MANILA, Philippines - Eduardo Villacorta Jr. and Marilyn-Europa Villacorta are two of the thousands of Filipino-Americans and overseas Filipino workers who decided to come home this Christmas braving the human and luggage congestion at the airports and the heavy traffic along Manila streets just to be here during this most popular holiday in the Philippines.
Ed, as family and friends call him, is a Baguio-born mechanical and electrical engineer who migrated to the US over 30 years ago.
He started life in Miami as a car salesman, but after a few years, managed to use his engineering skills again, working in companies manufacturing plastic sheet metals. Today he co-owns a steel manufacturing company which builds, among others, bus shelters in Miami. Ed believes the time is right for business and other investments in the Philippines with the economy in the upswing, stable government and increasing consumer confidence.
“It is good to be home and be with family and friends again”, said Ed. “We also want to look into possible business opportunities and investments which will, hopefully, keep us useful and productive in our country of birth,” he added. The Villacortas, who have resided in Cooper City, Florida for more than 30 years and have two children.
“It’s nice to be home again after being away for sometime. I think we were here five years ago but all these hassles are worth coming home for,” said Ed Villacorta. With him is his wife, Marilyn who looks forward to a great holiday.
Marilyn Europa-Villacorta, on the other hand, was born and raised in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. She took her nursing course at the University of Santo Tomas, worked briefly as a nurse in the Philippine Veterans Hospital before leaving for the USA in the eighties. “It’s been a long time since I left Manila for the USA but I usually communicate with my siblings and come for a visit every opportunity I get,” she said.
Today, Marilyn is a senior nurse at Mt. Sinai Hospital, a beautiful hospital located at the heart of Miami beach. Marilyn left the Philippines in her early twenties and came home ten years later to tie the knot with Ed, her college sweetheart. “I wanted the most memorable occasion in my life to be held in my native country,” she said. Shortly after their marriage, they left the Philippines to start a new life in Florida which has a climate like that of Baguio City where Ed originated. They live in a beautiful house in Cooper City, Florida beside a lake.
Ed, a successful businessman and Marilyn, ICU senior nurse are happy with their life in America. However, the Philippines is still in their hearts that is why they come home every so often.