Who's Afraid of OFWs?

Not very many Filipinos would dare say it pointblank. Not very many could do a Winnie Monsod. No other high-paying broadcast journalist would touch the subject. No stalwart columnist, not even Conrado De Quiros would be as bold.

This morning I read De Quiros column on why we are an ASEAN country that's only a little better than Myanmar. Why a country who had the best promise of success after World War II, second only to Japan, has become this desolate six decades later. (Seriously, is De Quiros reading my blog? I have just touched on this topic the other day. Oh, well.)

That the problem of this country is not the system. Well, it could be that. But more than that, it is our character as a nation, of what we have become as a people. A people who discovered paradise outside and forgot what we have at home. De Quiros won't blame the OFWs. Won't dare. But he was quick to say our elites' first choice is America; our neighbors' elites choose it last. Why blame the elite? Forget about them. They are a handful. Stop looking the other way simply because we have chosen to elect OFWs the new heroes, a title that Rizal, GomBurZa, Bonifacio and Ninoy had risked their lives and those of their families for.

Now, I remember, the last time De Quiros criticized the OFWs, he calling this nation a country of toilet cleaners or something like that, he was almost burned at the stake. Now, I figure why a lot of our brave mouth-motors and thinking writers who make a living criticizing others have kept away from touching the OFWs.

The OFWs have prided themselves of keeping this country's economy afloat, that without them this country would have gone to the dogs. Well, this is with great thanks to BSP for announcing quarterly how much dollar remittances the OFWs send back home, and how much in percentages, they have grown. Spread the news and you have OFWs thinking they are the kings and queens and messiahs of this nation.

You criticize them and they would ask you, can you give us decent jobs there that pay as much as we're paid overseas? Then the usual rant. The government sucks. They can't give us jobs. Our families will go hungry.

Oh, it is none of our business if they choose to work elsewhere to earn dollars. That is our biggest problem. That "none of your business" mentality. Most of our people have embraced it. Sense of country? What country?

Yes, overseas workers, it is none of our business. But those who stay behind keep it their business to do the jobs you abandon. Even the rearing of your own children who surely will follow your footsteps and work anywhere that isn't called the Philippines.

Good luck making other countries become the most advanced economies. Back home, we will enjoy our sunrise and sunset and mangoes that have stayed true to form and shape and purpose.