Overseas

focus
filipino globe editorial & features
November 2006 19
OFW phenomenon not a brain drain but a net gain
I have to say I’m getting a bit
tired with all these hand-wringing
and gnashing of teeth over
the so-called social costs exacted
by the overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) phenomenon.
Like that other intellectually
slothful cliché of the Philippines
as the sick man of Asia, it seems
that no news story or commentary
on OFWs is complete
without the mention of social
ills such as brain drain, juvenile
delinquency among the children
of OFWs left behind in the Philippines,
broken families, crass
materialism – you name it.
With all this negativism, it is no
wonder that some people think
that Filipinos who head overseas
for work are a kind of anti-social
criminals.
It is also not surprising that
some OFWs who toil abroad
must undeservedly bear the twin
burdens of homesickness and
guilt – the feeling that they have
Saan ka man sulok ng mundo, mabuhay ka kabayan ko
Noo’y naging popular ang salitang
“itaas mo” mula sa propaganda ng
serbesa. Kapag itinataas ang baso
o bote ng serbesa ay naroroon ang
tapat na pagsasama at pagdiriwang
ng barkada.
Kapag nagtatagayan naman
mula sa isang baso kaharap ang
isang pitsel ng serbesa ay itinataas
muna ng nagtatagay ang baso bago
tunggain. Pagkaraa’y sasalinan
ang baso at ipapasa sa katabi
patungo ang sinasalinang baso sa
magkakasunod na nag-uumpukan
sa inuman.
Pero ang simbolo ng pagtatas
ng baso at salitang “itaas mo”
ay maraming sanga-sangang
kahulugan. Maaaring kung nasa
ibang bansa ang isang Pilipino na
naging matagumpay sa trabaho ay
makakatanggap ng text na “itaas
mo pre” ang dangal ng Pilipino.
Kung noo’y napapanood natin na
itinataas ng yumaong FPJ ang baso
at bote ng serbesa sa telebisyon ay
tuwang-tuwa ang kanyang hukbo
ng tagahanga. Ngayon naman
FIRSTWORD
editor’s briefing
Rex
Aguado
done something terribly wrong
by leaving their families behind.
Well, it’s time to geld the guilt.
The bleeding hearts who write
and talk about what they deem
to be the national tragedy that
is the OFWs give short shrift
to Filipinos both at home and
abroad.
For one thing, they seem to
imply that Filipinos who leave
the country for jobs overseas
are mere ciphers who have no
control over their lives – slow
and dim-witted lambs offered
for sacrifice by some sinister
government policy.
TEO
ANTONIO
ITAASMO
kabayan
ay ang idolong boksingerong si
Manny Pacquiao ang nagtataas ng
bote ng serbesa at katabi si Kris
Aquino.
Ang pagtatagay ng anumang
inuming alak na nasa baso man o
kopita ay bahagi ng marangal na
pagkilala sa mabuting pagsasama
o pagkakaibigan. Bahagi ito ng
ritwal mula sa kanto, lansangan
hanggang sa mga mararangal na
piging sa alta sosyedad at palasyo
ng Malakanyang.
“Itaas mo” ang ating pambansang
pangarap sa paghahanap ng
dangal ng mga Pilipino. Ang
ating mga OFW ang tunay na
nagtaas ng pondo ng bansa mula sa
kanilang remittances. Tinagurian
Secondly, with this silly talk of
brain drain, they are suggesting
that the Filipinos who are left
behind in the Philippines are
dregs – unemployable and
incompetent.
Thirdly, commentators who
glibly link the OFW phenomenon
to an imagined rise in the cases
of broken families and juvenile
delinquency among OFW
children usually fail to ask
themselves a key question: What
would have happened to the
families of these OFWs had they
stayed at home, jobless and or
underemployed?
The answer is a no-brainer:
perpetual poverty, family fights,
broken marriages, hungry
children who invariably end
up as beggars, child prostitutes
and juvenile criminals, the
proliferation of squatter colonies,
an epidemic of crime – real hardcore
social ills.
Yes, OFWs may be a symptom
silang mga Bagong Bayani.
Ang reserbang dolyar ay tumaas
dahil sa ipinadadalang dolyar ng
mga OFW. Kaya’t bumaba sa 50
piso ang palitan ng isang dolyar,
patunay na umaangat ang halaga
ng piso. Bumababa rin ang halaga
ng ating binabayarang utang sa
labas ng bansa.
Hindi masisisi ang pagdami ng
mga Pilipinong nais magtrabaho sa
ibang bansa.Kamakailan pinutakti
ang opisina ng Overseas Workers
Welfare Adminsitration ng mga
aplikante sa pagtratrabaho sa
Korea. Kinailangan pang humingi
ng tulong sa ating mga pulis upang
maayos ang pila. Dahil wala silang
placement fees na gagastusin.
Kaya lamang, limitado ang pipiliin
at ipadadala.
Pero tuloy pa rin ang ating
nga kabababayan na mangarap
at umasa sa bawat pagkakataong
makapagtrabaho sa ibang bansa.
Sa katunayan ang isa kong
pamangking babae ay kasama
sa banda ng mga mang-aawit sa
of bigger social and economic
problems in the Philippines, but
they are also part of the solution.
Much has been said about
the US$12 billion a year that
Filipinos abroad send back
home to the Philippines. But
another not-as-tangible but just
as revolutionary an impact is a
radical shift in the mindset and
attitudes of OFWs based on
their experiences in their host
countries – the realisation that
things can actually work, that
laws can actually be observed,
that criminals can actually be
punished, that corruption can be
contained, that government can
be made to work for the people.
These positive ideas and spirit
of renewal they will take with
them when it’s time to go back
home, for OFWs do pine for
the Philippines.There is no such
thing as a brain drain. At the end
of the day, it’s a brain gain
rex.aguado@filglobe.com
Japan ang naroon na, dalawang
buwan ang nakakaraan, habang
naghihintay ang tatlo kong
pamangking lalaki na tutungo sa
Dubai.
Ang aking kaibigang si Leo,
na kasabay kong nagretiro sa
korporasyon ng gobyerno ay isa
nang business consultant sa Dubai.
Wala pa akong natatanggap na
email sa kanya. Ang aming dating
kasamahan sa opisina, si Pidi ay
kasalukuyang computer graphic
artist sa Qatar. Madalas siyang
mag-text sa akin lalo’t sumasapit
ang Pasko at Bagong Taon. Isang
UP fine arts graduate ang kaibigan
kong ito.
Si Leo ay nagtapos ng kursong
agribusiness sa UP Los Banos
at may master in business
administration sa Ateneo.
Saan mang sulok ng mundo
naroroon ang kababayang
sumasagupa sa masigwang laot ng
pakikipagsapalaran para mabuhay
na marangal.
teo.antonio@filglobe.com
Meet the A-Team
of our new-found
economic revival
and strength
FT
Ocampo
PRESSBOX
comment
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)
are invading contemporary
economic history.
Who would have thought that a
good number of Filipinos could be
working in a country such as Papua
New Guinea, that some of them
could be enduring the dizzying
heights and numbing cold of Nepal
or the burning desert sands
of the Middle East?
Even pocket wars did not
deter our determined OFWs from
working in Israel and Lebanon.
And now, in the apocalyptic
flashpoint that is North Korea,
almost a hundred Filipinos are
braving a potential nuclear crisis.
Not much unlike the biblical
diaspora, our intrepid and
hardworking compatriots have
encircled the globe over the past
decades in search of the proverbial
green pasture.
In the process, they are
contributing approximately US$10
billion to US$12 billion annually
to government coffers. The peso
has dramatically strengthened from
almost 56 to the dollar over the
past months, to a little over P49 a
few weeks ago.
Thanks to OFWs, the prospects
for the continuing improvement of
the economy are decidedly more
promising and rosy.
The clear duty of the
administration is to insure their
welfare and safety.
The government has
demonstrated this by sending
a peace-keeping force to Iraq,
no matter how small, and by its
response to the turmoil in Lebanon.
These have gone a long way not
only in securing the well-being of
OFWs in those countries but also in
easing the fears and apprehension
of their families.
This is the kind of relationship
– based on mutual respect and
responsibility – that without doubt
will endure.
Between the government and
what has been dubbed the “new
heroes”, the nation is in good
hands.
ft.ocampo@filglobe.com