Part II: The OFWs’ Life
The advent of Overseas Filipino Workers (or OFWs) came about during the downward spiral of the Philippine economy of the ‘70s. A foreign journalist observed, “the Filipinos were robbed blind.”
The Philippines is not only a country endowed with an abundance in natural resources, both land and sea, but also a sunny place inhabited by peoples who are by nature easy-going, family-oriented, and happy. Along with great sense of humor, it must have been very difficult to leave a homeland surrounded by joyful and close familial ties — strengthened by genuine care and love.
It is this concern and love that fueled the need to seek opportunities elsewhere in the face of abject poverty. During the dark days of Martial Law, in the absence of a clear economically viable future, the Filipinos with much trepidation, had to leave the country to survive. They left in unprecedented numbers as soon as the infamous travel ban was lifted. It was the only way they can feed themselves and their families.
Fortuitously, as the economic situation became more and more dire for the Filipino working class, the job market in the Middle East opened up. The discovery of natural oil and gas ushered an unprecedented economic boom that necessitated foreign workers to be employed. Why, even their security personnel are expatriates! Their sparse population cannot meet need to arrive at the modern world.
As such, many recruitment/employment agencies sprung up overnight — many legitimate; equally, there were many illegitimate. Sadly, many hopeful and hapless Filipinos, eager to find work overseas became victims of unscrupulous and unlicensed employment agencies.
That was the first blow. It is devastating to be taken advantage of when one is already scraping and had to borrow money for fees. Many, however, did find jobs in the Middle Eastern countries: Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates, etc.
Life overseas, especially coming from a more developed country going into a dessert and still-to-be developed countries was a shock to say the least. We are so accustomed to hearing and seeing about developed countries when we watch movies, see what’s on television, and so forth, it gave us the impression we are the only one lagging behind. Filipinos soon found out that in the middle east, it was the reverse.
During my second overseas mission assignment at my workplace, in the early ‘80s, I remember unbelievably feeling like having an out-of-body experience when I first visited Sana’a, Yemen Arab Republic (just founded on September 26, 1962). It felt like going back in time! It must have been just this way at the time of the Queen of Sheba, I thought. A further step back in time, my first ‘mission’ or business trip overseas was to Cairo, Egypt. While more cosmopolitan, it was also quite an experience to see how huge those pyramids were ‘in person.’ Working specifically in the Middle Eastern area provided me with a unique insight of how the OFWs lived and worked.
I wish I could say it was truly great to see my compatriots enjoying their overseas work. To put a positive spin, doctors, nurses, and medical techs, engineers, and other professionals, while also facing a huge adjustment to their new environ, had a much nicer and comfortable accommodation, coupled with a better compensation package. This was especially true in the early days when these middle eastern countries wanted to entice professionals. As unimaginable money started pouring in from natural oil and gas, these oil-rich countries were furiously building infrastructure out of the bare dessert land. Roads, bridges, government buildings, hospitals, huge desalination plants — name it. Everything had to be built. Remember, they were just coming out of their Bedouin days, not yet fully tapping into their rich natural oil resources. The truth is, because of the Philippines’ inherent wealth in natural resources, both in land and sea, was more developed, more civilized, albeit more educated than the country they now found themselves in.
To recap history — the Philippines was first colonized by Spain, one of the giants in world exploration in the 16th century. The Philippines was discovered on March 17, 1521, by Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer working under Spain. Thus, the Philippines fell unwittingly, under the influence of an advanced and sophisticated culture for 355 years! Following that, on December 10, 1898, after Spain lost in the Spanish-American War, through the Treaty of Paris, the Philippines was ‘handed over’ to the Americans. The rest is history, as they say. But it shows we were clearly ahead of them! That was an eye-opening second blow!
Such was the beginning of the new breed of Filipino heroes: the OFWs. How did they live under such astonishing circumstances? We always think overseas means more advanced in every way, not this time, not then. Thus, the cultural shock was immense. English was also just being learnt in that corner of the world. It was difficult to figure out what was being said. Stress was indeed high! The customs were very backward and repressive, especially when it comes to women. While the beginning was somewhat better in terms of overall compensation package: paid vacation every two years, free roundtrip airfare to the Philippines, not all had these benefits, however. Interestingly, as countries became more progressive (and very quickly so), the employers who got wealthier and more extravagant in their tastes, also became less generous.
Many were promised comfortable salaries only to find that they actually will not receive that as there are expenses deducted such as employment agency fee, outbound airfare, medical, even unemployment insurance, and so on. Thus, these very, very lonely, and homesick OFWs had to stretch their budget to the max in order to send money home to feed their families. Many thoughts emerged in the minds of these OFWs — of going back and yet, to what? And so, they had to stay and ‘bite the bullet’ so to speak. This was the third blow.
Back in Sana’a, I met many Filipinos staffing the hotel I was staying in. Conversing with them led me to the knowledge that while the hotel provides food and lodging, the novelty of it has long worn off. Also, their food is inferior in quality from the five-star hotel they are housed in. Thus, the OFWs there opted to rent an apartment so they can have a place to relax, rest, talk their language, eat the food they are familiar with, and have the camaraderie of compatriots. They eagerly and happily invited me to their place. I found out that they mostly ate rice and dried fish (tuyo). Not much difference from back home in their shanties, huh? I was again, appalled.
I also found out that they were not receiving the salary promised to them! But were afraid to report this unfair labor practice lest they are let go! Apparently, this was a secret norm amongst unskilled labor, such as hotel staff, housekeepers, drivers, etc. When the countries found out the Philippines’ dire economic situation, they realized that these people have no choice and are easy prey. As expected, no one did anything about it, until much, much later. There were also numerous documented atrocities, physical, psychological, emotional, aside from financial irregularities, especially experienced by domestic housekeepers. So, the OFWs were not only fighting loneliness and extreme homesickness, but also staying on despite unfair labor practices.
Indeed, the untold sacrifices of the OFWs left me in awe. They are to be admired. It is perhaps finding others in the same situation that made them conquer these challenges. The smiles and the joys wrote in the faces of their families as they opened the Balikbayan boxes they sent – must have been another reason they resolutely kept on. Another driving inspiration is the hope for a better future when they finally get back home.
I saw a documentary about the atrocities experienced by OFWs and I couldn’t help but cry. Not only are their passports held by their employers (to prevent any thought of escape), but they are also subjected to verbal and physical abuse, including being raped, maimed, crippled, defaced, and even death to some due to severeness of these treatments. A red-hot iron applied on one’s face and other parts of the body is common. You need to have a strong stomach to see that documentary by an American journalist shown on TV. It pales in comparison to what I saw in my visits to other middle eastern countries. It showed how OFWs have become mis-treated slaves of wealthy nations, including amongst fellow-Asians, such as in Hong Kong.
In Kuwait, Qatar, etc., and later on, in Hong Kong, during their only day off, the Filipinos converge in public places by the droves. So did other expatriates from Korea, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other countries. They collectively met with their specific nationality groups. Most just sit on an open newspaper and chat with compatriots, take a nap, read messages from families, and just enjoy a brief respite from their dreadful existences as OFWs. In small apartments such as in Hong Kong, many are made to sleep on a tiny kitchen floor or in the bathtub. They do not even have a small corner to call their space. You can say that as housekeepers and nannies back in the Philippines, they were far better treated.
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Next Part III: How the OFWs changed the Philippine socio-economic landscape