‘Commentary’ Archives
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines
Unfazed by the difficulties of the US and Eurozone economies, remittances of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) grew by 10.6% from US $ 1.61 B in 2010 to US $ 1.78 billion in November 2011. Remittances continue to support household consumption, which is a major growth driver of the domestic economy. While the men overseas receive higher pay, women’s contribution cannot be underestimated considering their sheer numbers and spending values. Researches proved that when women earns, their incomes [...]
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines
continuation.... Dateline Singapore: I met Yoly. 32 years old and married while she was doing part-time house cleaning and ironing for my host family. She comes from a family of 12. Women’s migration may have become a family tradition because two of her sisters are in Norway, two in Singapore and one in the USA. She has been working in Singapore for eight years and regularly remitted her monthly salary to her husband who takes care of their three children. Her world almost crumbled when [...]
Talking to God
FATHER, are you serious when you say we can talk to God? Questions like that are often asked of me by people who find it incredible that we can talk to God. They have come so often that my answer has become quite standard and routine. Of course, we can talk to God! It’s no big deal to talk to God. It should be the most normal thing to do, since in the first place God is always with us. While we cannot always have anybody to talk to, and sometimes we can even forget to talk with our own [...]
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines
In-law problems and a financially abusive sea-faring husband compelled Jean to leave her work in an orthopedic hospital and look for a job elsewhere. She worked as a physical therapist in Bahrain and then moved to the United States. Aside from supporting her child until she became a pharmacist, Jean also provided financial support to her parents and siblings. She is now an immigrant in the US with her new family. Rina’s husband was a drug user whom she thought would be reformed during [...]
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines
continuation... Permanent residence were also accorded to teachers, nurses, and physical therapists in the US and Canada. Sixty doctors from my city enrolled in a nursing school. There were women pediatricians, anesthesiologists, and obstetricians-gynecologists who joined the exodus of experienced nurses to the west. Enrollment in nursing schools surged while that of the medical schools declined. Hospitals in the Philippines have an ever-ready supply of fresh graduates who are eager to [...]
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines Part II
My town mates Lala and Easter are sisters who held permanent jobs as government employees in our province. Both in their mid forties and with children who are studying in college, their dream of visiting the Holy Land while earning an income several times higher than their salaries in the Philippines came true when they had the opportunity to work as caregivers for the elderly in Israel. Their pragmatism is paying off, as they are able to save and gradually invest their income in real [...]
Be concerned!
THAT, in gist, is the message of Pope Benedict for this year’s Lenten season that will start on Ash Wednesday, February 22. It’s taken from a passage in the Letter to the Hebrews 10,24: “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.” From this, the Pope wants us to see the connection between our concern for the others, on the one hand, and its consequence and requirement of reciprocity (mutual cooperation) and personal holiness, on the other. [...]
The Hands that Rock the Cradle: Feminization of Migration in the Philippines
“Where can I get that form?” a slim longhaired young lady asked while I was filling up the Departure Card at the Immigration Area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. I quickly pointed her to the check in counter and proceeded in the queue to have my passport stamped by the Philippine Immigration Officer. “They used to allow early morning passengers to spend the night within the departure area premises of the Davao City International Airport. Without money for hotel [...]
`Peak’ – What?
Buzz words sprout from controversies of the day. From impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona, “Subpoena” and “Alpha Lists” spilled into chatter at barbershops to diplomatic receptions. Emerging issues mint new buzz words. “Peak timber” is one of them. “Tropical countries should consider implications of 'peak timber'…even as ” "it has become common to speak of 'peak oil”, the journal Biological Conservation [...]
Our sexual identity
WE need to be more aware of this concern. This has been taken for granted for so long that now we have quite a mess of an issue. Many people now feel quite free as to what sexual orientation they want, as if their sexual identity is a matter of their orientation of preference, totally at their mercy or absolutely of their own choosing. As if no objective law governs it. While we always have to be tolerant to all sorts of ideas, theories, mentalities, cultures and lifestyles, we also need [...]
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