Transnational migrants are immigrants whose lives depend on connections across international borders and have identities tied to multiple nation-states. The Philippines has become highly dependent on labor migration, sending over a million workers abroad each year, but has struggled to develop internally as a result and has uncertainties about migration's social impacts. While families benefit from remittances, the broader economic development effects are less clear, but migration perceptions have been woven into Filipino education and work aspirations in a way that could shape communities and the country going forward. The Philippines will need to explore how to better leverage migration for development and can learn from other countries' experiences with migration.

1. TRANSNATIONAL MIGRATION

3. TRANSMIGRANTS
Are immigrants whose daily
lives depend on multiple
and constant
interconnections across
international borders and
whose public identities are
configured in relationship
to more than one nation-
state.

5.  Within the Philippines, there has been much speculation about
the costs of migration:
The problems borne by migrants;
Anxieties about the destabilizing impacts of migration on families;
Apprehensions about materialism, and so forth.
 In a strange twist, the Philippines has become so successful as a
labor exporter that it has failed to develop and strengthen
development processes.
 The target to send a million workers every year is a telling indicator
that migration will be an important part of the country’s future
development plans and prospects.

6. • Even without government
involvement, labor migration
from the Philippines likely
will persist thanks to social
networks, social capital, and
social remittances that have
flourished.
• Filipino society has become
migration-savvy, having
developed the ability to
respond and to adjust to the
changing demands of the
global labor market.

7. •Although it is acknowledged that migrants
and their families have benefitted from
labor migration, the economic impacts
beyond the family level are less tangible.
•While it is acknowledged that remittances
have buoyed the country’s economy, the
development impacts have not been clearly
felt.

8. Perceptions of the international
labor market woven their way
into the educational and work
aspirations of Filipinos.
Individuals make decisions
based on perceptions of what
would be beneficial for them.
But those decisions can have a
cumulative effect on
communities and the country.

9. •While the Philippines cannot stop
people from leaving, the country will
need to explore how migration can be
an instrument for development.
•The Philippines can learn much from
international discussions and
reflections on migration and
development taking place in other
countries.