A Nation Without Parents

                My father started working as a seafarer even before I could to talk. When I was around two or three years old, I didn't seem to care much. I was even happy since I had the opportunity to get such awesome robots and toy cars which my playmates envied. However, these material things didn't seem to contain my happiness as I grew older. I started to ask why we had this kind of setup. Why can’t my father work locally? But my mother was always there to explain that he’s doing it for us; for our future.

                It was hard at first, but eventually, I started to realize that this is the reality I needed to endure. Knowing that all my cousins in my father side and some of my schoolmates are also OFW children made me feel that we have a normal family just like anybody else. They became my closest basis that there are a lot of us who experience this kind of setup. In fact, according to a Philippine Star article, there are 11 million Filipinos working overseas (Bondoc, 2014). That’s over a tenth of the population. But, is this how it should be? Do we just need to accept that our homeland can’t provide enough jobs for 1 out of 10 Filipinos?

                 Having this kind of setup is becoming more ubiquitous as the government continues to be idle on finding a solution to the continuing price increase of commodities and low salary of workers. 429 pesos per day or 10,296 pesos for a 24-day work is the current minimum wage in NCR. It is even lower in other regions (DOLE, 2015). According to the data of Philippine Commission on Women, poorest households have an average of 5.2 children. 10,296 pesos is barely enough for the needs of 5 children.

                Suppose a certain Filipino did not finish school and end up doing blue-collar jobs. In Taiwan, they could earn a minimum of NT$18,780 or 26, 101 pesos per month. Almost 3 times bigger than what they could earn in the Philippines. No wonder why some Filipinos can’t resist the opportunities abroad. I can’t also blame my father if he prefers working overseas since he could earn a lot bigger for the same amount of work he will do if he works locally.

                But if we want change in the system, we need to choose a leader with exemplary leadership skills and great love for the country to spearhead the change we want. We must remember that society is not and will never be constant. A recent article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer states that the Philippines is no longer the “sick man of Asia”, because of consistently high economic growth for the past years, but we must take note that our economy is still highly dependent on OFW remittances. Yes, we may no longer be the “sick man of Asia”, but we don’t have to wait for the time when our next tagline is “A nation without parents”, right?

References:

Bondoc, J. (2014, October 6). OFW experience: At what cost to family? Philippine Star. Retrieved from http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2014/10/06/1376935/ofw-experience-what-cost-family

De Vera, B.O. & Remo, A.R. (2015). PH no more the ‘sick man of Asia’. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved from http://business.inquirer.net/185775/ph-no-more-the-sick-man-of-asia

Department of Labor and Employment. (2015). Summary of Current Regional Daily Minimum Wage Rates. Retrieved from http://www.nwpc.dole.gov.ph/pages/statistics/stat_current _regional.html

OFW Guide. (2013). Minimum Salary of Filipino Workers in Tawian Increases. Retrieved from http://www.ofwguide.com/article_item-1967/Taiwan-Increases-Salary-of-Filipino-Workers.html#ixzz2Q326RMKE

Philippine Commission on Women. (2014). Population, families and household statistics. Retrieved from http://www.pcw.gov.ph/statistics/201405/population-families-and-household-statistics

SocSci10 Z Group 5


Enriquez, Ryan
Flores, Nathaniel Lorenz
Galido, Noel Joseph
Jimenez, Rica
Paican, Maria Luzviminda
Vergara, Bryan