Arroyo on Mission to Rescue Jobs for Filipinos

By TERESA CEROJANO / AP WRITER

MANILA—Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will head to Qatar this week to secure jobs for Filipinos amid fears that migrant workers could be among the hardest hit as economies struggle with a slowdown.

The three-day trip starting on Saturday comes as labor officials estimate up to 100,000 Filipino workers abroad—out of more than 8 million—may lose their jobs because of the financial crisis.

Arroyo's office said in a statement that she wants to tap investments from the Middle East, which remains cash-rich despite the crisis following years of high oil prices.

"The fear of our overseas Filipinos is here before us," Arroyo said, referring to concerns that workers may lose their jobs.

"We are going to look at the situation not only in Qatar but in the whole Middle East," Arroyo said, adding she was visiting on the invitation of Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani.

More than 2 million Filipinos work in the Middle East, most of them in the oil industry in Saudi Arabia.

"This is a very serious situation," said opposition Senator Jinggoy Estrada. "We are faced with a scenario where hundreds of thousands of overseas-based Filipinos might be forced to return to the country where they might not be able to find jobs either."

Nearly 10 percent of the country's 90 million people work overseas. The money they send home is equivalent to about 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Remittances last year totaled US $14.45 billion, and the government projected 2008 remittances to hit $15.7 billion.