I’ve always had a problem with how the media, and other entities (such as, sadly, our politicians and gov’t officials) have coined Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) as Modern day Bayanis (heroes). Don’t get me wrong. I think what they’re doing is really admirable. They show an exemplary testament as to how much one is willing to sacrifice in order to give their families lives that they could only dream of. They are even willing to get to or go beyond the point where it becomes too risky for them to even work overseas. It comes to a point of “kapit sa patalim” or “dancing with death” when it comes to these Filipino workers trying to provide money and livelihood to their dependent families here in the Philippines. With this kind of depiction, the OFW is truly something to be recognized and to be respected.
Now what’s my beef? My problem is how the media, and sadly, some of the local gov’t officials and politicians have shaped the image of the OFW within Filipino society. Despite the image of the OFW being portrayed as something to be respected, and to some extent, something worth aspire for (with OFWs being depicted as selfless, enduring, loyal individuals that are willing to go through anything just so that they could provide for their family), there are also negative aspects to this image.
Take for example the recent movie of Pokwang entitled, A Mother’s Story. The movie portrays a typical situation of an OFW, with Pokwang being a mother of two, who was forced to look for a job outside the country due to lack of opportunities here in the Philippines. She gets to find a job in the US, first as a receptionist in a children’s dance studio. The pay in the first job is too small for her to be able to support her family back in the Philippines so she is referred to by her friend to another job which is a personal housekeeper in an American family’s household. Pokwang is maltreated during her stay, being abused verbally and physically, but endures 7 long years before she goes back home to the Philippines. The reason for this was that she needed more money to be able to support her family. Upon her return to the Philippines, she is welcomed by a son who hates her, a daughter she never saw grew up, and a husband who has left her for another woman. The movie culminates though with Pokwang’s son also venturing as an OFW to find “greener pastures”. This pretty much sums up the movie.
Take for example the recent movie of Pokwang entitled, A Mother’s Story. The movie portrays a typical situation of an OFW, with Pokwang being a mother of two, who was forced to look for a job outside the country due to lack of opportunities here in the Philippines. She gets to find a job in the US, first as a receptionist in a children’s dance studio. The pay in the first job is too small for her to be able to support her family back in the Philippines so she is referred to by her friend to another job which is a personal housekeeper in an American family’s household. Pokwang is maltreated during her stay, being abused verbally and physically, but endures 7 long years before she goes back home to the Philippines. The reason for this was that she needed more money to be able to support her family. Upon her return to the Philippines, she is welcomed by a son who hates her, a daughter she never saw grew up, and a husband who has left her for another woman. The movie culminates though with Pokwang’s son also venturing as an OFW to find “greener pastures”. This pretty much sums up the movie.
Media devices such as these try to portray the story of an OFW and also try to relate their life stories to a bigger audience. They try to show how hard it is to live as an OFW— what sacrifices they have to make, what trials they go to, etc. At a first glance, it could be said that what these kinds of media do, in portraying and retelling the stories and lives of these OFWs, is to try to valorize the OFW, to portray him/her as parent/son/daughter struggling to make ends meet just so that he/she could provide a good life for his/her family. In short, it tries to celebrate the OFW as a modern day Bayani.
What’s wrong with this? It’s not that I am degrading the image of these workers since clearly, the sacrifices that entail being an OFW is a lot and great. But the problem is that, with the continuous hyping of the media of this image of the OFW, most of us forget the problems which actually face us still. For those who have not gone through the experiences of an OFW and their loved ones, some of these problems might seem small enough to be neglected . To them, what matters is that they are able to give a good life to their family and to be able to sustain them. But for those who have been affected by such circumstances, it’s something that really becomes hard to bear. As what has been portrayed in a lot of films and shows, just as with our example, families do end up being broken; children, more often than not, grow up without proper guidance coming from their parent; etc. One of the problems that face us is that material wealth is not enough to sustain a family. We cannot ignore the need for personal relationships, communication, and intimacy within a family’s household.
Now it’s not just the personal side of this issue that seems problematic. Economy-wise, this issue is symptomatic of one of the failures of the Philippine Gov’t. Fine, there exists already the phenomenon of “globalization” that supposedly “destroys borders” and makes the world a “globalized village”. People, despite whatever country you are coming from, will always be able to find a job. If that is the only thing we need solving, the problem isn’t really that much of a problem anymore (given that she/he meets the specific requirements, which also becomes another problem that the Philippine Gov’t needs to address, but we’ll discuss that some other time). But what actually is problematic with this scheme of “globalization” is that it’s not really the Philippines that directly benefits from the services that these OFWs render in their respective countries that they work in. Sure, the Philippines does get remittances from the OFWs salaries, which boosts the Philippine economy one way or the other. But that’s it. The fruits of these OFWs are only limited to remittances (and occasional media coverage when they perform heroic deeds or are stuck in another country’s war).
Imagine if these same OFWs are actually working here, rendering their services here in the Philippines. Imagine how much output would that be. Those engineers that have been hired to construct the magnificent buildings in Dubai, those meteorologists, scientists, etc. who have been recruited by multi-million companies to research and invent brilliant things, those nurses who tirelessly care for the sick — the ones actually benefiting from the labors and services that these OFWs provide are countries/companies that are not even Filipino to begin with. Please don’t mistake this as a nationalistic statement. What I’m trying to point at is that if the Philippine Government actually started doing its job, providing enough jobs locally, and instead of dodging its responsibilities by averting the citizens gaze to some other hyped-up issue, the Philippines could actually become a progressive force in the international arena.
Imagine if these same OFWs are actually working here, rendering their services here in the Philippines. Imagine how much output would that be. Those engineers that have been hired to construct the magnificent buildings in Dubai, those meteorologists, scientists, etc. who have been recruited by multi-million companies to research and invent brilliant things, those nurses who tirelessly care for the sick — the ones actually benefiting from the labors and services that these OFWs provide are countries/companies that are not even Filipino to begin with. Please don’t mistake this as a nationalistic statement. What I’m trying to point at is that if the Philippine Government actually started doing its job, providing enough jobs locally, and instead of dodging its responsibilities by averting the citizens gaze to some other hyped-up issue, the Philippines could actually become a progressive force in the international arena.
In relation to the failure of the Philippine Gov’t in providing jobs, another thing that struck me was the ending of the movie A Mother’s Story. The scene became problematic since it concealed the problem of employment shortage here in the Philippines. Instead of achieving its intention of helping these OFWs, media depictions such as these further worsen the problem by normalizing the problem of employment shortage, treating it as something that can only be solved only by going abroad. It doesn’t help Filipino citizens to be critical of its gov’t. It doesn’t aid Filipinos in questioning their gov’t, demanding it to give them better job opportunities, and in effect, better lives.
Movies such as these reinforce such thinkings that we are powerless in the end, and that all we can do is cope up with the circumstances that life throws us. It renders the normal Filipino to accept his/her stature of poverty, and the only way he/she can escape it is either by luck (with the numerous game shows proliferating in Philippine tv programming, and the numerous participation in the lotto sweepstakes) or by actually leaving the country. We have become so distrustful of our government’s capacity to provide us with better lives that we have come to accept it as a fact of life.
Movies such as these reinforce such thinkings that we are powerless in the end, and that all we can do is cope up with the circumstances that life throws us. It renders the normal Filipino to accept his/her stature of poverty, and the only way he/she can escape it is either by luck (with the numerous game shows proliferating in Philippine tv programming, and the numerous participation in the lotto sweepstakes) or by actually leaving the country. We have become so distrustful of our government’s capacity to provide us with better lives that we have come to accept it as a fact of life.
It is no doubt that the label Bayani conferred to OFWs is very fitting, given the numerous sacrifices and trials they had to endure just so that they could provide for their families and loved-ones. But it doesn’t always have to be this way. People do not need to go outside the country to search for “greener pastures” just so that they could give themselves and their loved-ones better lives. If our government is to truly fulfill its job, to provide better opportunities for its citizens, given the image that new administration is portraying, it isn’t far off to realize that the “greener pastures” we have been dreaming for so long lies right only in our backyard.
No comments:
Post a Comment