For every OFW

It is true that the 10 million OFWs in 200 countries all over the world, do bring into our country no less than 20 billion US dollars annually. These are tremendous boost to our economy.. And we thank them for it. But at what social cost have all these economic gains been derived?

For every OFW, there is one family deprived of a father or a mother. Thus, we are breeding children who suffer from the psychological hunger for the love, the care and the guidance of parents. This hunger will inflict an irreparable wound in their development as human beings. And it shall eventually affect these children’s future relationships and interactions with others. 

For every OFW, there is a strong temptation to commit adultery, concubinage and other forms of infidelity. Various marriages have been broken, many families shattered due to prolonged separations between spouses. Labor migration has created a lot of dysfunctional families and marriages and has weakened the Filipino family, which is the basic foundation of Philippine society.

In fairness, there are many husbands and wives who have remained faithful to their marriage vows all through the years of their overseas employment. There are even a number of OFWs who have brought along their entire family to the countries where they work. And these people are living happy and successful lives. Many of them have decided to abrogate their Philippine citizenship and they embrace their host country through the process of naturalization.

But such kind of OFWs are gradually decreasing. More and more OFWs are beginning to value their work and career much more than their family. They would rather continue to earn more even if in the process of doing so, their ties with their family are gradually losing strength. At the end of the day, they end up sad, lonely and regretful and without any loved ones, with whom to spend the twilight of their years. I don’t intend to force on the OFWs my own credo in life: There is no success in career that can make up for failure in the family.

Too many risks, too much pain

Here in the Middle East, there are maids who are raped by other nationals, unknown to their husbands and loved ones. There are those who are subjected to physical, verbal and at times, sexual abuses. There are some who are pushed from windows or left alone in the desert. Others are languishing in jails for crimes they were falsely accused of. Many are in detentions and deportation centers waiting for their cases to be resolved, their salaries to be paid and for their documents to be put in order.

There are OFWs who are tagged as “illegals” because their employers failed to renew their work visas. With an “illegal” tag, they become more prone to be exploited and harassed. There are women who are driven to vices and “sins” due to multiple needs and too much demands and pressures from families. There are those who lose their sanity, their dignity and their souls. All these, in the name of the almighty dollars that they earn.

Qou vadis, OFWs?

After a long and painful process, the Labor Attaché and Welfare Officer may be able to pick up a distressed OFW, nurse her in the Center and start to help her go through a healing process from the traumas and pains. 

After a long struggle and sacrifice, the Labor Attaché may succeed in repatriating a traumatized OFW. But upon landing in NAIA, and meeting her loved ones, how does that “broken” OFW start a new life. It is easy to talk about reintegration as if it is a mechanical process. But the truth is, it is a very difficult journey.

Where shall an arriving distressed OFW go? Who shall help her to journey through the tedious process of emotional and physical renewal? Where shall she go to find answers to her search for inner peace? Where shall she go to repair her broken spirit, to regain her lost zest for life, to reacquire her faith in God and people? Where shall she find herself again? 

All the dollars remitted are not enough to pay back what she lost abroad.