By: Gilbert M. ForbesDepEd Quezon
Region IV-A CALABARZON
For many, it is no longer poverty, perse that drives them to go abroad and become an OFW. It's the trend because of popular belief of easy money, big income, and more opportunities.
No other than Dr. Clement Camposano, a senior instructor and migration anthropologist from the University of Asia and the Pacific, who explained in an article from globalnation.inquirer.net, that although many countries are experiencing destitution, poverty is merely one of the factors and not the root cause of Filipino migration. "Those who work abroad are not all poor, or at least not the poorest of the poor for it takes quite a big amount of money to prepare for overseas work.
It is not ordinary therefore that even a public school teacher who is receiving a gross starting salary of Php18,000.00 when given an opportunity to go abroad with a double or triple the amount he/she receives locally will really be tempting and would not blink an eye to accept it even to the point of selling all their properties here if offered for instance to work and reside lets say in the US, Canada, New Zealand or Australia.
This is the case of some of our OFW’s. The rest they say are driven due to lack of opportunities in our country and out of despair of the system of governance which in the very essence is the failure of the majority to select and vote wisely. They blame the government which is a total reflection and image of themselves - of who they are as a people.
Was it really lack of opportunities or because we are failing to create opportunities for ourselves like the poor Chinese when they first arrive in our country, or the Indians? Or is it because our parameters of success are limited on what only the eyes can see? Or we lack the patience, perseverance, frugality and know how of managing and improving the resources we have?
These we don’t recognize and accept and has remain cautious of that’s why it is easy to blame others and point fingers or escape rather than face and learn from it.
The country is indeed surviving from OFW remittance which could reach as high as $19 Billion a year enough to transform the nation into a new industrialized economy in five to ten years if being spent and managed wisely by its recipients. But it doesn’t for it end up going back to the host countries of our migrant workers at the blink of an eye due to local spending of foreign-made goods mostly electronics and communication gadgets.
It isn’t surprising that we have the most advance and up to date gadgets and gizmos than our neighboring countries except for the countries producing it. Cell phones users alone are 82 million. Just allot a peso a day for these users and would be a staggering 30 billion pesos a year! It’s more than enough to build 60 000 classrooms or hire additional 150,000 teachers or send a million of elementary and high school students to school for free!
Landing a job or working abroad is financially beneficial but other than this, no more. Various studies made on the families of itinerant workers find it more damaging than rewarding in terms of moral, psychological, and sociological aspect simply because of the imbalance it creates ones a mother or a father leave. That’s why, if they already have a job and could make both ends meet here, it is no longer recommended to work abroad. Or if they have no other option, work only in a short while.
Indeed it’s a great gamble not only for every Filipino who chooses to work abroad for the future of their siblings but for this country as well. Who will be the winner in the end is a debatable issue but experts are saying we are at the losing end.
Reference: globalnation.inquirer.net Is it really poverty that drives Filipinos overseas?
Region IV-A CALABARZON
For many, it is no longer poverty, perse that drives them to go abroad and become an OFW. It's the trend because of popular belief of easy money, big income, and more opportunities.
No other than Dr. Clement Camposano, a senior instructor and migration anthropologist from the University of Asia and the Pacific, who explained in an article from globalnation.inquirer.net, that although many countries are experiencing destitution, poverty is merely one of the factors and not the root cause of Filipino migration. "Those who work abroad are not all poor, or at least not the poorest of the poor for it takes quite a big amount of money to prepare for overseas work.
It is not ordinary therefore that even a public school teacher who is receiving a gross starting salary of Php18,000.00 when given an opportunity to go abroad with a double or triple the amount he/she receives locally will really be tempting and would not blink an eye to accept it even to the point of selling all their properties here if offered for instance to work and reside lets say in the US, Canada, New Zealand or Australia.
This is the case of some of our OFW’s. The rest they say are driven due to lack of opportunities in our country and out of despair of the system of governance which in the very essence is the failure of the majority to select and vote wisely. They blame the government which is a total reflection and image of themselves - of who they are as a people.
Was it really lack of opportunities or because we are failing to create opportunities for ourselves like the poor Chinese when they first arrive in our country, or the Indians? Or is it because our parameters of success are limited on what only the eyes can see? Or we lack the patience, perseverance, frugality and know how of managing and improving the resources we have?
These we don’t recognize and accept and has remain cautious of that’s why it is easy to blame others and point fingers or escape rather than face and learn from it.
The country is indeed surviving from OFW remittance which could reach as high as $19 Billion a year enough to transform the nation into a new industrialized economy in five to ten years if being spent and managed wisely by its recipients. But it doesn’t for it end up going back to the host countries of our migrant workers at the blink of an eye due to local spending of foreign-made goods mostly electronics and communication gadgets.
It isn’t surprising that we have the most advance and up to date gadgets and gizmos than our neighboring countries except for the countries producing it. Cell phones users alone are 82 million. Just allot a peso a day for these users and would be a staggering 30 billion pesos a year! It’s more than enough to build 60 000 classrooms or hire additional 150,000 teachers or send a million of elementary and high school students to school for free!
Landing a job or working abroad is financially beneficial but other than this, no more. Various studies made on the families of itinerant workers find it more damaging than rewarding in terms of moral, psychological, and sociological aspect simply because of the imbalance it creates ones a mother or a father leave. That’s why, if they already have a job and could make both ends meet here, it is no longer recommended to work abroad. Or if they have no other option, work only in a short while.
Indeed it’s a great gamble not only for every Filipino who chooses to work abroad for the future of their siblings but for this country as well. Who will be the winner in the end is a debatable issue but experts are saying we are at the losing end.
Reference: globalnation.inquirer.net Is it really poverty that drives Filipinos overseas?
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