Sunday, January 23, 2005

EUROPINOY PERSPECTIVE

United Colors of Europe
By Tet de Lara-Heichele
Source: PINOY EXPATS

I have always thought of me being in Europe as fate although I have never imagined myself living here for good until after I came.

As I took the offer of a four-month training with a consulting firm in Stockholm, Sweden, I never thought it was meant to change my whole life all together. After I left Manila, my first feeling was that of freedom. I was finally free from horrifying traffic, flash floods, blackouts and not to mention, high-blood stimulating politicians who don't do anything for our country except to pull it further down the drain. I was ready to leave my life in the Philippines and take on better opportunities in Europe.

It's been four and a half years since I came here and what can I say?I love Europe! It's beautiful. And thanks to cheap all-in-one holiday packages and no-frills airlines, I was able to see quite a bit.

First stop, Sweden. As I was sitting on the bus trying to listen to the voice which announces each stop in order not to miss mine and end up being reprimanded on my first day of work, I then realised my first impression of Swedes: they are incredibly tall and good looking. I have never seen so many good-looking blondes in my entire life and I am not just talking about the men. I honestly give it up to the Swedes for being one of the best-looking (nationalities, I guess??? ) in my dictionary.

As part of my job in Stockholm, I had to travel to Oslo, Norway, and Helsinki, Finland, two times a year. My first trip to Oslo was driving eight hours with my co-trainees in a van. It was lots of fun! Apart from enjoying the great scenery, we were like grade-schoolers on a trip without a teacher - we sang and talked just about everything. The result: We missed an exit and ended up two hours late in Oslo, where we caught up with our panicking boss. He shook his head sideways in disbelief and was left speechless as we, the trainees, even had the guts to laugh about the incident in front of him. On the way back, we were, of course, given a supervisor who rode with us but it didn't matter much anymore as we were dead tired from our event and were almost asleep most of the time.

My first trip to Finland on the other hand was quite cultural, if I may say. It was when I first got introduced to the "drinking-culture" of the Scandinavians. For a difference, we took the Viking Cruise line that sails regularly to and from Stockholm and Helsinki. It was an overnight trip that included a short stop on a small non-EU island off the coast of Estonia. This meant the could then sell tax-free alcohol. And so there we were, thinking we were given a big bonus by taking this classy cruise, when we then realised it was a popular cruise for young people who just wanted to party and get completely wasted on the boat. Don't get me wrong, although none of us got wasted, we certainly enjoyed the trip. The cruise ship was still in itself amazing with eight decks, composing of duty-free shops, restaurants, game house, disco, indoor swimming pools and saunas.

After one and a half years in Stockholm, it was time to move on. Second stop: Germany. One summer day, I was actually happy to call my dad on the phone and tell him my wonderful news - I bought my first vehicle!!! Wooohooo! I told him it was mint green and easy to manoeuvre, highly fuel-efficient and had a special feature - a basket in front! Yes, I bought a bike. Having my office 10 minutes away from my flat via the U-Bahn, I thought, what the heck, it's summer, therefore, I will take the bike. It was a bit scary at first having to drive alongside cars at certain areas but in time, I got used to it. This 10-minute trip to the office then developed to bike tours, which normally lasts two to four hours. But of course, only during summer !

Of course living in Germany meant travelling fast - whether cars or trains, name it, they have it! From trains travelling more than 300 kph to BMW's, Mercedes' or Audi's which run more than 200 kph, they're all an experience! Where else in Europe can you find an autobahn without speed limits? Only in Germany!

Germany has its fair share of no-frills airlines as well. I remember a colleague of mine who used to stay till 10 pm in the office due to lack of internet access at home. As a launching gift of Germanwings, they issued one-way flights to European destinations for €1. The only thing was, you can only book it from 10 pm to 8 am the next day, which was their normal rule for special promotions. What the heck, I would have stayed as well had I known about it earlier.

In any case, thanks to fast trains and cheap/no-frills airlines I've seen--Italy (Tuscany), Spain (Gran Canaria, Madrid), Malta, France (Cote d'Azur, Paris, Alsace), UK (London), Belgium (Brussels), Netherlands (Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam).With a lifetime ahead of me, I sure hope to travel and see more of not just Europe, but the world!!!

Thursday, January 06, 2005

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Wednesday, January 05, 2005

LATEST PINOY MIGRANTS' NEWS

A worker walks past a copper smelting machine in Isabel town, Leyte Island, Philippines May 20, 2005. Industrial metals prices are performing strongly at the start of the year as investors and consumers have rushed to take advantage of a brief dip in prices, pushing copper to a new record peak on Wednesday. (Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters) [Source]



OFW NEWS


Monday, January 03, 2005

PINOY MIGRANTS' ISSUES: OFWs as Partners in Nation Building

OFWs as Partners in Nation Building
Daphne Ceniza-Kuok
Board Member, Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA)

Erma Geolamin left her youngest son Romir when he was still an infant. She’s has visited her family eight times in the span of 15 years spent abroad. Each visit is limited to a span of 2 weeks each. During one of those visits, Erma found that her husband is sleeping with another woman, an embalmer and that all the funds that she has been regularly sending home to pay for the purchase of a property has been squandered. Erma’s sorrow was further aggravated when she found that her husband has already taken the P50, 000.00 payment of a debt that her in laws owed her.

It is a measure of Erma’s stoutness of spirit when she allowed her husband to accompany her to the airport and tell him that was the last time he can call her his wife. “Magsama na kayo ng embalmer mo! At least, libre ang serbisyo pag mamatay ka, sa akin ang abuloy!”

Erma drown all her sorrows by founding the Guimbal Filipino Workers Association. She spent her weekends helping her town mates from Guimbal and in writing articles on the life of domestic helpers in Hongkong. She cannot afford to wallow in self-pity, she has 6 mouths to feed and educate.

This is a story too common among migrant workers. I hope this will not make us callous to put aside the social cost of migration whenever we think of the remittances of migrant workers.

It was with some hesitation that I accepted PMRW’s invitation to talk on the issue of the OFW’s as partners in nation building. I found it difficult as years of working on issues related to their welfare and rights have shown me that OFW’s were never considered partners in progress but a convenient prop to ease the impact of government’s failure to alleviate the economic impact of its mismanagement of our economy. I strongly believe that OFW’s can never be partners in nation building as long as they are abroad, have no significant representation in the policy making process and are seen only in the light of the remittances they send to their relatives. The government’s has their minds set on relying on these remittances rather than looking into how our country can benefit more in getting them home with their newly acquired and developed and skills.

The country will surely miss out on their contribution to nation building as long as it deprives itself from benefiting from the experiences that overseas Filipinos gained abroad. The situation is that government is only focused on improving the migrant Filipino’s competitiveness in the foreign labor market rather than establishing jobs locally and giving incentives for our migrant workers to come home.

The tangibles such as providing sustenance to family members and their extended families, funding humanitarian projects, their contribution to increasing literacy through their ability to fund their children’s and relatives’ education and funding small and medium enterprises can never dilute the impact of the social cost of migration to our country and to our future


Remittances

Though remittances are a clear source of capital and resource that have helped millions of households in the Philippines, remittances will just be palliatives and will have no long term effect in economic growth unless its “ properly harnessed and leveraged and coupled with fiscal discipline and savings.”

These however are spent more on consumption than being used to increase productive capacity. Remittances are primarily spent on 1.) Basic household necessities (2.) Payment of debt contracted to underwrite migration expense (3.) Education of Children (4.) Medical expenses or emergencies (5.) Purchase of land, or home construction or improvement (6.) Purchase of appliances and other durables (7.) Savings and investments in small enterprises is limited to 5%.
While small enterprises accounts for 90% of business establishments in the Philippines, most of these enterprises fail because of the lack of “financial literacy of migrants and family members”. Most OFWs end up with nothing when they come home because of their inability to save while being employed abroad. It is unfortunate, that some OFW’s are forced to leave home again after their savings have run out.

Reintegration program set by NGO’s and government are disjointed and disorganized and are mostly limited to the setting up of cooperatives which are often mismanaged. We should go beyond the sari-sari store mentality by including OFW’s in the national development program.

“Migrants savings, investments and philanthropy programs must have the economies of scale and critical mass to have a significant effect on development”. Remittances estimated to be between 7.6 billion dollars to double the figure every year would have gone a long way even if only a fraction were invested to promote development initiatives.

Some overseas Filipinos have been proposing for the passage of an overseas “Filipino Investment Incentive Act” to encourage migrant Filipinos to invest their savings on ventures that will have a lasting impact on the economy.

Tax incentives should be given to businesses started by OFW’s, the same way that sweeteners such as tax incentives, assured return of investment are being given to foreign investors. Government should find ways to push for an investment program that do not require huge capital expenditure and has less risk to encourage OFWs to invest their hard earned monies. Unfortunately, many of our OFW’s saving are siphoned by numerous investment scheme created by scrupulous individuals who are out there to fleece OFWs of their hard earned money. The government can only be assured of migrants’ confidence in investing in the Philippines when it establishes a strong support system for their investments, address the various regulatory and practical barriers and gaps that hinder the flow of remittances and other migrant resources to be used for strategic economic purposes and putting to maximum used, the various levels of financial institutions, government agencies and civil society organizations. Various infrastructures needed in order to pave the way for development must be established such as efficient and cheap electricity, better roads and communication facilities. OFW resources might be even tapped to fund the establishment of this infrastructure.

Some OFWs are even advocating on buying from our creditors debt papers at a discount considering that these loans are almost worthless. Mike Bolos a financial consultant based in Riyadh is proposing that OFWs buy these at 25 cents to the dollar wherein millions of overseas Filipinos can pool in their resources and buy them up.

“Inasmuch as the debts are sovereign debts, they are guaranteed by the Republic of the Philippines and we are hopeful the country will not turn against its own citizens. This win-win situation will enable overseas Filipino investors to receive interest periodically while the country’s economy will benefit tremendously because the interest that was being paid outside the country before will now remain inside that can provide fuel to boost the economy.”


Returning OFWs

The experiences gained from an OFW’s exposure abroad could be used to improve the work ethic in the country. Overseas Filipino Workers have been tested and strengthened by the difficulties, trials and challenges they faced abroad. They come home enriched by their experiences. Their exposure to the efficiency of systems in more advanced countries will enable them to apply what they have learned from abroad. They have developed a work ethic that allowed them to shine away from home. Many Filipinos excelled and are recognized in their fields abroad though no one knows them on home grounds.

We hear of the heroic deeds of Nestor Sulpico, the honest taxi driver in New York and the couple who returned a huge amount which was erroneously credited to their bank account, Leah Salonga’s grand slam in the Tony’s, Olivier, Drama Desk etc. awards, Josie Natori of the high fashion lingerie fame, Cesar Gaupo, the Filipino designer of Shanghai Tang and Rafe Totengco the bag designer who is hailed for his Rafe bags in New York.

Eduardo Manalac was a recipient of the most outstanding foreigner award in China in 2001. He was the head a company that discovered one of the biggest oil source find in China. He came home after retirement to serve at the PNOC. However not so many outstanding Filipinos are given incentives, encouragement to come home and serve.

The news that we read in the Internet is very discouraging. The never ending exposes on corruption where no one has yet been convicted, the “Padrino” system that continues to inflict itself on our people have made many of us opt for the more peaceful scenery abroad or risk our lives in Iraq. Our brightest minds have gone in masse.

Participation of Migrants in Civil Society and Good Governance

The strengthening of civil societies among Filipino organizations abroad has given us hope that there will come a time when overseas Filipinos can create enough pressure to move government into giving what was due to its people. The effect of information technology in linking migrants abroad can be harnessed to enhance, encourage migrants’ participation in government.

EDSA 2 started the buzz when e-groups were created to organize overseas Filipinos and to make Manila feel the sentiment of Filipinos overseas. ELAGDA became the center for mobilizing thousands of socially concerned overseas Filipinos into sending tons of position papers, petition letters to Manila, one senator tried to find her way out by saying that we’re “wasting people’s money” when we jammed her fax machine with our petitions.

We impressed one legislator when she got a text message at the session hall right after a motion unfavorable to our position was mentioned during the deliberation of the Overseas Absentee Voting Bill. We made them feel our interest on the issue during visits to the senate and congress during home leave.

The Hongkong experience showed us what could have been, if government is able to inspire its citizens to be involved and a community is vigilant and are willing to contribute to realize its goals. Hongkong had the biggest voter’s turnout with 63% of its registered voters voting during the voting period. Overseas Filipinos in Hongkong have deepened their understanding on the law through constant discussions on its various provisions and have actively given their inputs particularly in pushing for on site counting of the votes and the establishment of satellite registration centers. Those were memories that returning Filipinos could bring home with them and will serve as an inspiration for them to be involved in issues confronting our country.

The noise when the OWWA Omnibus Policies was rammed through our throats without consultation has once again shown the potential of OFW organizations abroad as a fiscalizing agent of government.

While many overseas Filipinos have given up on the country there are still many who continue to be involved. These are manifested on the many e-groups and organizations that has sprouted all over the world since then. To name a few, there is the International Coalition for Overseas Filipinos Voting Rights (ICOFVR), KASAPI Congress, OFW-Vote, Filcoyan, Talsik, and Global Filipinos. A government will be deemed wise when it draws upon its migrants’ wealth of experience and tap their potentials in promoting good government.


The Effect of Returning Filipinos on the National Psyche

Today, we mourned the fact that many of our professionals have become the domestic helpers, caregivers and entertainers of the world. Globalization has increased our woes. We have to struggle to keep our competitiveness. We had the edge in the labor market because we started sending our workers ahead of the rest. This edge will slowly be eroded as other sources of migrant labor emerge and travel becomes cheaper and more convenient. There will always be someone undercutting our migrant workers.

One can just imagine how things will be when no one is forced to go abroad for the survival of one’s family. I can just imagine the day when Filipino passports will no longer be scrutinized more stringently than other passports. We will rejoice on that day when we see no families breaking up because of the migration of a family member and children growing up with out parental control.

This is the day when we can say, “we can do it all”.

To this day, migrant Filipinos remain marginalized, a convenient prop whenever government is desperate in boosting its image.

-----------------------------
This Paper was presented at the World Conference of OFWs 2004. December 16-18, 2004. Bayview Park Hotel, Manila.

Source: PINOY-ABROAD.NET

Sources:
1. Sec. Patricia Sto.Thomas, “Overseas Filipinos Workers in the National Development Agenda: The Government’s Perspective” 27 June, 2003

2. Enhancing the Efficiency of Overseas Workers remittances.

3. I.F. Bagusao, Migration and Development “The Philippine Experience” Economic Resource Center for Overseas Filipinos ERCOF, Philippine Migration Data;

4. R.T. David, OFWs as Partners in Nation Building

Sunday, January 02, 2005

PINOY MIGRANTS' ISSUES: How To Succeed As An OFW

How to succeed as an OFW

There are many Overseas Filipino Workers who work abroad for many years but are not successful and no investments were acquired by the time that they have already retired.

The worst situation is that there are some OFWs who have been in an accident overseas which prevented them from working again. Regardless of working in or outside the Philippines, Filipino worker should know how to value his labor and sacrifices while aiming for his dreams.

The following tips are worth reading that will serve as guides for typical Overseas Filipino Workers. Information given is based on my own experiences and from the experiences of other fellow Overseas Filipino Workers.

1. Do not spend too much of your income. Not because you are earning big now and you have extra money, you are going to spend too much for your vices and unnecessary things. Some Filipinos who are only on a temporary working visa are buying luxury and brand new cars which I think is not necessary. If your earnings are high, it should be okay but I know some Overseas Filipino Workers who buy expensive and brand new cars but do not have any investment on important properties yet. They could not even eat proper meals anymore as luxury is more important to them. They are not thinking that their job abroad is just temporary, anytime they can be sent back home if some unpleasant situation happened such as war, bankruptcy, slow economy or as I have mentioned above, when they become paralyzed and couldn’t work anymore after an accident.

2. Always keep some income for savings. Save some of your income in Philippine banks as well as banks in the country where you work. And because you will stay abroad for about two years or more, it’s better that you’ll keep your money in a term of savings where you can earn more interest such as Time Deposit or Funds. Some Philippine banks offer special savings program for Overseas Filipino Workers and their beneficiaries.

3. Obtain pension plans for retirement, savings fund, children's educational plan, health insurance or life insurance. Get more if you can, although you already have the OWWA Benefits or Social Security Insurance (SSS) or Pag-Ibig, it is also better to get another one from private insurance company.

It is not always safe to work anywhere, you will never know if you can have an accident in the future that will prevent you to engage in any kind of jobs again. Having some insurance is always a big help.

4. Once you start receiving your salary and suppose you have no debts to pay anymore, make sure you would invest in a property first. If you will buy some property, its’ value does not go down; it's always accumulating or increasing every year. House and Lot or Lot is the best investment of all.

5. If you want to build a house, unless you already got many houses, it is better to build an apartment first to have some additional income. Your wife/husband is in Philippines can take care of your property in case you want them to be a commercial or residential apartment for rent.
If you are earning from the rental of your apartment, you may now save your income and with some additional money from the last few years of working abroad, you can build a new house again for your family.

6. Do not give so much allowance to your beneficiaries that could only make them spend your remittance for unnecessary things as well. You should let them know how hard it is to work in a foreign land and earn that money that you are sending for them. You should let them know how to spend wisely as well.

Do not stay quiet or ashamed to tell and explain how hard it is to work as Overseas Filipino Workers abroad to your family. If they do not know about your real situation, they would just think that you are just "collecting" money while you're walking on the road. So, they would just spend your remittance on things that are unnecessary.

7. If you cannot bring your family while you are working abroad and your vacation is not yet due, why not try bringing them to your country of work. Sometimes, you need to spend a little to maintain the relationship and bonding of your family.

8. If you are on vacation, do not spend all your savings thinking that you still have a job in abroad upon returning there. It is not always like that. I have someone that I knew, who had bought brand new car, spent most of his savings while on vacation but by the time that this fellow overseas Filipino worker is now going back to work abroad, his employer's company suddenly closed. He did not know that the company was already failing and facing bankruptcy.

9. Rather than spending too much of your savings on less important things, just improve your skills. You will never know that your current job will still be on demand after one or two years. You should try to be knowledgeable of other types of skills and profession.

If you are a carpenter, acquire some skills that could help you to become a contractor just in case you want to have your own business and would like to get your own carpenter to do the jobs.

10. Do not start your own business if you do not have any idea about the business. Do not just listen with other people’s suggestions, think about it. It is not because having an Internet Cafe is one of the good businesses these days, you will engage yourself with that same business even you do not know anything about computers.

If you have an experience in carpentry jobs, start business that is related to carpentry such as cabinet making, construction materials retail, painting etc. Do not engage in other kinds of business unless you have also experienced it before. This is not the proper way to do business. Put up a business that you are familiar with and that you most love to do.

Source: OFW-CONNECT

Saturday, January 01, 2005

PINOY MIGRANTS' ISSUES: Why Filipinos Prefer To Work Abroad?

Why Filipinos Prefer to Work Abroad?

The unstable economic and political situation in the Philippines is one of the major causes why most educated and highly skilled Filipinos prefer to work abroad. Filipino workers could not see any hope from their leaders to achieve prosperity for the country... Most of our leaders in the Philippines are not serious in dealing with the country's economic development and growth. They are spending more time on arguments, debates and opposing each other's proposed ideas and projects rather than taking action on the current problems of the country. There is lack of cooperation, understanding, acceptance and consideration on others’ works and contributions. They are always complaining rather than working real hard for their country and for the Filipino people.

The Philippines is such a rich nation, from natural resources to human resources, but this golden opportunity is not well handled by most of the Philippine leaders and government officers. They are not considering the effects of "brain drain" that the country is facing at this time. Millions of Filipinos are working outside the Philippines for contractual jobs and thousands are leaving yearly to look for better opportunities in other advanced countries. If given the chance, Filipinos abroad would not go back to their home country anymore but stay in the newly adoptive land to work and live permanently.

The Second Main Reason is Low Salary - To get better education from reputable schools in the Philippines is not cheap for an ordinary Filipino but by the time a worker gets a job in the Philippines, he does not get paid enough to equal his investment on education. Due to this, most Filipino skilled workers get jobs abroad where salary commensurate education, skills, and experience. Sometimes, an OFW can be paid more if he takes a blue-collar job even if he is a degree holder. That is why a lot of degree-holder Filipinos work abroad as maids, sales ladies, construction workers and laborers. Most Filipinos would work on any job as long as it is decent and high paying.

Poor Benefits - A foreign-based company can give benefits to employees such as housing, food allowance, medical or health care, dental care, paid leave, or even educational benefits for children but in Philippines, it is very rare to be employed and get most of these benefits. Although local companies in the Philippines can afford to pay their workers, most of these companies would not invest more or do not bother to give additional benefits for their workers. Since it is hard to live in the Philippines without a job, the poor Filipino workers will accept whatever these companies are offering. It is like putting the workers in a “take it or leave it” situation which I think is taking advantage of the workers.

Discrimination is one of the biggest problems as well. It can be noticed that most advertised jobs on newspapers in the Philippines require a degree or at least college level of education even for blue-collar jobs. An applicant must at least be 5 feet tall or higher and those who are 30 years old and over 30 are denied of the application. It is also difficult to get a job in the Philippines if you are married, disabled, not fair complexion and part of a certain group or tribal race. Some companies think that having beautiful, good-looking and “sexy” staff would boost their business but I think otherwise, it is the staff’s attitude and good performance that would make a business succeed. There is an ongoing bill in the senate to abolish discrimination practices of employers against job applicants. I hope it will be passed and approved very soon.

In other countries such as the US and Canada, you are free to get a job regardless of your age, capacity, married or not married, gay or lesbian etc. as long that you can perform the job requested. You can even file complaints if you think that employers have discriminated against you. In those countries, although you're not a college degree graduate but you've experienced the job of a degree holder, you can be qualified for a job. They can accept applicants based on education and/or working experience. (But in some events, it only applies to their own people, immigrants were just the ones who suffers discrimination).

Source: OFW-CONNECT