Our Hardworking Pinoy Sisters and Brothers Overseas.

I wrote a piece several years back about The Dentists in general, and Filipinos in particular
( luckycanary.blogspot.com/2009/03/dentist.html).  And one Keith Allen commented:

"Dentists are very nice, there is nothing to be afraid of. I always go to my friend for a dental check up. Filipinos are very nice and hospitable. Their service is good too."

Philippine dentists and other medical practitioners in different parts of the globe are not the only Pinoys heralded for their hard and outstanding work. Filipino workers excel in service and hospitality sectors, in restaurants and hotels, in cruise ships, in educational settings, retail, banking and finance, blue collar jobs and other fields.

In my last work at Canada, our office helped thousands of newcomer professionals train, adapt and find jobs in their new country, and I met hundreds of Philippine-born immigrant professionals and caregivers who got successful either in their own field or in a new career.

OFW's, as they've come to be called, are a unique lot of individuals.  They leave their country for one reason alone: to improve their lot so their families can survive. They face abuse, irregularities, loneliness, ridicule, religious persecution and tons of other difficulties, yet they are able to survive. Of course, there are those, who in their course of working with other culture, succumb to depression and anger, and commit crimes.

But it is very sad that there are some individuals who manipulate and use the cause of OFW's to promote their own agenda.  Some politicians pander to OFW's issues not to help them but to help themselves become popular.

OFW's need not succumb to these hydra-politicos.
 

Hydra, in    Greek legend, is the offspring of Typhon and Echidna (according to the early Greek poet Hesiod’s Theogeny), a gigantic monster with nine heads (the number varies), the centre one immortal.

These local Hydra-politicos attack all issues that confront day-to-day living and promise to solve all of them when elected, without giving specific solutions. They go for drama; voters would, sooner or later, discover they are all FICTION, not real.

What is real and true are the hardworking Pinoys overseas. I'd met them, worked with them, had been under their care.

If Filipinos could excel and be honest overseas, the more that they should do and be in their own homeland. If they can demand from the government officials of their host country, the more that they should in their native land.

When foreigners ask why Filipinos lack the brand of nationalism of other Asians, the only answer I can think of is that they are too embarrassed to be associated with some corrupt and inept officials and law enforcers, and weakened by the too timid approach or non-assertive values taught at home and at school.

The Filipino worker is a world class act. I've seen this many times.