Dear PNoy,
I am an OFW for more than a decade now. There are more OFWs who have endured working overseas particularly in the Middle East in order to provide good lifestyle and education to their families. A good example is my brother who have been in working in Saudi Arabia since 1979. He was still single then, now he is now a grandfather of two beautiful children but still in the Middle East working. He tried going back to his homeland for a couple of years but there are no suitable jobs for him. It is either that he is over age, over-qualified or a salary not suitable for a decent living.
OFWs are considered modern day heroes. Truly, they are. No money could pay for the loneliness of being away from families not for months, but years. Some even OFWs just don’t bother taking their vacation for 5 years or 10 years just to save enough for the education of their children.
Why do OFWs refuse to return to their homeland despite having worked for too long overseas? OFWs don’t refuse to return. It is just that they are now given enough support from the government for re-integration. There are not enough choices for OFWs for livelihood. OFWs just rely on their savings until it is depleted then they will re-apply for another job overseas.
PNoy, please provide good and effective government program for OFWs to be able to re-integrate themselves back into Philippine society again. OFWs should be able to find a job without being considered over-age, be competitive on the job market, be given enough support if ever they wanted to go into business to invest their lifetime savings without fear of losing it. Your government could develop programs for OFWs to lure them back and work locally. There are many highly skilled and experienced OFWs who could help uplift the sinking Philippine economy.
I am hoping that in addition to your fight for justice and corruption in government, OFW re-integration should be one of your priorities. We are hoping that you will listen to our plea.
Sincerely yours,
An OFW
Have you watched the forum which he answers question regarding concerns of ofw’s yesterday (feb.25,2011)? He anwers it all. but still remain to seen if all will happen.