Migration to the Philippines: A Boost to its Economy

Globalization has significant impacts on the country, among the many things are economic opportunities and challenges to our security. These must be addressed by the country accordingly. With the advancements of the ASEAN, where the member countries are aiming for an open economic zone within the neighbor countries, free trade will be encouraged within the countries and could aid economic growth in all the countries. The ASEAN as a regional body will pursue greater regional cooperation on common issues such as combating piracy, smuggling, human trafficking, terrorism and other transnational crimes. With this, borders are opened for immigration. The National interest of a country is very flexible, depending on what the present situation of the international community is. For now, since there is less threats of war, the focuses of states is more on the development of one's economy. 

Boosting our economy has been one of our country's priorities ever since. One of the primary contributors to our economy is the tourism in our country. The Philippines is considered as one of the top tourist destinations because of our hospitality and nice tourist spots. This phenomenon is beneficial for our economy because it generates more income, however, this also poses a threat to our security because of the influx of foreigners. In my thesis, I am looking into the attitudes and perceptions of the Filipinos, specifically the Cebuanos towards foreigners. This looks into how the locals view the foreigners, specially the migrating ones in the area, whether they tolerate having them or not. Every man's perception and attitude towards them varies depending on one's political socialization.

The Philippines' foreign policy specifically targets national security, economic gains, and the welfare of our overseas filipino workers. These three are the things in which our contemporary national interest is closely associated with. In Article IV, Section 5 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Dual allegiance of citizens is inimical to the national interest and shall be dealt with by law. This would serve a kind of dilemma for the country, if we continue to admit migrants or not. However, Immigration is growing and expanding here in the Philippines. Every now and then, we see foreign migrants settling in. According to the Bureau of Immigrations, as of December 31, 2012 there are more than 200,000 foreigners with resident visas in the Philippines, a 6% increase compared to the data gathered in 2011. Having foreigners live in the country, gives them a good grasp as to what really is happening in the Philippines. Foreigners would get acquainted to our culture and could spread good word about the good things in the country. This eventually leads to an increase of the foreign investors in our country. One of the problems of getting investors in the country is the danger or threats that are being broadcasted by the media all around the world. However, there are two sides of a coin, it cannot be generalized that reports of armed conflict and etc. in the country, are conclusive of how bad it is to live in the country. Having testimonies from foreigners that would contradict with the negative reports would be beneficial to the country.