One In Every 10 Filipino Household Has At Least One OFW

The number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who worked abroad during the period April to September 2017 was estimated at 2.3 million. Overseas Contract Workers (OCWs) or those with existing work contract comprised 97.0 percent of the total OFWs during the period April to September 2017. The rest (3.0%) worked overseas without a contract.

The proportion of female OFWs (53.7%) was higher than male OFWs (46.3%). The largest proportion of OFWs belonged to age group 30 to 34 years comprising 21.7 percent of all OFWs, followed by those aged 25 to 29 years with 20.4 percent.
Female OFWs were younger compared to male OFWs. The higher percentage (24.1%) of female OFWs were in the age group 25 to 29 years while the male OFWs were reported to have a higher percentage (19.8%) in the age group 30 to 34 years. There were more male OFWs than female OFWs in the age group 35 years and over. In every Filipino household, there is at least one OFW among them, could be more, and their remittances has always a saving grace for keeping the Philippine economy afloat, hence, they are called the modern heroes.

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In 2017, the Philippines stood as the third largest recipient ($33 billion) of remittances in the world, only behind giants of India ($69 billion) and China ($64 billion). Yet, this much-needed exogenous economic boost has come at a steep social cost.

These include, among others, the creation of a culture of dependency among relatives of OFWs; separation of nuclear families, as one or both parents left behind their children back home; and, crucially, subjecting hundreds of thousands of Filipinos to potential abuse and dangerous working conditions in undemocratic nations with limited respect for human and labor rights.

Yet, with the Philippines emerging as the fastest growing economy in the region, it’s now in a better position to provide employment at home. In fact, amid a $180 billion infrastructure buildup, the Southeast Asian country is running short of labor, particularly in the construction sector.

More than one in every three (37.6%) OFWs were employed in elementary occupations. Around 18.0 percent worked as service and sales workers. OFWs who worked as plant and machine operators and assemblers comprised 13.7 percent, and craft and related trade workers, 11.4 percent (Table 2). 

The largest proportion of OFWs were from CALABARZON (20.7% of the total OFWs). Those coming from Central Luzon comprised 12.9 percent, and those from the National Capital Region and Western Visayas, both were 9.5 percent. On the other hand, the smallest number of OFWs came from Caraga (1.7% of the total OFWs) (Table 3).

Saudi Arabia was the most preferred country of destination among OFWs (25.4%). The other countries of destination were United Arab Emirates (15.3%), Kuwait (6.7%) and Hongkong (6.5%) (Table 3).

The total remittance sent by OFWs during the period April to September 2017 was estimated at 205.2 billion pesos. These remittances included cash sent home (146.8 billion pesos), cash brought home (48.3 billion pesos) and remittances in kind (10.1 billion pesos). The majority of OFWs sent their remittance through banks (62.8%) while the rest through agencies or local offices (3.1%), door-to-door delivery (0.8%), friends or co-workers (0.1%) or through other means (33.1%) (Tables 4 and 5).

The remittances sent by OFWs to their respective families may just be a part of the total salary received by the OFWs. Data on remittances in this report are based on the answers given by the survey respondents to the questions on how much cash remittance was received by the family during the period April to September 2017 from a family member who is an OFW and how much cash did this member bring home during the reference period, if any. Further, if the family received during the reference period goods and products sent by this OFW, the imputed value of such goods was included in his/her total remittance.

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©2018 THOUGHTSKOTO

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Love letter to Filipinos by Dr. David Harwell

GMA 7 grab image of Dr David Harwell in his Loveletter to Filipinos in the Inquirer.net

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IMAGINE THE DAY IN THE WORLD WITHOUT OFW'S

Love Letter to Filipinos

I am writing to thank Filipinos for the way you have treated me here, and to pass on a lesson I learned from observing the differences between your culture and mine over the years.

I am an expatriate worker. I refer to myself as an OAW, an overseas American worker, as a bad joke. The work I do involves a lot of traveling and changing locations, and I do it alone, without family. I have been in 21 countries now, not including my own. It was fun at first. Now, many years later, I am getting tired. The Philippines remains my favorite country of all, though, and I’d like to tell you why before I have to go away again.

I have lived for short periods here, traveled here, and have family and friends here. My own family of origin in the United States is like that of many Americans—not much of a family. Americans do not stay very close to their families, geographically or emotionally, and that is a major mistake. I have long been looking for a home and a family, and the Philippines is the only place I have lived where people honestly seem to understand how important their families are.

I am American and hard-headed. I am a teacher, but it takes me a long time to learn some things. But I’ve been trying, and your culture has been patient in trying to teach me.

In the countries where I’ve lived and worked, all over the Middle East and Asia, it is Filipinos who do all the work and make everything happen. When I am working in a new company abroad, I seek out the Filipino staff when I need help getting something done, and done right. Your international reputation as employees is that you work hard, don’t complain, and are very capable. If all the Filipinos were to go home from the Middle East, the world would stop. Oil is the lifeblood of the world, but without Filipinos, the oil will not come from the ground, it will not be loaded onto the ships, and the ships will not sail. The offices that make the deals and collect the payments will not even open in the morning. The schools will not have teachers, and, of course, the hospitals will have no staff.

What I have seen, that many of you have not seen, is how your family members, the ones who are overseas Filipino workers, do not tell you much about how hard their lives actually are. OFWs are very often mistreated in other countries, at work and in their personal lives. You probably have not heard much about how they do all the work but are severely underpaid, because they know that the money they are earning must be sent home to you, who depend on them.
 The OFWs are very strong people, perhaps the strongest I have ever seen. They have their pictures taken in front of nice shops and locations to post on Facebook so that you won’t worry about them. But every Pinoy I have ever met abroad misses his/her family very, very much.

I often pity those of you who go to America. You see pictures of their houses and cars, but not what it took to get those things. We have nice things, too many things, in America, but we take on an incredible debt to get them, and the debt is lifelong. America’s economy is based on debt. Very rarely is a house, car, nice piece of clothing, electronic appliance, and often even food, paid for. We get them with credit, and this debt will take all of our lifetime to pay. That burden is true for anyone in America—the OFWs, those who are married to Americans, and the Americans themselves.

Most of us allow the American Dream to become the American Trap. Some of you who go there make it back home, but you give up most of your lives before you do. Some of you who go there learn the very bad American habits of wanting too many things in your hands, and the result is that you live only to work, instead of working only to live. The things we own actually own us. That is the great mistake we Americans make in our lives. We live only to work, and we work only to buy more things that we don’t need. We lose our lives in the process.

I have sometimes tried to explain it like this: In America, our hands are full, but our hearts are empty.

You have many problems here, I understand that. Americans worry about having new cars, Filipinos worry about having enough food to eat. That’s an enormous difference. But do not envy us, because we should learn something from you. What I see is that even when your hands are empty, your hearts remain full.

I have many privileges in the countries where I work, because I am an expat. I do not deserve these things, but I have them. However, in every country I visit, I see that you are there also, taking care of your families, friends, bosses, and coworkers first, and yourselves last. And you have always taken care of me, in this country and in every other place where I have been.

These are places where I have been very alone, very tired, very hungry, and very worried, but there have always been Filipinos in my offices, in the shops, in the restaurants, in the hospitals, everywhere, who smile at and take good care of me. I always try to let you know that I have lived and traveled in the Philippines and how much I like your country. I know that behind those smiles of yours, here and abroad, are many worries and problems.

Please know that at least one of us expats has seen what you do for others and understands that you have a story behind your smiles. Know that at least one of us admires you, respects you, and thanks you for your sacrifices. Salamat po. Ingat lagi. Mahal ko kayong lahat.

David H. Harwell, PhD, is a former professor and assistant dean in the United States who now travels and works abroad designing language training programs. He is a published author and a son of a retired news editor.

©2013 THOUGHTSKOTO