OFWs winning ‘hearts and fortunes’ of wealthy employers

Aside from remitting some $8 billion yearly, the country’s a growing number of overseas workers have also won the "heart and wealth" of rich men and women in their places of work bringing the fortunes to their places of origin in the country, a ranking Malacanang official said yesterday.

Undersecretary Renato Diaz, presidential assistant for Central Luzon told reporters during the weekly Balitaan sa Rembrandt Hotel that the government is now planning to set up a family-oriented facility possibly in Clark or Subic that will accommodate a growing number of Filipino millionaires who married or inherited fortunes or married rich foreigners during their stint as overseas workers. Diaz said majority of this rich Filipinos who used to work as waiters, dance instructors, care givers and even house help have married their rich employers or inherited fortunes from their masters.

‘This rags to riches story has been repeated many times – a house help marries his master, a dance instructor her students or a care giver inheriting the fortunes of a sick man he cared for several years," Diaz said. He said he regularly met with this new breed of Filipino millionaires who travel first class and have built mansions in their respective places of origin all over the country.

"The story behind a mansion built in a town or barangay is a story of a Filipino who won the heart or inherited a fortune of a wealthy foreigner," he said.

Diaz, who is being groomed as the next Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chief, one of the most remarkable stories was that of a male nurse who worked as caregiver in the United Kingdom.

He said the man cared for an ailing millionaire who signed a will leaving all his fortune to his caregiver after his death. The man ran and won for mayor in his town and has practically brought all the fortunes including the silverwares of his master.

Diaz said among his plans for the Subic Clark Development is to set up a facility where this millionaires can spend their time with their relatives while they are in the country.

"Instead of building mansions in their barangays they buy a house inside the facility where they can have picnic with their family members," Diaz said.