Filipino workers then went on to the Mainland United States to work in hotels, restaurants, and sawmills, as well as getting involved in railroad construction.

The United States also saw increased immigration of Filipino medical professionals, accountants, engineers, and other technical workers after the war.

[6] Filipinos also worked in select areas in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, namely Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and the US territories of Guam and Wake Island.

The decree formally established a recruitment and placement program "to ensure the careful selection of Filipino workers for the overseas labor market to protect the good name of the Philippines abroad".

[5] The Marcos administration continued to expand the policy, since it served a double function: it helped relieve economic pressure by bringing in dollar revenues, and it also relieved social pressure, because many of the highly educated young people who formed the bulk of Marcos' political critics left the country to find work.

[10] Soon, construction workers and engineers also began to be recruited by multinational companies in oil-rich nations in the Middle East, which were then experiencing an economic boom.

[5] After Ferdinand Marcos was removed from office following the People Power Revolution of February 1986, his successor Corazon Aquino issued Executive Order No.

[12] Then-President Rodrigo Duterte announced that in 2021, the Philippines would limit the annual number of health professionals (including nurses) it sends abroad to 5,000, from about 13,000 that currently leave every year.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla clarified in a legal opinion that the fund "comes without restriction or qualification", and the definition of OFWs includes individuals regardless of their migration status.

[17] The Philippine government has stated officially for decades that it doesn't maintain a labor export policy, and has continued to claim so as of 2012.

[19] The Migrante Partylist has cited two reasons that the Philippine government created a more systemic labor export policy during the administration of Ferdinand Marcos: To quell dissent brought about by massive domestic unemployment and the political crisis, and to consolidate foreign exchange from remittances.

[27] Despite financial benefits from working overseas, separation from family and cultural ties have proved detrimental to the health of Filipino migrant workers.

[28] Many Filipino women working abroad have experienced worsening mental health, reporting symptoms of depression from a loss of belonging, loneliness, and guilt.