The Overseas’ Mockery

John Paul C. Sabio

EN 11 – R26

The Overseas’ Mockery

        As years pass by, the number of Filipinos working abroad increases rapidly as statistical data from the National Statistics Office show. In the year 2012, there were roughly around 2.2 million OFWs, higher than the data recorded in the earlier years. This amounted to a 120-billion-peso worth of remittances which greatly contributed to the economy of the country in that year. Looking at a more general perspective, the sound economy of the country today may be attributed to the remittances of the OFWs themselves. This huge contribution served as a key in order for the country to facilitate more socioeconomic projects centered on raising the living standards of the Filipinos.

        Indeed the OFWs contribute largely to the economy of the Philippines; nevertheless, this is an indicator of the Philippines having an incompetent labor system- a system that lacks in global competitiveness that most countries are already highlighting. This case is mainly attributed to the increasing exile of Filipinos going abroad because of many reasons connected to the salaries and benefits they receive in the country. This would show that the Filipinos are not getting much from what the government has been doing in order for everyone to experience abundantly a normal living situation. Aside from these two factors, highlight in job description also affects the exile of the Filipinos. For instance, a construction worker in a local context is only a minimum wage earner- meaning he earns lesser than 500 pesos a day, which cannot suffice the living conditions in the country; whereas, one of the same job in another country like Australia, would earn about a five-digit pay in dollars. Looking at this,  the way the labor system in the country works is not as beneficial and efficient in order to meet the growing needs of its people; thus, causing for some to work abroad to earn more and have more.

        These attributes pave way for OFWs to remain and have a long-term stay in their respective countries. In their note, they are able to exercise more of their skills and abilities while having enough compensation for whatever job they are doing. More so do Filipinos find more benefits abroad than in their own country. For example, in the labor code of Saudi Arabia and some other countries, meeting an accident during work hours or even outside means that the company or the employer is responsible for all the hospitalization fees and other medical services needed by the worker without having further discussions and also, they make sure that the service they do is fast without incurring any other harms or delays. On this note, despite being away from their families, countries abroad are able to fill in or compensate to an extent the services offered by these Filipinos to them. These highlight the value and importance of OFWs in other countries which the Philippines lack in extending to them.

        Given that the exile has been attributed to an inefficient labor system, this would show that the government is not being at par with what the world or what other countries do in order to balance and maintain their working population without having a boom of manpower loss. For instance, neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, which are also developing countries same with the Philippines, are able to give as much as $230 dollars as a minimum wage as compared with a $15 wage which does not suffice the daily living expenses of Filipinos below the poverty line. The question here lies on the country not keeping up to address the needs of its people. It has long been sought by many labor advocates such as the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Anakpawis, to raise the bar of the labor system here in the country, but their voices remain unanswered. On the other hand, aside from the daily wage earners, another fact that insults the country is its skilled workers who choose to work abroad instead than to serve the country. In this case, the problem lies not only on the salary but also on the benefits. As compared to other countries, skilled Filipinos who work abroad get better opportunities to practice their field and explore further the other things that they can do whereas in their home country, they are living in a box where they practice their routine without gaining a single thing. These comparisons highlight how the system in the Philippines fails in addressing what every individual in the country needs.

        As presented, the labor system is what keeps an entire nation intact to a certain extent and this is one of the major reasons of why Filipinos tend to work abroad. This problem must then be addressed efficiently by the government in order to overcome the situation. Aside from the low wages entitled to every laborer, lack of health and assistance benefits is also a flaw in the current system. Yes, the fact that the PhilHealth and the SSS are working in order to provide these so-called benefits can be seen as forms of efforts or responses but then the way they are being operated is not really systematic at all. Cases would even reveal that they take awhile before they are given. Another is about the conditions of work in the country. To further understand this, the treatment to laborers, the congested facilities they work in, and the lack of highlight in job description are but a few to describe this situation. These scenarios has long been addressed but has always lacked further grounding in order to fully establish a stable and efficient workplace; thus, workers of different fields are not able to accomplish their jobs well and therefore forced to look and jump to other countries. Looking at these concurrent problems and their inefficient solutions, the way they are justifies the whole reason behind Filipinos moving out of the country to work. Unless these flaws in the labor system are resolved, a higher rate of exile may be experienced in the future.