They say that there are three commodities that can be found anywhere in the world – Levi’s, Coke and Filipinos. I heard this joke/pun/whatever back home in the Philippines some years back. At that time, I have not yet fully understood the scope of this phenomenal migration and deployment of my countrymen throughout the globe. When I heard that comment, I laughed because of ignorance and naïvete.
Not anymore. Today, I can fully appreciate the effects, implications and side effects of this Pinoy mass migration. It is absolutely overwhelming the moment one fully grasps how widely-dispersed Filipinos are. This implies that we have such a tremendous impact on world economy, values of the coming generations – both in the Philippines and our host countries, culture and other aspects of life.
In the Philippines, we hear a lot of talk about the billions of dollars pouring in through OFW remittances – and also about broken families, misguided youths and long-distance family life. The latter are quite disturbing to say the least. I am genuinely concerned about the long-term effects OFW mass deployment has on Filipino family life.
But on a grander scale, can you imagine how OFW’s affect the order of things? Below is a news feature from the Arab News. In spite of my deepening worries about the bad effects of working abroad and living families behind, I look at this piece of news as a ray of sunshine through the dark uncertain future ahead. It is not the rainbow I am hoping for, but a ray of sunshine nevertheless. Read on and be proud.
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Imagine a world without Filipinos Abdullah Al-Maghlooth | Al-Watan, almaghlooth@alwatan.com.sa |
Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut down his flower and gifts shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home. He says: “When they left, I felt as if I had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.”
Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them. Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers — 1,019,577 — outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as sailors. They are known for their professionalism and the quality of their work. Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors. So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen. What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in these vital areas. When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore. Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said she does not feel homesick abroad because “I am surrounded by my compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allows Filipinos to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession at the age of four as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned a new thing. At the age of 11, I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said. This type of early education system is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our children reach the university stage without learning anything except boredom. The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy. We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences. We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work. This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when Filipino workers left his flower shop. We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us. |
You can read the original article here.
Very well written. and I agree with your points there. Keep posting.
BTW, I have included you in a place I value most- my favorite writing blog list. Thanks. Go, Go, GO!
Wow! Jena Isle, I am so honoured by this recognition – no OA here. Truly, I am touched. I know those blogs you include there are really deserving. I can’t believe you would put Pinoy Around the World in the list. Thanks so much.
modermariaclara,
there is a joke among ilocanos – “you can see ilocanos everywhere even when you’re on the moon”. thanks for dropping by my site and may i take this opportunity to welcome you to my community. take care and regards to your family. 🙂
Hi! Nice post! Keep on blogging about OFWs. I will include this site in my blogroll.
http://milkcashcow.wordpress.com
Hello Mathe, I came expecting Tinay !V, but I guess I am to early..he he he…
Are you an Ilocana? My hubby is a G.I. Small world, isn’t it?
All the best.
A friend showed me this article, one thing that stirred my mind after reading this is; this Arab want us Filipinos to be his helper, well its good news for Philippine government. They’ll get all our remittances and this will help Philippine economy rise up again. But isn’t it is better if our government creates more jobs and let Filipinos help sustain our economy instead of other countries?
That’s just an opinion. Thanks for the visit sis 🙂 Mabuhay ka!
Hi! Jena Isle! it is so nice to have you constantly in my blogs. Yes, I am an Ilocana from Piat, Cagayan.
The last installment to Tinay’s story will be coming soon, perhaps middle of next week. Meanwhile, I like to post about my culinary/gustatory adventures and misadventures here.
Hi! Manilenya.
Yes, you have a point about government’s unfulfilled mandate of creating jobs for us. It is a shame that so much talent and industry are flowing out of the country in phenomenal proportions just because they are not tapped within the Philippines.
How I wish we do not have to leave, you know. But with a President who does not believe in effective family planning, I guess it is just as well that Filipinos emigrate big time. Otherwise, our meager and fragile resources might just be depleted beyond recovery and that there will be no room for all of us there.
Just my thoughts, too about the topic.
Thanks for brightening up my blog with your visit and comment.
Hi! Joe! Thanks a lot for including me in your blog list. Do keep coming back, please. Bye!
[…] newspaper. By this time, his Filipino-friendly article has been amplified in a number of blogs (see Pinoy Around the World and USA Pinoy for example) and has landed in my inbox a gazillion times as a forwarded message. […]
[…] modernmariaclara Last month, I posted about “Imagine a World Without Filipinos” in Read on and Be Proud. Now, I will post about how this phenomenon they call mass exodus, affects the the country of our […]