OFW Chronicles: Filipinos Abroad

Good news for Filipinos who are just about to embark on a journey and becoming OFWs. It's about time that our "benevolent" lawmakers in the Philippines give some importance to what the government keeps on calling "Bagong Bayani". This a very significant and relevant bill for future OFWs and their families. I know how hard it is to find substantial amount to spend on processing expenses before you can even leave the country, much more for the living expenses of the family that will be left behind.

What is the hardest battle an OFW must fight? A sickness that cannot be cured with prescription drugs; and there are no hospitals or clinic for this condition. “ Homesickness ” a paralyzing mental condition wherein a person cannot sleep and loses appetite to eat, very common to people that work outside of their homeland leaving their families behind.

I can smell the “Spirit of Christmas” but I cannot feel the joy it brings like it does when I am still back home in the Philippines. Christmas in the Middle East is just an ordinary working day unless it falls on a Friday. Unfortunately this year it falls on a Thursday and it only means that while almost all people around the world are celebrating CHRISTMAS we the “Middle Easterners” are in the office working and contemplating at the same time. Maybe I can treat myself with a piece of shawarma after office and walk along the corniche (Bay area) and probably order “milked tea” while trying to enjoy the cold breeze.

The Philippine Government particularly OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) which is the lead institution that serves the interest and welfare of member-Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) has come up with a program which main purpose is to help and Finance some livelihood programs of OFW and their families through Financial Loans. Please see below the description and the criteria for the said program.

So it is, OFWs keep on making the Philippine Economy afloat and as if it’s not enough, OFWs must pay so that the Philippine government can extend assistance to the distressed Filipinos working abroad. That is according to the “Idea” of Manila Rep. Ma. Theresa Bonoan-David ( Para sa Emergency Repatriation Fund: OFWs, sisingilin ng $50 bago umalis ). I don’t know how many OFWs know about the OWWA fund, and I guess only a few of them have benefitted from it, in one way or the other. Personally I don’t even know where all those money are being spent except one program I came across with “ OWWA LOANS ".

I have left the Philippines for Qatar in my hopes of finding the greener pasture (as they say) for the future of my family. When I boarded the Plane bound for Doha, right then and there I trashed my political affiliations and views. But I guess as a concern citizen (not a resident though at the moment) of the Republic of the Philippines, I cannot help but to voice out my opinion regarding the National “Circus” currently being staged on the House of Senate. “Renato Corona’s Impeachment Trial” this is the title of the show currently running on Philippine’s major television stations. A “fun” battle of wits and idiocracies, Filipino Style. My only concerns are; will the Filipinos in general benefit from such a process? How much money should be spent to remove an “appointee” from a government post? (In Japan, when someone’s integrity is being questioned, he will voluntarily resign and there are some extreme cases that some even commit “Hara-Kiri” (suicide). In the Philippines it’s like ...

Image via Wikipedia Christmas is around the corner as they say. I cannot spot on the right corner though; I’ve been looking for four straight years now and it’s seems that I couldn’t really find it in here. Celebrating Christmas away from home, family and friends is the most difficult part of being an OFW. Yeah, I could party with friends, I could drink the night away, and I can dance for all I care but deep inside, there is an empty space. The longing for my family, laughs of my kids and the warm embrace of my wife. All I can do is be with the moment, convince myself that I am happy. Half-truth laughs can be handy as I hide my sadness. Oh well, at least back home, they can celebrate Christmas and a call to them would lessen the pain of not being there. (I hope Telecommunication Networks will do great this year). Every Christmas and every New Year, I only have one wish “I hope next year I will celebrate the holidays with my family”. Four years made me forget how it feels to celebrat...