A recently conducted survey of Pulse Asia shows that twenty two percent of Filipinos would leave the Philippines for good given the chance. The survey was based on 1,200 respondents aged 18 and above.

“The figure is quite high compared with the surveys we’ve made three to four quarters ago,” noted Felipe Miranda, Pulse Asia chief and a political science professor at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.


He added that the figures were probably a “world record,” and suggested that more and more Filipinos are increasingly losing hope of achieving a better life in their country where 4 in 10 live on less than $1 (or more than P55 at the current exchange rate) a day.

“There are so many difficulties in the country—like in our economy, poverty is one of the problems we have. These are among the contributory factors,” Miranda said.

But the main reason he said why many people want to migrate is that they cannot find enough favorable results in the system of government “trustworthy” to free the people from the shackles of poverty.

He noted that most of the respondents who want to leave are young ones who are idealistic.

“Some 18 to 20 million young people think of pushing their ideas in the country, but given the situation we have, they may retain their idealism anywhere because they are cynical of the prospect of the country,” Miranda said.