Exploring the Philippines - An Emigration Nation with Associate Professor Yasmin Ortiga
Exploring the Philippines - An Emigration Nation with Associate Professor Yasmin Ortiga
By SMU City Perspectives team
Published 2 December, 2025
“The Philippines … is a country that has sent out a lot of migrants. … What makes the Philippines quite unique is that it’s really very organised in its deployment of its own citizens to jobs outside the country.”
Yasmin Ortiga
Associate Professor of Sociology at the School of Social Sciences; Area Coordinator, Sociology, Singapore Management University
In brief
- In the Philippines, nursing degrees are seen as a ticket out, not a tool to improve domestic systems. This “export-oriented” mindset reframes citizens as mobile commodities in a global market,especially in nursing and tech.
- Filipino families often see migration as proof of personal sacrifice and resilience. But this perspective obscures how states like the Philippines rely on labour export to stabilise their economy, by shifting responsibility from the state to the citizens.
- College curricula are tailored to overseas job markets, and students are taught not how to solve problems at home, but how to pass foreign licensure exams. What looks like education reform may just be upskilling for the global job market. But COVID-19 forced a recalibration of this approach, with implications for countries that rely on nursing talent from the Philippines.
The nursing profession is so undervalued and so, taken for granted. But at the same time it's such a tough and difficult type of, career to pursue. That’s why it’s a fascinating area of study.
Methodology & References
- https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5124&context=soss_research
- https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003374367-3/shifting-employabilities-skilling-migrants-nation-emigration-yasmin-ortiga