philippines is widely considered a prime example of a country in which migration has been a key impetus of national development. A high percentage of overseas Filipinos included the national population, and the third largest total amount of remittances in the world both indicate that the countrys economy and society are highly dependent on migration. In this context, figuring out the relations of migration and development policies in the Philippines will be critical to better understand the relations and impacts of migration and development and to maximize the benefits from the policies in the future.

The study begins with the two following research topics. First, relations between migration and development policies of the Philippines have been examined and the main findings are as follows: the interactions on both migration and development policies have been reinforced. However, migration-linkage to development policy has turned out to be much stronger than development-linkage to migration policy. It can be inferred that relations of the two policies are not balanced, but rather asymmetrical, which leads to the assumption that the Philippine government has been placing much focus on the incorporation of migration into development policy.

Second, the characteristics of migration in development policy and development in migration policy in the Philippines have been compared. While development-linkages in migration policy are very limited, migration-linkages in development policy are much more diversified and extended to various subjects. In particular, it is significant that economic aspects of migration, such as remittances and investment, have been newly emphasized in the latest development policy. The structure of the institutions in development and migration provide further evidence that development has relatively stronger influence than migration, and that the government is pursuing development-centered migration with its focus on the economic perspective.

Based on the above findings, the research has concluded that the Philippine government has been linking both migration and development in its policies, yet the relations are leaning towards development.