OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS

[Photo – Minor Basilica of Santa Pudenziana. It is the church given by the diocese of Rome for Filipinos. It houses the Sentro Pilipino Chaplaincy.]

The total number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who worked abroad at anytime during the period April to September 2011 was estimated at 2.2 million.

According to Rappler, the January to September 2012 remittances of OFWs reached $17.3-B.

It is estimated that there are now more than 200,000 Filipinos currently in Italy, including undocumented workers.

In Rome there are at least 30 parish-based Filipino communities. During my two-year stay in Rome I ministered to the Filipino community based in the minor Basilica of Sacro Cuore (Sacred Heart).

On October 21, 2012 Rome's Filipino expat community came out in droves for the canonization of Pedro Calungsod. Plans are afoot to petition the Pope to declare him as patron Saint of Overseas Filipino Workers.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer came out with an article entitled, “Many OFW dream houses in ‘Little Italy’ still empty”. We read: “Mediterranean-inspired, pastel-colored houses dot the coast and hills of this rural town (Mabini) in Batangas province, dwarfing their traditional counterparts made of unpainted concrete blocks under roofs of corrugated zinc. The larger houses, many of them empty, belong to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who plan to return here one day.”

I’ve heard many stories about OFWs in Rome. I’ve met many of them myself. Here are some of my stories.

Whenever I take a bus in Rome, I make it a point to look around or just listen for conversations. More often than not there will be Filipinos on these buses. One time I met a father and daughter. School was out. It was summer vacation. The father brought the daughter to Rome, not only for vacation but for her to see that life as an OFW was not exactly a bed of roses. He wanted her to see for herself the work he had to do to be able to send money back to the Philippines.

At another time three Filipino women boarded the bus. One of them was giving an advice to the other two who obviously were not married and had no family of their own. She told them to make sure their relatives would know they have money. I was thinking: “For heaven’s sake, why advertise to your relatives that you have money. They’ll just become leeches asking money from you at every opportunity.” But she continued: “Do you know why? Because when you retire and return to the Philippines , ‘magkakandarapa sila na mag-unahan na alagaan kayo’.” Then I understood.

At another time, the bus was full and it was SRO. Now you have to know that when you get on the bus, you’re supposed to punch (that is, validate) your ticket. There are machines inside the bus for that purpose. Some do not validate their ticket and get away with it. But at times ticket checkers get on unexpectedly and if you are found to have no ticket or that your ticket has not been validated, then you get a fine of 50 Euros. Now at this particular instance, ticket checkers boarded the bus. Behold some people hurriedly brought out their tickets and since the bus was full, had to ask people in front of them to pass their tickets in relay fashion and have them punched. A couple of them were Filipinos.

A final story. One afternoon I boarded the bus and looked for an empty seat. I looked around and saw a Pinay-looking woman with a free seat beside her. I took the seat and smiled at her. I don’t remember who initiated the conversation but it wasn’t long before she was telling me her story. Her first stint as an OFW was to the Middle East. She said that she was anxious because she didn’t know how the future will turn out for her. But she entrusted herself to God. Her second stint was Singapore and finally, Rome. She said she had just recently returned from the Philippines. And I asked her if it was to take a vacation. “No”, she replied. “It was for the wedding of my second son.” And then as if she needed someone to whom she can unburden herself, revealed that this son who was still in collage had made a girl pregnant. This was also what happened to her eldest son. She felt betrayed. She didn’t say it but I felt that what she wanted to say was: “How can you do this to me! I became an OFW for your sakes and this is what I get.”

Not all OFWs have only sad stories to tell. But it is true that the social cost of Filipinos going abroad to work has been immense. And it would be unfair to put the blame entirely on their shoulders. Sometimes the decision to work abroad is a matter of choosing the less of two evils. Ultimately it is the responsibility of government to make the economy work so that Filipinos will not have to choose between staying and condemning their children to a miserable life and going abroad and run the risk of a broken marriage, or of wayward children.