Given their enormous, almost heroic efforts to save their families and this nation, it is only fitting that we honor our overseas Filipinos, our migrants.
Like the lifeless celebration of EDSA by this government, I did not seem to notice the same hype in celebrating Migrants' Day this year as in previous years.
Gratefully, the churches remembered. It was during the prayers of the faithful in church last Sunday that we were reminded about Migrants' Day.
"God, thank you for taking care of our migrants." This is a prayer that is good to say everyday. It does not take even a minute to do so. It will mean so much for the 8.7 millions of our migrant Filipinos now spread across 200 countries throughout the world.
With the continuing crisis, expect more of our people who will want to leave this country. In a previous survey, even our children, those without and most especially those with migrant parents, have expressed their desire to go abroad, strengthening the observation that a culture of migration has set in this country.
Rather than be challenged to make our people stay, this government is proud to be known as a global model for being among the top, if not the first , among labor sending countries. That means in almost all parts of the world, there is a Filipino migrant, if not a domestic helper, a nurse, or a seafarer.
And the government plan continues. Every year, they expect a million Filipinos to go abroad to work.
And who will be left behind to take care of this country?
There are the children whose parents are out earning to provide for steady food, better education, and comfortable homes for them. There are their extended families who are willing to be substitute parents while the real parents are abroad or while they wait for their turn to go overseas. There are those without individual or social capital, those who cannot afford the placement fees, the transport fare and other expenses for migration. There are the very poor who cannot even afford to have regular food each day. And of course, there are those who make others poor by enriching themselves in positions of power.
Our Filipinos overseas bring in billions of pesos in remittances. If only this huge amount were used responsibly and effectively to help farmers produce more harvest without incurring debts, or to allow fisherfolks to own their motorized bancas so they can have more fish to sell. If only the hard-earned remittances of the migrants were shared for this nation's genuine development, then perhaps, just perhaps, there may be more of our people who may not be forced to leave their families, their homes, their country.
Or if the migrants' remittances were only used for productive initiatives, to create more jobs, to increase production, or to save the environment, then the efforts of our Filipinos overseas would not have been in vain.
If the remittances were not paid to cover the foreign debt and instead used to educate more of our children and our youth, or to build hospitals that render genuine health service and care especially to the poor, or to provide jobs or be used as sufficient wages for our workers, then for their invaluable service to the nation, our migrants would have merited more than just a day for remembering and thanking them.