OUR HEROES
By Rudy M.Viernes
The Philippine government cannot provide employment opportunities to its teeming employable citizens, sad to say. So, many Filipinos go abroad where employment abounds. Thus the template OFW was coined for Overseas Filipino Worker (which used to be OCW for Overseas Contract Worker) and has become commonplace, a phenomenon nevertheless, and its here to stay ingrained in the national psyche. “Global Filipino” was another term but rarely used. Time was when one was tagged as OCW the term had a rather abject, sad-sack connotation. No longer because our government has dubbed them national “heroes.”
Hero, in mythology and legend, is an honor given to someone with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, especially one who risked or sacrificed his life for a cause, or has saved somebody from the pangs of death.
Our OFWs are called heroes by a grateful government because their dollar earnings, a record high of $17.35 billion in 2009 have saved the country from economic collapse. They don’t mind the loneliness and deprivation as long as they can achieve their dreams of putting body and soul together, sending their kids to school, enjoying little luxuries, if not opulence, especially professionals who are mega-buck earners.
In our recent visit to the Philippines we traveled north of the country. We were amazed how the provincial landscape had morphed into a once languorous landform of nipa huts into gleaming homes with TV antennae soaring into the sky, while in their garage are parked trappings of affluence like a late model car, a passenger jeep with a sign “Katas ng Qatar” or “From Saudi With Love.”
That scenery was absolutely amazing, vibrant, albeit startling metamorphosis.
Another OFW vignette. My late wife and I were in the shopping mall one December day. We were behind a young family with two carts loaded with goodies and the queues were unusually long. I figured to my wife it may take about 10-15 minutes to check those goodies in the counter so why don’t we transfer? Besides our small basket was totally paled by the two cartfuls in front of us pushed by a shopper who ostensibly was on vacation from Dubai, said so by his T-shirt.
Thanks to our heroes in the construction sites in the Middle East, factory workers in South Korea and Taiwan, the healthcare professionals in hospitals in the US and Canada, the IT engineers in Silicon Valley, the nannies, tutors and chambermaids of rich families in Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, the waiters and entertainers in cruise ships, the mariners plying in the high seas. Their dollar remittances have become a major factor that propped-up the Central Bank reserves that prevent it short of insolvency.
There are an estimated 11 million OFWs worldwide. and the exodus goes on with tens of thousands more leaving the country each year. This includes an increasing number of skilled professionals and workers taking on unskilled jobs resulting in brain drain. This is particularly true in healthcare and education.
There are medical practitioners in the Philippines, especially those working in government hospitals in the provinces, which undergo retraining to become RNs whose services abroad are very much in demand.
Filipinos in America today find it easy to integrate themselves in mainstream American society because of their high education and speaking skills with a majority belonging to the middle or upper medical classes. Filipino-Americans have the second highest median household income ($65,000) exceeding that of the US general population. Asian Indians are a bit ahead at $68,000. Filipinos are the second largest American group in the US and they live a life as sophisticated as educated Americans.
However, in other countries where Filipinos abound like those in the Middle East, there are serious issues they have to contend with. OFWs both blue collar and white collar face problems of illegal recruitment, maltreatment, and exploitation, long hours of work, limited food, or quartered in the doghouse. They suffer these indignities just so they could earn a mighty greenback to send home. These issues have become major concerns of our attaches in these countries. In many cases their pays are withheld and passports confiscated for flimsy reasons. Some domestic helpers, educated as they are as teachers, are physically or sexually abused, and maltreated. There are sad stories of Filipino entertainers in countries like Japan who become sex slaves. They go abroad for a promise of domestic work or “social services” only to be deceived into sex work.
OFWs need to be remembered more often as people with feelings and not just providers. They need appreciation and assurances of love and should be sent letters bearing tonics of good news that can uplift and revitalize them in their lonely and stressful environs. What is devastating to the OFW, after a long spell of non-communication, is when she receives a letter with a list of things that need money for — a roof that licks, a drainage that clogs, a tuition fee to be paid, or someone is sick. Or when things become dysfunctional, like failure in school, a daughter running away, a son dropping out of school and had taken into drugs. Or worse when the kitty set aside for a rainy day is gambled or spent on trivial things. And the most devastating of all is when a loved one is rumored to have a paramour. This could shatter his life, an emotional battle he has to endure for years or ever that may lead to serious consequences. It’s a case of “out of sight (touch) out of love.” It could be a situation in reverse.
But by and large our OFWs have become movers of our country’s economy and have been honored by a grateful president who has set aside a day in December each year to welcome our Balikbayans at the airport in a perfunctory ceremony, have photo-ops with her and published in the papers with the caption “OUR HEROES.” And our reluctant