Life of Filipinos Abroad

This is actually a very delicate matter to discuss. I will be treading a very thin line between praise and hatred among my fellow Filipinos if I don’t watch carefully what I say. I remember what happened a couple of months ago when a journalist had tactlessly criticized overseas Filipino workers and she was really punished for it. She might have crossed the boundaries in the snobbish and indifferent way she presented her article but we cannot deny that there are morsels of truth in her story. I know because I have been to so many places and I have encountered Filipinos in all walks of life in different countries.

I won’t generalize Filipinos as being all bad because there are actually more and more Filipinos who are excelling in their own professional fields these days. But not being in their own country is a little bit difficult for someone no matter how good and intelligent a person is. A lot of the big countries would actually say that no discrimination exists but the truth is there is and everywhere you go you see them. This is still true even to Asians in the west including of course Filipinos. Just because we come from a 3rd world country we do not stand in the same footing as them. They say the nurses have good lives abroad, maybe they do… But do you think they will be able to get a job if they did not apply for the position when they were still in the Philippines? I know of a lady who was a qualified nurse, she married a British and flew to the UK thinking she can find work there but she didn’t. She has to send back all of her papers to the Philippines and apply through an agency there. Insane, isn’t it? Just when you thought she will have priority because she is married to a local and has a settlement visa, she still doesn’t. It’s the same with spouses of nurses and other professionals who follow their wives to the west. No matter what their qualifications are, most of them lands in the factories and other blue collar jobs. I mean there is nothing wrong with working in the factories but what about the years they have toiled in college to earn their degrees? I had this heated argument with a British lady once when I first got to the UK. I was looking for work and was confident with myself having finished Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts major in Political Science. I wasn’t looking for a lawyer position because let’s be realistic, I wasn’t. But I didn’t expect that after the lengthy interview of my qualifications and experiences and schooling she asked me if I wanted to work in meat packing…. I mean.. hello!!! That was totally uncalled for! What was the interview about if she was going to ask me that question in the end? That was very insulting. And of course I wouldn’t take crap like that so I told her how I felt and stormed off. God I was so angry! After that I worked briefly in a solicitor’s office but found it really isn’t for me so I’ve stopped looking. I could understand Filipinos wouldn’t actually have a choice like that because a lot from back home depends on them so they’ll just take whatever comes their way. For all we know it could mean the future of their family or something. I actually feel sorry for some Filipinos who look really scruffy abroad and can’t afford to buy clothes because they’re trying to save. Here in Singapore, the maids are appallingly pitiful. Most of them can’t afford to eat out or buy anything because their wages are scandalously low so they settle on meeting during their days off and talk which sometimes causes a bit of chaos because of the noise. But you can’t blame them because that’s their only outlet. Sometime, I see Filipinos in Europe during the winter wearing very thin jackets, the type they bought with them from back home because they can’t afford to buy winter jackets. Very sad! So I hope more families in the Philippines would understand that their kins who are working abroad are actually sacrificing a lot to give them a better lifestyle and they should be more appreciative of it. They don’t actually pick up money around the street. And to the OFWs, I wish they would get rid of the habit of being too extravagant when they come home and acting like they’re some kind of rich people who owns the world. I mean we know you’re happy but have you forgotten the hardships? It is different though for Filipinas who are married to western men and some professionals. They actually have better lives abroad. They can afford to do things and buy things they want and enjoy their lives. They do not have the baggage a lot of OFWs bear. The downside though is expat wives do not easily integrate with pure Filipino families unless they already have former Filipino friends before they got married. I find that Filipino circles abroad eyes these Filipinas with suspicion at first and it’s not easy for them to be welcomed in the group. When I first got the UK, there was nothing more I wanted than to find other Filipinas like me. But when I finally found them they were different and they didn’t seem to want to have me because I was married to a British. The only time I felt welcome was when I found other Filipinas who were also married to Brits and funny enough they share the same feeling as me about the Filipino community. I don’t understand this clique thing because we were all Filipinos and we speak the same language.