Why some OFWs are unfaithful

KUWAIT — It exasperates me as Labor Attaché that, after helping OFWs fight their cases against their employers and after giving them assistance so that they could receive what they deserve for the sake of their family, I would discover that they have been unfaithful to their wives and children and that they have another family here in the host country. Many of the OFWs I interviewed, whether male or female, are somehow entangled in romantic interludes coterminous with their work contracts.

Young Filipinos being separated from their spouses could not bear their loneliness and longings. But they don't realize the grave and far-reaching implications of their infidelities and indiscretions. These infidelities could result into broken marriages and shattered homes.

There are currently two OFWs here in Kuwait who have been convicted of murders of their lovers. They had been sentenced to die by hanging. Their tragedies are duplicated many times over across the many countries where there are OFWs. It is both useful and imperative to look into this endemic phenomenon of contagious cases of infidelity.

The philosophy of infidelity

There are a thousand and one reasons (or alibis, if you will) for husbands to be unfaithful to their wives and for wives to commit the abominable crime of adultery against their husbands. It is not just plain and simple urging of the flesh or human weaknesses. There are deeper and more serious root causes that give rise to unfaithfulness. As an ardent student of human psychology and of sociology, I find it very educational to study and analyze patterns of OFW behavior while in foreign lands.

    One discernible reason is unresolved conflict with their spouses. OFWs go to other countries not only to work and earn but also to escape from some unfavorable domestic situations in the form of marital discords or family troubles. It could be that these OFWs are battered wives or battered husbands. The infidelity abroad becomes a form of revenge against the erring spouse.

Another reason is money. The lover often appears to be the giver or the receiver of financial favors. Those who are unloved or are feeling unloved, often buys love, attention or affection by lavishing the other party with money, jewelry, clothes, cellphones, laptops and other luxuries. 

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