The Philippine STAR recently published a lovely piece about my wife, Marissa Orosa Concepcion. “She is the anchor of our family,” it said, quoting me. Nothing can be more accurate. We’ve been together for 40 years now, not counting the time we were in school together. She’s seen my own journey from the neophyte entrepreneur to becoming someone who’s encouraging and mentoring other people to become entrepreneurs.
Our circumstances compared with other couples may be different but the dynamic is not unique. Husband and wife work together to build their family and they support each other. A successful marriage is a partnership, after all. You try and be there for each other as much as possible, as often as possible. Even when I travel for work, if the circumstances permit, Marissa would be there by my side. I am sure many couples out there would wish the same for themselves. They would like to be able to have the family together as often as possible.
I count myself lucky to be able to afford this luxury. I am reminded of the privilege I have been given every time we have projects for OFWs. Last week, I told the thousands of OFWs and OFW families gathered for our Balik-Bayan 2024 at the SM Mall of Asia how grateful the nation is for their sacrifice. I thanked the families, especially, for being supportive and responsible enough to start learning about entrepreneurship by coming to the event.
Our OFWs leave to work in other countries because they want a better life for their families. They risk their comfort and sometimes their lives just to be able to ensure a better future for them. They give up precious family time, they miss birthdays, funerals and anniversaries, just to earn enough to provide a comfortable life and secure the education of their children. Many poor families have been able to leapfrog into the middle class just by virtue of the hard work of one family member who left home to work in a foreign land. Their remittances built houses, sent kids to school and even transformed entire communities by infusing much-needed capital for a small business that was able to employ locals.
And I don’t need to tell you about the revenues they bring to the country: in 2023, it was P239 billion. The remittances from our OFWs saw the country even through the pandemic when global trade came to a halt and most businesses had to shut down. OFWs did the heavy lifting – they still do.
The challenges that they face, leaving their children and spouses behind, have dire consequences on the family dynamic, and yet they and their families choose to make that sacrifice. Here’s an interesting fact: the Philippine Statistics Authority estimates that more than half (55.6 percent) of the 2.26 million OFWs currently working abroad are women. That’s a lot of mothers, wives, daughters and sisters who have to spend time apart from their families. It puts a lot of strain on the spouses who have to be both mother and father to the family.
I am no expert, but I would imagine that the usual notions about OFW families being overdependent on regular remittances isn’t hard to believe. They’re only human, after all. Having nothing to struggle for can reduce the motivation to work. That is why it is so inspiring to see OFW families who value every dollar sent to them and put the money to good use. Even more inspiring are the OFWs themselves who have one eye on the future by instructing and enabling their families back home to build businesses.
I believe we only need to show the way and create the environment to help OFWs smoothly transition into entrepreneurs so that in their post-overseas life, they will have financial security and a steady source of income. Financial literacy is a big factor. I advise the OFWs who come to our entrepreneurship mentoring events to not go blindly into business. They must prioritize the essentials first, such as food and shelter; before diving into entrepreneurship, they must have their eyes wide open and their ears must be willing to listen.
Go Negosyo and its partner government agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Migrant Workers have programs that help the OFWs’ economic reintegration. We are also working with agencies like the Department of Education to reinforce the training in financial literacy of schoolchildren (I’m sure many of them are kids of OFWs) and ignite their passion for entrepreneurship. It will take a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach, but we owe that to the OFWs.
Every day I count my blessings that I am able to be with my family, to travel with them, to see my children grow up and share in the big events that mark their lives so far. I only wish the same for every Filipino. While we are indeed grateful for all that the OFWs have done for this country, we wish for them a time when they don’t have to leave home to provide for their families. The sacrifices they make for their loved ones are truly admirable, and their resilience in the face of adversity is an inspiration to us all. We must continue to support and empower our OFWs, ensuring that they have the resources and opportunities to build a secure and fulfilling life, preferably here in the Philippines and with their families.