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We got some heartfelt reactions about the issue on
our overseas Filipino workers last column. Here’s one from Tony
Jarque. I’ve threaded together his three emails.
I am an ex-OFW, having worked in
Saudi Arabia for more than 20 years.
Being one of the stakeholders, it
always interests me to read any article about OFWs like what you
wrote in (last) Saturday’s edition of Manila Times.
There are so many reasons why
people have to work abroad but mainly due to financial reasons. It
is not that there are no jobs available here in the Philippines, but
like me, being a mechanical engineer by profession, I was lured by
the relatively higher income when I work overseas.
Then my family’s standard of
living is raised as soon as I became a dollar earner. Also, as soon
as one earns more, the family ties become extended so overseas job,
which is supposed to be temporary in nature, becomes almost
permanent. OFWs maybe likened to those who are in self-exile as such
they are not only the new heroes of the land; they are living
martyrs.
While facts and figures about the
OFWs are quite revealing, what is more important is what we can do
to help them in their reintegration, in coming home soon enough. We
owe them so much, considering that their remittances keep our
economy afloat.
People think that OFWs and their
families are better off because of the relatively higher income they
get from working abroad, but most people are not aware that more
problems are created due to distant relationships. We need to find a
more holistic approach in solving migration problems.
We cannot continuously discuss
the flight of the OFWs and yet do not contribute to finding
solutions to their woes. Accusing the government of not doing their
share does not help either.
Based on my experience, I know
that the key to coming home is lowering one’s lifestyle. When I
resigned from a good and high-paying job in Saudi three years back,
my colleagues there told me, “Nakahiga ka na sa kama, bakit
gugustuhin mo pang bumalik sa banig? Bakit parang inaayawan ko ang
suwerte.”
But now I can ask them, sino kaya
ang mas suwerte sa amin, ako na nakauwi na o sila na nandoon pa?
OFWs need financial literacy to
teach them how to manage their money effectively, they have
psycho-social problems, some have marital problems, their children
are brought up by single parenting.
At present I am connected with an
NGO Economic Resource Center for Overseas Filipinos (www.-ercof.org).
Our main program is to harness the potential of migrant remittances
for the development of local economies.
I am also about to start an IT
learning center here in our hometown Jagna, Bohol, as I see Internet
as a great leveler. IT learning should be brought from the cities to
the countryside and be made community-based.
I always say that a poor country
and consumer economy, coupled with exposure to western culture, is a
very bad combination. Lately, we went into sachet economy and now
microfinance is the talk of the town. For me that is a bad
combination, too. Please allow me to explain.
With microfinance, the
entrepreneurial poor are given capital for their microentrepreneurs.
While there is nothing wrong about that, however, it only covers one
side of the equation—the supply side. So granting that the income
of these entrepreneurial poor increases, it only fuels consumerism
further. With sachet economy, even nonessentials become affordable.
Just look at the TV commercials dominated by shampoos. So where does
this end up? The rich (capitalists) becomes richer and the poor,
poorer. The income of the poor people are only being siphoned up and
the gap between the haves and the have nots widen.
Living a frugal life in a
consumer society is a tough one. I have heard poor people say, “If
I have the resources, living a frugal life only means I have to
continually deprive myself.” I believe this is the dilemma that
most OFWs have.
(moje@mydestiny.net,
www.learningandinnovation.com, www.paradigmsandparadoxes.ronjie.com)
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