Surviving the OFWs
By Rolo B. Cena
Arabian Diaries

Pragmatically, there is no dogma by which people, organization, or even the government can measure the distance they have traveled. For us OFWs, the only creed we know of is the contract we inked for a period and the remittances we send every month.

As we take each day at a time, this we know, we travel as much as we could according to the time and tide of the status quo. The travails we had trudged yesterday become irrelevant and illogical to dwell on.

The homecoming of the recently reported 1,000 Filipino contract workers form Taiwan alters the status of the modern-day Filipino heroes. Last month, hundreds of OFWs from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who went home because of business closures adds fuel to the fire. The reported several thousands of contract workers in the United Arab Emirates of which majority are Filipinos are as hurting as piercing a dagger into the heart of an innocent captive.

These are real life dramas of modern-day heroes who struggled to compose amidst disheartening situations overseas. Don’t blame them for leaving, tell it to the marines!

On the 8th of December 2008, it was reported in the Arab News, the leading broadsheet in the Kingdom, that the government of the petite lady president is allocating P250M for various assistance, programs, and projects for the displaced OFWs. At the spur of the moment, one can definitely praise her for such a gallant move. On the other hand, I could not think of any political reason for doing this – “unless she has plans otherwise.”

If I may opine, the action of the government of spending multi-million peso fund for the OFWs especially on training, livelihood programs is an after-thought. The government could have initiated this move long before.

Putting my two cents in, once again, I believe the undefined leader of the Imperial Manila failed to synthesize the main problem of this paper which is why, her consultants was never able to create the real statement of the problem.

In graduate studies, the moment the analyst fails to define the main problem, consequently, the statement of the problem becomes irrelevant. And what else can we say about the alternative courses of actions?

Irrelevant! Illogical!

The government could have bravely analyzed deeper the root causes of the exodus of Filipino workers abroad, then start from there. Prophylactic measures could have been imposed had accurate diagnosis of the situation been accorded. The government, for this instance, just gave us the topical medicine for a deep-rooted or terminal illness.

I have always believed that prevention is better than cure. GMA’s P250M OFW fund is actually an ointment for the external pain sensed by the OFWs. The greatest pain, which is internal, has never been addressed to. Stated differently, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

OFWs have been tagged as the modern-day heroes. These people are as heroic as Jose Rizal, Andres Bonficio, and Ninoy Aquino. If laying the wreaths on the grave of these figures are planned according to customs, policies, laws, and maybe traditions of the country, why then can surviving these Overseas Filipino Contract Workers be done timely?

This is absolutely not passing the buck; this is expressing what’s in the box so that these people who are supposed to be on top of the situation can think of out-of-the-box alternatives to better the situation.

While the puzzled Arroyo may have instituted a resolute move towards surviving the Overseas Filipino Workers, I still would like to impress that this does not put out the fire.

Long before, the country’s Talent Market has been drained due to the exodus of Filipinos to not just one “Red Sea” of the moment, but to more than a dozen promise lands in search for several dozens of the Biblical Moses for refuge.

But ladies and gentlemen, no other kings and queens from far and away can ever solve the problem of the Republic such as this.

Statistically today, our government commissioned twenty-four senators and more than two hundred congressmen. They were chosen by the people through popular election because, to safely state, they are the best out of the list. Initially, people believe that they can propel the economy to a better state.

But lo! This has never happened. Thanks to EDSA though but it never hit the mark. No one has ever produced brilliant moves to save the ailing economy. If I would have a choice, I would have opted Mr. Marcos to remain sans the corrupt lady. His brilliance is enough to outwit the brains of these mentally dehydrated men of the two chambers.

Had the OFWs been survived? The answer is a resounding no!

Our government has been very effective in saving faces, but was and is a failure in salving our dying economy.

Take it from the numbers!

Published, Dumaguete Strar Informer, 14 December 2008