OFW Bayani

Mula uli kay Joy D.:

Given the realities in the Philippine economy, is it possible to reach a "turning point" in the economy with the OFW savings, skills/know-how leading the transformation?

The government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been hailing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as the nation's new heroes (bagong bayani). She said OFW remittances have been keeping the economy afloat.

Migration has reached an unprecedented scale. Through decades, there is an increasing and continuous influx of Filipinos- domestic helpers, nurses, professionals, entertainers, families- around the world. Migration has become an all-time Filipino dream: to search for a better life that their own country cannot provide.

The government, instead of encouraging the Filipinos to stay, launched an aggressive campaign to further lure them abroad. The number of recruitment and training agencies shot up. Vocational and nursing schools were customized to meet the growing demand for global labor in the manufacturing and services sectors.

Overseas work is here to stay. However, it is originally meant to serve as a stop-gap approach in developing our domestic economy. While OFW remittances offer a steady guarantee of much-needed foreign currency, we cannot depend on these forever. In recent years, we have witnessed how developed countries like the Unites States enforced strict immigration and labor laws to protect its citizens from job displacement against the influx of lower paid workers usually from the developing world.

Furthermore, the collapse of trade talks, the growing international social dissent, only indicated that instead of upping the ante for the promises of globalization, it becomes more imperative to tend our own backyard first.

The Philippines needs a core labor force who will sustain the local economy. To achieve it, basic industries and sectors especially agriculture should be further developed. With the neoliberal thrusts of the successive governments, this strategy seems far-fetched. We still have a long way to go.

In the meantime, we cannot curtail Filipinos' mobility or their freedom to go wherever they want to. Nor can we pass judgment on their decision to migrate as being a disservice to the nation. However, if we can give them enough reasons to stay, then they can better weigh their options and make informed choices.