The True State of the Nation: Why Are Filipinos Still Forced to Leave?

Migrante Canada Statement | July 2026

As President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address, Migrante Canada joins Filipinos around the world in asking a simple but urgent question:

Has the life of the ordinary Filipino truly improved?

The government's report may highlight economic growth, infrastructure projects, foreign investments, and the Philippines' reclassification as an upper-middle-income country. Yet for millions of Filipinos, the true state of the nation cannot be measured by statistics alone. It must be measured by whether families can afford food, workers can earn a living wage, farmers can sustain their livelihoods, young people can find decent jobs, and whether Filipinos can build a future in their own country without being forced to leave.

For migrant Filipinos, the continuing exodus of our people tells a different story.

Every day, thousands of Filipinos leave to work overseas—not because they lack patriotism, but because they lack opportunities at home. Their labour sustains economies across the world while their remittances continue to prop up the Philippine economy. Overseas Filipino workers are celebrated as modern-day heroes, yet their migration remains a painful reminder of the state's failure to provide decent work and genuine development at home.

The government's celebration of the country's upper-middle-income status should therefore be viewed with caution. Economic classifications do not erase the realities of poverty, precarious employment, widening inequality, or the millions of families separated by labour migration. Development cannot be considered inclusive when it continues to depend heavily on the sacrifices of migrant workers.

At the same time, we remain deeply concerned by persistent issues of corruption, weak public accountability, and the diversion of public resources away from essential social services. Every peso lost to corruption is a classroom that was never built, a hospital that remains understaffed, a farm left without support, and a community denied the infrastructure it needs. Accountability cannot stop at speeches. It must result in transparent governance, independent investigations, and meaningful action against those who misuse public funds.

We echo the longstanding calls of organizations such as IBON Foundation and many labour, peasant, and development advocates for a new direction in Philippine economic policy—one that prioritizes genuine national industrialization, agricultural development, decent jobs, and support for Filipino enterprises instead of relying primarily on labour export, import dependence, and incentives for foreign capital.

As migrants, we know that remittances help sustain families and contribute significantly to the Philippine economy. But remittances should never become a substitute for a national development strategy. No parent should have to spend years away from their children simply because decent work is unavailable at home. No young Filipino should feel that migration is the only path toward a better future.

This year's State of the Nation Address should not merely be an inventory of accomplishments. It should honestly confront the structural challenges facing the country: corruption, rising inequality, food insecurity, inadequate public services, the erosion of workers' rights, and the continuing dependence on overseas labour.

Migrante Canada believes another future is possible—one where migration becomes a genuine choice rather than an economic necessity.

We call on the Philippine government to:

• Create decent, living-wage jobs through genuine national industrialization and sustainable agricultural development.

• Protect workers' rights, strengthen labour standards, and uphold trade union freedoms.

• Invest in quality public education, universal health care, and accessible social services.

• Ensure transparency, accountability, and decisive action against corruption.

• Reduce dependence on labour export by creating meaningful opportunities for Filipinos at home.

• Pursue an independent foreign policy that places the interests, sovereignty, and welfare of the Filipino people above geopolitical rivalries.

As we commemorate another State of the Nation Address, we stand with workers, farmers, Indigenous Peoples, fisherfolk, women, youth, migrants, and all sectors struggling for social justice and genuine development.

The true measure of our nation's progress is not how many Filipinos leave to survive abroad, but how many can choose to stay, work, and live with dignity in the Philippines.

We call on Overseas Filipinos:

Makibaka, Huwag Matakot!

Tumindig, Lumaban at Makiisa sa Sambayanang Pilipino!

Itakwil ang Papet, Pasista, Korap, at Pahirap na Rehimeng US-Marcos Duterte!

###