The Fascinating World of Overseas Filipino Workers
July 9, 2009 by Administrator
Filed under Features
By Philip Lustre, Contributing Editor
Returning overseas Filipino workers
The Filipino diaspora is visible on every part of the world. One can find Filipinos in the construction projects in the Middle East, the fishing boats on the Scandinavian fjords, the cruiseships at the
Caribbean, the homes of the affluent in Europe, or in the typhoon-ravaged islands of the South Pacific. They perform jobs that range from the menial to the technical, or from the lowly to the sophisticated.
In chronicling the Filipino diaspora that took place twenty years ago, I have learned that the Filipinos have survived the hostile foreign environment by bringing with them essential Filipino traits and values that all reflect persistence, adaptability, expediency, and a great sense of humor.
The fundamental value is bahala na (or literally, come what may). No Filipino would survive the challenge of a foreign job without adhering to this value.
But contrary to Western thinkers, who regard it as an expression of fatalism, the Filipinos contract workers have added a new dimension to bahala na, which is audacity. Only those who would dare to go out to meet the hostile foreign environment could survive the challenges.
In short, the Filipino overseas workers have made bahala na a proactive value. It’s no longer as static or fatalistic as it used to be in the past.
In my talks with OFWs, I’ve learned that their world revolves on three other values: sapalaran, diskarte, or abilidad. Sapalaran could be loosely translated as a sense of adventure; diskarte, ingenuity; and abilidad, adaptability.
Ask them on why they are working abroad and their answers would invariably go around on those concepts. Of course, they would add their love of God and family.
Our workers bring with them their practices when they go abroad. I went to the weekend gatherings of Pinay DHs in Hong Kong and I was treated to afternoons of Filipino merienda. I feasted on lumpia,
pancit and dinuguan, which were cooked by Pinays there.
While I felt aghast by their inability to collect their garbage at Hong Kong’s central square, I felt relieved that they make sure they send their earnings back home. But i have discovered some disturbing practices.
Do you know the Pinays there bet on daily jueteng (informal lottery)? Or do you know they also have that PBA ending game?
Also, Pinays have made informal lending a part of the Hong Kong’s underground economy. Cash-strapped Pinays could borrow a certain amount of money from fellow Pinays, using their passports as collaterals.
I was told they also have sabong (cockfighting) for Pinoys there. For quite a while, they succeeded in bringing chicken eggs there and incubate them to become fighting cocks. Their Chinese friends join them in betting.
In Singapore, those Pinays had different stories. I heard bleeding heart stories about those DHs, who became depressed (binuryong) and committed suicide by jumping from the high-rise apartments of their employers. But this is another story.
