Warm and loving Filipino service

Now that Angelo de la Cruz is safely home, there is again an ongoing dilemma about our men and women who work overseas as migrants or as contract workers. To some, the $8 billion earned and remitted annually overrides important issues like the brain drain and social implications brought upon the family structure. To others, our overseas workers are heroes who make great sacrifices for their loved ones because there are no viable alternatives at home.

Then there are humorous views like Jessica Zafra’s, who says that our export of OFWs is part of a grand plan to conquer the world. Crazy perhaps, until I read a book my friend Debbie Tan lent me called How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything In It by Arthur Herman. Concepts of future grandeur, however, should not be the motivating force for what is turning out to be one of the most important industries in our country today.

Having contemplated the reason why we are in a constant state of angst about this industry, I have concluded that we are applying an economic principle used in by-gone days. This model involves poor countries sending semi-skilled and skilled labor to work in far away lands. There are variations to the theme. There was a time when Koreans were sent to work in the United States instilled with nationalism to earn dollars for the country. Or, when Indians were sent as skilled IT workers to Silicon Valley to learn, to network and to bring contract work home. This was the birth of Bangalore.

The Philippines has a similar opportunity to transform what on the surface seems to be a sad and tragic situation, to one that can give our country new hope. I speak of branding the OFW industry from being a labor pool into "Filipino service," which will be marketed and promoted to the rest of the world. This effort would involve researching what services are needed around the world, and matching them with services we do well.

We would also need to work on the education system to be responsive to the minimum skills required, and spice the programs with added value skills and training so we have the best service personnel in the world. Lastly, we would need to develop our people to be excellent professionals with the right work ethics, values and attitude before they embark on a contract abroad.

Dealing with the industry in a pragmatic way will also force us to address the complex social problems involved. Once our men and women have the confidence that comes from knowledge, they should be trained how to be curious and to have the determination to improve their skills by observing and learning what makes other countries great. In doing so, their experience as OFWs will evolve from being a sacrifice to becoming an investment for a greater purpose.

And what should that purpose be? We owe it to our OFWs to develop a few clear national goals that would be relevant to their learning experiences. For example, our domestic tourism program could include a strategy to build a chain of bed-and-breakfasts throughout the "Strong Republic Nautical Highway."

Those Filipinos working in the homes of the rich and famous, in five-star hotels and cruise ships, can be inspired to collect great ideas from abroad and to return home to invest in these hospitality facilities applying the international standards they learned abroad. Secretary Cesar Purissima’s medical tourism plan should be made part of briefings and training to healthcare workers before they leave, so that they can aim to return home to invest in a healthcare facility or retirement home.

To enable our OFWs to become entrepreneurs, we must instill a culture of savings as well as have business courses readily available to participate in the myriad of opportunities that should arise from these plans. A valued brand of "Filipino Service" around the globe would also better enable us to promote our services at home.

Who knows? Perhaps one day a hundred years from now, a book will be written about how Filipinos influenced the world and everything in it by their great warm and loving Filipino service.

* * *

Thanks so much for your comments at dorisho@attglobal.net.