Philippine workers need jobs, not another migrant agency, critics say

A new Philippine government agency tasked to handle issues related to overseas Filipino workers is likely to bring more bureaucracy and confusion, migrant workers and specialists say, while others fear it may further increase the country’s reliance on exporting labour instead of creating jobs domestically.There were an estimated 2.2 million Filipinos abroad, according to figures released by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2020. Overseas workers have been essential for the country’s…