10.5: Percentage increase in airport arrivals in RP in 2007, compared to 2006. There were 11.2 million passenger arrivals in 2007 and 10.3 million arrivals the previous year, according to the Manila International Airport Authority.

1.75 million: Number of registered Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who worked abroad anytime between April and September 2007, according to the 2007 Survey on Overseas Filipinos by the National Statistics Office.

2,952: Average number of OFWs deployed daily in 2007, according to data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

19.8: Percentage of OFWs from April to September 2007 who worked in Saudi Arabia. According to the 2007 Survey on OFWs, Saudi Arabia “remained to be the favorite destination” of OFWs in 2007.

10: Number of top pharmacy professors in the University of the Philippines who flew to the United States and Canada for higher-paying posts in the same field in a span of three years. (2006)

Around 10,000: Average number of registered nurses who go abroad each year, according to POEA (2007)

$14.4 billion: Amount of OFW remittances in 2007, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). It was up 13.2 percent from 2006.

$16.45 billion: Expected amount of cash remittances from OFWs in 2008, according to BSP.

22: Number of viewing rooms for the “e-burol.” The “e-burol” is a service offered by St. Peter Memorial Chapels in Quezon City for Filipinos living abroad who cannot go home to attend the wake of a dead relative. Via the internet, relatives can watch the memorial services. The online wake viewing is available 24/7.

3rd: The district in Virginia where Robert Cortez Scott is currently serving his eighth term as representative. Scott, whose maternal grandfather is a Filipino, is the first Filipino-American elected to office in the US.

13: Number of seasons that “Dutch-Irish-Filipino” Erik Spoelstra completed as staff of the NBA team Miami Heat before he was named the team’s head coach. Spoelstra, whose mother hails from San Pablo City, Laguna, was the first Asian American to crack the head-coaching ranks in any of the three major sports leagues—the NBA, National Football League and Major League Baseball.

Compiled by Schatzi Quodala, Inquirer Research

Sources: NSO 2007 Survey on OFWs, PDI Archives, manilastandardtoday.com