In Mariette’s* home province Nueva Ecija, there are so many tropical cyclones that affect her family that she can no longer keep track of them.
The weather disturbances were one of the reasons why she became an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) 11 years ago, taking on domestic work in Dubai, Kuwait, and now, Abu Dhabi.
While there are too many to mention, the recent Super Typhoon Pepito (Man-yi), which struck the country in November, will be one to remember for Mariette as she watched what happened from another side of the world.
“Maraming nagdaan na bagyo noong umalis ako. Laging nababagyo doon. Pero ngayon, kay Pepito, sobrang lakas. Ang daming nasira sa amin. Ang mga palay, ‘yung mga bukid, ‘yung iba naging kalsada na,” she said.
(Many storms have hit since I left. Our place has always had to deal with storms. But now, with Pepito, it was so strong. So many things were damaged. The rice grains and fields turned into what looked like roads.)
Mariette’s husband, a farmer who tends to rice fields and a pig, was only able to harvest enough for some food to get them by, she said.
This OFW family is part of the phenomenon of climate change-influenced labor migration. In the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index, the Philippines ranked fourth among countries most affected by extreme weather events from 2000 to 2019, even if it is one of the smallest contributors to the causes of climate change.
In a span of less than a month, the Philippines weathered six tropical cyclones from late October with Kristine (Trami), to Leon (Kong-rey), Marce (Yinxing), Nika (Toraji), Ofel (Usagi), and Pepito in mid-November, displacing at least 685,071 people from the last three storms alone.
As the country braces for another year of storms that may hit as hard as these, climate change adaptation may have to go beyond the typical readying of food packs and preparation of evacuation centers. According to advocates, civil society groups, and policymakers, much has to be considered for the Filipinos who choose to migrate because of the climate crisis, or must deal with the added burden of caring for their families at home when disaster strikes.
Limitations
Apart from the environmental challenges, Mariette’s reasons for leaving were similar to what one might usually hear from many OFWs. Life was difficult, and her husband was not earning enough to support two of their children who were still in school.
And even if her eldest was married with his own source of income as a fish vendor, she still felt a duty to provide for him.
During one of Mariette’s earlier years abroad in Kuwait, her husband Robert* figured in an accident after a storm. After their mango tree was toppled onto their roof, Robert climbed up to retrieve whatever fruits could still be salvaged, but slipped and fell.
“Masakit [noong narinig ko ‘yun]. Hindi ang asawa ko ang nagsabi. Mga anak ko ang nagsabi na nalaglag ang papa nila,” she said. (It was painful for me to learn what happened to my husband. But he wasn’t the one who told me about it. It was my children who told me that their papa fell.)
Robert did not want to go to a hospital despite sustaining a back injury, and Mariette thinks one reason was medical costs. Instead, he had it massaged (hilot) and insisted he was okay. But at present, Robert occasionally feels pain in his back, and Mariette suspects it was because of the incident that occurred almost a decade ago.
Mariette usually remits P18,000 to P20,000 of her salary to her family every month, leaving her with just around P2,000 for her personal expenses and savings. Whenever the family deals with new storms, Mariette only wishes she could send more.
“Masakit na hindi ko madagdagan ‘yung padala ko, kasi wala naman na akong idadagdag…at ‘yun nga lang ang sahod ko. Eh kung ipapadala ko naman lahat ng pera ko, kung may gugusto kong bilhin na pagkain ko, wala akong pambili…. Gusto ko din mag-ipon nang kaunti dito kasi mahirap ‘pag wala din akong ipon,” she said.
(It pains me as a mother that I can’t add any more to what I send them, because I simply don’t have any more, and that is really just the salary I get. If I send them every cent I earn, and I need to buy food, I won’t be able to buy any. I also want to set aside some money because it would be too hard to not have anything saved.)
Common concerns
According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, some 62.2 million Filipinos were internally displaced because of disasters from 2008 to 2023, with significantly higher numbers from 2011. In 2023, there were 2.6 million internal displacements, at least 80% of which were from storms and floods.
These numbers only account for Filipinos who were forced to move within their own borders, and not yet those who opted to go abroad because of frequent disasters.
Tristan Burnett, chief of mission for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Philippines, said there is still a lack of data on slower impact of disasters, such as overseas migration, even if it is acknowledged as a real phenomenon.
According to the IOM, the most common concerns among overseas Filipino breadwinners include damage to their homes, their family’s safety, their kids’ ability to go to school, and their livelihoods.
“When there’s no access to electricity, stores are shut down, and roads are impassable, families can’t get money or access the remittances from OFWs that are trying to help them. And that impacts, obviously, not only on their immediate ability to meet their direct needs, but also on their well-being and early recovery,” said Burnett.
When the six tropical cyclones battered the Philippines, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) worked to aid the families OFWs left behind, particularly in Luzon.
The DMW found that illegal recruitment tends to spike whenever there are disasters.
“Alam natin ‘pag tinamaan ‘yan, mostly, diyan papasok ‘yung mga mag-offer ng trabaho, lalo na sa abroad, kasi kailangan nilang magpagawa ng bahay. So, na-displace sila, wala pa silang bahay, so kakagatin niyan ‘yung mga offers abroad,” said DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia, whose office handles regional operations.
(We know that when [disasters] hit, that’s mostly when recruiters start offering jobs, especially overseas jobs, because storm victims need to get their homes fixed. So, they’re displaced and have no home, so they jump at offers abroad.)
Because the DMW noticed the rise of illegal recruitment during disasters, the department set up a standard procedure for whenever disaster strikes. A significant intervention is holding job fairs, where Filipinos whose livelihoods are affected can seek legitimate employment and have options apart from sketchy offers.
Olalia, who has spent several years in government with a stint as chief of the now-defunct Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, observed the gradual increase of climate change adaptation in Philippine migration governance.
“Our awareness is greater now than before. That’s for sure, because we have engagements like seminars now. The Department of Migrant Workers is more proactive now because OFWs are greatly impacted by climate change. Since climate change is one of the drivers of labor migration — when we experience typhoons, earthquakes, and destruction — they go abroad to recover their lives,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
After the six tropical cyclones, the DMW assisted over 200 OFWs from the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and Bicol who needed reintegration assistance and financial aid.
Broader picture
Some 60% of the Philippine population live along the country’s coasts. According to the IOM, within three decades, it is projected that some of these areas will be directly impacted and submerged by sea-level rise and inundation. These areas include parts of the City of Manila, Malabon City, Pasay City, Bulacan, Iloilo, Cotabato City, and more, the IOM said, citing Climate Central’s Coastal Risk Screening Tool.
With migration as an adaptation strategy, the IOM approaches migration governance in three ways: looking at solutions for people to move, solutions for people who are already on the move, and solutions for people to stay.
The Philippines’ National Adaptation Plan submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in June contains a section on human mobility post-displacement.
However, for Burnett, one of the drawbacks is, “despite all of the international agreements and a lot of strong examples of policies and programs globally, the scale of action and the pace of the change [are] still insufficient to meet the needs and to make a real dent.”
“I think that there is more support and interventions, of course, that are needed,” she added.
One example she gave is how, amid the risk of human trafficking after disasters, messages on how to migrate safely should be integrated into risk mitigation measures and during emergency responses. Even if some communities may be aware of what human trafficking and illegal recruitment are, some may still take risks when opportunities arise.
Another is paying attention, too, to the mental health of communities who live in areas that are disaster-prone. In her trip to Naga City from December 10 to 11, Burnett observed how the communities expressed their anxiety over being hit by storms, one after the other.
“Even before storms and also afterwards, [we must] not ignore the immediate and longer-term impact on people’s psyches particularly when the life-threatening part of it is over, but then how the livelihood deprivation, maybe not accessing health care or medicine, can lead to depression.”
A resilient future
The IOM noticed that returning OFWs have an increased capacity to use their resources to invest in climate resilience, particularly through more durable housing.
“When we were looking at the shelters after Odette, a lot of the shelters that remained standing were OFW homes, made of concrete,” said Burnett, referring to Typhoon Odette (Rai) in December 2021. This brought up new questions on how countries could invest better in migrant-sending countries like the Philippines.
Women Workers United (WWU), an alliance of women labor leaders, included in a newly-released Women Workers Agenda how governments must pay attention to women’s unique needs in the climate crisis and how these may sometimes push them abroad.
“People will go to this country and that country. But all of the world is in a climate crisis. So where will you go? Governments should answer that,” said Edna Paz Porte, a WWU convenor.
In 2025, the Philippines is set for its first full year as the host of the Loss and Damage Fund Board. Advocates are pushing for the board to be more inclusive of civil society.
“We need to push for recognition that human mobility in the context of climate change exists, and that concrete steps need to be taken to address it. I think the Philippines is in a good position to be pushing that forward,” said Burnett. – Rappler.com
*Names have been changed for privacy at the request of the OFW.