Three progressive Philippine regions have sent the most number of Filipino workers abroad and their families may have received about P348 billion in remittances in 2006 alone, according to a study by the nonprofit group Institute on Migration and Development Issues (IMDI).

The study thus revealed that “the benefits of Filipinos’ overseas migration reach more Philippine regions having lesser levels of poverty incidence,” in other words, the more progressive areas get the lion’s share of remittances.

In a statement released on Monday, the group said they based their research on government data from 2004 to 2007 and a survey of OFW families last year.

“Indi cross-tabulations show that migrant households’ incomes in 24 of the 79 provinces, majority of which are poverty-stricken, are lesser than the total incomes of provincial LGUs.”

Poorer regions such as Caraga, Eastern Visayas, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and Soccskksargen have lesser numbers of residents working abroad.

Imdi said the research revealed Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog and the Central Luzon regions “have the most number of overseas workers, immigrants and households that receive cash, gifts and other forms of support from abroad.”

The research was not clear, however, on why more workers from these progressive areas are leaving for jobs abroad although some veteran observers of the labor front opined that perhaps they are the more educated and, thus, are preferred over workers from the poorer regions.

Economist Alvin Ang of the University of Santo Tomas estimated that P348 billion of OFW money flowed into these provinces in 2006, with Rizal province topping the list.

Ang also estimated these families in these areas received P245.86 billion in 2003 and P208.88 billion in 2000.

The 2006 estimates cover 1.6 million migrant households; the 2003 estimates were from 1.31 million migrant households, and the 2000 estimates cover 1.11 million migrant households.

Ang, of the US Social Research Center (SRC), culled these estimates from the triennial Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES) that the National Statistics Office conducts every three years. The FIES contains the variable “cash, gifts and other forms of assistance from abroad” to determine the number of households receiving such forms of assistance, as well as the amounts received.

The provincial remittance estimates done by Ang show migrant households from Rizal province received the most, with P19.30 billion in 2006. The figure is an increase from the P9.26 billion in 2000.

Ang’s estimates also show what migrant households from Cavite (P18.16 billion), Pampanga (P16.65 billion) and Laguna (P15.22 billion) also received.