Filipino: an Exported Workers

Extemporaneous Speech
Topic: Filipino : An Exported Worker

Before anything, I would like to greet my fellow students and teacher a warm, good afternoon. I am here standing before you now to state my opinions regarding the topic: "Filipino : An Exported Worker".
If you ask a normal person what comes to their mind whenever they hear the word "OFWs", they would usually come up with a common answer, That is, an OFW is person who’s working or studying in another country. Well, it is no doubt that the Philippines’ biggest export now are the OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers). For now, I will remind everyone about the real meaning of OFW, and why is it said to be an exported workers.
Well, an Overseas Filipino is a person of Filipino origin who lives outside of the Philippines. This term applies to Filipinos who are both abroad indefinitely as citizens or permanent residents of a different country, and to those Filipino citizens abroad for a limited, definite period, such as on a work contract or a student. It can also include seamen and others who work outside the Philippines but are not residents, either permanent or temporary, of another country.
They are known by a variety of terms with slightly different and sometimes overlapping meanings. Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs are Filipinos working abroad that are expected to return permanently either upon the expiration of a work contract or upon retirement. Filipinos who have become citizens of another country and have returned to the Philippines for a temporary though extended visit are called Balikbayan. Global Filipino is a term of more recent vintage that less widely used.
More than a million Filipinos every year leave to work abroad through overseas employment agencies and other programs, including government-sponsored initiatives. Many of them are women applying as nurses or domestic helpers and personal service workers. Others emigrate and become permanent residents of other countries. Overseas Filipinos often work as doctors, physical therapists, nurses, accountants, IT professionals, engineers, architects, entertainers, technicians, teachers, military servicemen, seafarers, students, caregivers, domestic helpers and fast food workers. That’s the reason why they are said to be an exported workers.
Let us proceed to the population. As of 2010, the Commission on Overseas Filipinos estimated that approximately 9.5 million Filipinos worked or resided abroad. This is about ten percent of the population figure of 94.01 estimated by the National Statistics Office.
When it comes to the economic impact, as of 2012, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, expects official remittances coursed through banks and agents to grow 5% over 2011 to US$21 billion, but official remittances are only a fraction of all remittances. A remittance is a transfer of money by a foreign worker to his or her home country or simply sending amount from one country to another. Remittances by unofficial, including illegal, channels are estimated by the Asian Bankers Association to be 30 to 40% higher than the official BSP figure. In 2011, remittances were US$20.117 billion.
This Philippines is the fourth largest recipient of official remittances after China, India, and Mexico. OFW remittances represent 13.5% of the country's GDP, the largest in proportion to the domestic economy among the four countries. OFW remittances is also credited for the Philippines' recent economic growth resulting to investment status upgrades from credit ratings agencies such as Fitch and S&P.
In 2012, approximately 80% of the remittances came from only 7 countries—United States and Canada, the United Kingdom, UAE and Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Japan. These countries are widely dispersed around the globe—in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, respectively.
Now, Let’s proceed to some examples of OFW problems. Based on my research, here are some examples of OFW problems, causes and how to prevent them. Let me name our first three problems…
(The First Three)

Those problems that I have mentioned are some examples of an OFW problems. OFWs were able to surpass those problems by working hard and by being a tough person . To all OFWs I salute them. They are an inspiration to their fellow OFWs and to the rest of our countrymen. Before I end this speech, I would like to thank you all for listening. I hope that you learned something. That’s all. Thank you and Godbless!