Filipino-American Club of the Jersey Shore, Monmouth County, New Jersey, filamorg.com

   "More than one million Filipinos have left the country as of September this year despite the economic downturn hitting different parts of the world, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said Friday.

Data from the POEA said overseas workers deployment has increased by 25.9 percent as of end-September with 1,005,767 land-based and sea-based workers deployed in the first nine months.

POEA chief Jennifer Manalili said that the number of newly hired workers increased by 28.8 percent from 258,176 OFWs deployed in 2007 to 332,650 this year.

Land-based workers made up the bulk of the overseas workers, registering a 6.2 percent increase in deployment this year. The hiring of sea-based workers, which recorded a decrease in the past years, posted a six percent increase in the first nine months of 2008.

Manalili said latest POEA data showed that the government has already achieved 71.9 percent of the target 1.3 million contracts to be processed this year. She said the POEA had already exceeded the annual target of one million workers deployed, with three more months remaining in the year."