RP loses overseas job due to SARS

RP loses overseas job due to SARS

MANILA: Job opportunities abroad for Philippine workers fell in the first half due to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) scare, Labor Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas said Monday.

A number of countries that host large populations of Filipino workers temporarily banned further deployments earlier this year after the World Health Organization included the Philippines on its list of SARS-affected countries.

"Definitely we are on the decline as far as overseas deployment is concerned," Santo Tomas told reporters.

Some 3.4 percent less Filipinos went to work abroad in the first half compared with a year earlier due to SARS and the Iraq war, Santo Tomas said without giving the actual numbers.

For the year to July 12, the fall was 5.2 percent, or 25,000 fewer job opportunities, she added.

Santo Tomas said that with the SARS threat having been lifted, the government should still be able to reach its full-year target of deploying one million Filipinos to overseas jobs this year.

About seven million Filipinos work abroad, remitting an estimated eight billion dollars to their relatives here every year, according to official estimates. -- AFP