Transcending Limits: The Lived Experiences of Repatriated Domestic Workers Of La Union

This study employed a qualitative research design using a transcendental phenomenological approach to examine the lived experiences of ten repatriated domestic workers in La Union. Using purposive criterion sampling, participants were selected and interviewed through a semi-structured interview guide to gather in-depth insights into their challenges, coping mechanisms, and reasons for repatriation. Data were analyzed primarily through Colaizzi’s (1978) 7-step phenomenological method, supported by Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis procedures for coding and theme development. The findings revealed major socio-cultural, economic, and psychological challenges, including social isolation, restricted freedom, debt, financial insecurity, emotional distress, anxiety, and depression. Participants employed coping strategies such as faith and spiritual resilience, family-oriented motivation, social support, and financial discipline. The primary reasons for repatriation included physical and mental health deterioration, employer-employee conflict, unsafe work environments, and family-related concerns. Based on these findings, the study proposed the Sustained Resiliency and Reintegration Toolkit (SRRT) as a holistic intervention program to support the psychosocial, familial, and economic reintegration of repatriated domestic workers in La Union.

Intervention Program, Repatriated Domestic Workers

1. Asis, M. M. (2006). Living with migration: Experiences of left-behind children in the Philippines. Asian Population Studies, 2(1), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730600700556 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Asis, M. M. (2008). How the Philippines became a model for managing migration (Policy Brief No. 1). Migration Policy Institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/how-philippines-became-model-managing-migration [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Asis, M. M. (2017). The Philippines: Beyond labor migration, toward development and (maybe) return. Migration Information Source. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/philippines-beyond-labor-migration-toward-development-and-maybe-return [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Asis, M. M. B. (2020). Repatriation and reintegration of Filipino migrant workers in times of crisis. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 29(2), 135–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/0117196820942651 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Asis, M. M. B. (2022). Uncertain homecoming: Challenges faced by returned overseas Filipino workers. International Organization for Migration (IOM) Philippines. https://philippines.iom.int/resources/uncertain-homecoming-challenges-faced-returned-overseas-filipino-workers [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Constable, N. (2014). Maid to order in Hong Kong: Stories of Filipina workers (2nd ed.). Cornell University Press. https://doi.org/10.7591/99780801454844 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. de Guzman, M. R. T. (2014). Yaya: Philippine domestic care workers, the children they care for, and the children they leave behind. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 3(3), 197–214. https://doi.org/10.1037/ipp0000017 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Galotti, M. (2015). The price of migration: Are low-skilled migrant workers paying too high a price? International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour-migration/publications/WCMS_379782/lang--en/index.htm [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Garabiles, M. R., Ofreneo, M. A. P., & Hall, B. J. (2020). "To help my family": Internalized reasons for migration and its relationship with the health and well-being of Filipino domestic workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), Article 7750. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217750 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Guevarra, A. R. (2014). Marketing dreams, manufacturing heroes: The transnational labor brokering of Filipino workers. Rutgers University Press. https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813561660 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Gomez-Magdaraog, K. M., Burton-Jeangros, C., & Jackson, Y. (2024). Socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Overseas Filipino Workers and their left-behind families: A scoping review. Frontiers in Political Science, 6, Article 1320021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1320021 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Human Rights Watch. (2014). I already bought you: Abuse and exploitation of female migrant domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates. https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/10/22/i-already-bought-you/abuse-and-exploitation-female-migrant-domestic-workers-united [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Kikkawa Takenaka, A., Villafuerte, J., Gaspar, R., & Narayanan, B. (2020). COVID-19 impact on international migration, remittances, and recipient households in developing Asia (ADB Briefs No. 148). Asian Development Bank. https://doi.org/10.22617/brf200219-2 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Killias, O. (2018). Follow the maid: Domestic worker migration in and from Indonesia. NIAS Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Lanuza, G. M. (2002). The Filipino return migration: A review of literature. Philippine Social Sciences Review, 54(1), 1–22. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Martin, P., Abella, M., & Midgley, E. (2004). Best practices to manage migration: The Philippines. International Migration Review, 38(4), 1544–1559. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2004.tb00246.x [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Parreñas, R. S. (2015). Servants of globalization: Women, migration and domestic work (2nd ed.). Stanford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804796149 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Rother, S. (2009). Changed in migration? Philippine return migrants and (re)unions. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 18(2), 245–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/011719680901800204 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Spitzer, D. L., & Pipkin, S. (2021). The gendered landscape of return and reintegration: Filipina domestic workers navigating return migration. International Migration, 59(4), 112–128. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12812 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Yusoff, N. H., Sahrir, M. S., & Al-Adwan, A. S. (2021). Mental health issues and challenges among migrant workers: A systematic review. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 22(4), 1321–1345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-020-00790-2 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• A Decadal Overview of Welfare Schemes in Telangana (2014–2024)
• Ubuntu and the Missed Development Goals in the Global South: Rethinking MDGs and SDGs through an African Philosophical Lens
• Exploring the Factors of Obesity: Insights from Johor State Civil Servants
• Navigating the Nexus: Challenges Faced by Part-Time Postgraduate Government Employees in Malaysia
• The Lived Experiences of Skilled Filipino Women Immigrants in Denmark