The Philippine National Recording Systems on International Migration

Abstract

The Philippines is a country of emigration that has been the source of significant migration flows heading mostly to the United States and, since the mid-seventies, to the labor importing countries of the Middle East. However, despite the importance of international migration for national policy, efforts to correct the serious data limitations in the area of migration statistics have been limited and uncoordinated. In fact, most estimates of emigration levels from the Philippines still rely heavily on the data gathered by receiving countries. Filipino data sources and the operation of government agencies charged with gathering migration data will be reviewed briefly below.