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BY ANGELICA LOUISE PFLEIDER
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IT’S A VERY common situation in the Philippines right now. Ask any family and you will find there’s a mother, a father, a sibling or a child that’s working abroad as an OFW or overseas Filipino worker. It has come to a point that several countries have communities of Filipinos living in them.
Why is this so? What drives a person to leave his or her family for a foreign, strange land?
I recently met up with a couple of high school friends who are on the final year of their Physical Therapy (PT) course. They told me it is every PT’s dream to go abroad since working in the Philippines won’t be able to sustain their needs.
Do you know why that is so? It is because PTs here only earn P6,000 a month. My jaw dropped when I heard that. After five years of spending, five years of shedding blood, sweat and tears they get rewarded with a salary less than the minimum wage! For a medical course, that’s inconceivable.
Their dreams of going abroad are getting crushed though. There’s a move requiring PTs to render four months of volunteer work and secure a Doctorate degree before going abroad.
A Doctorate degree? Really?! Wow, one more to add to my list of inconceivable ideas.
How are PTs expected to earn while working on their Doctorate degree? It’s common knowledge that part-time jobs aren’t much of a fad in the Philippines. You can either be a student, employee or underemployed. It’s a rare occurrence for people to combine the different statuses. It forces some to settle for working in call centers and networking companies. Sure, your four or five years of ridiculous tuition will go down the drain but at least you’re earning a decent amount of money.
Perhaps that’s why Filipinos prefer foreign lands to the comforts of home; you earn more, you have better career opportunities, and you have more benefits.
Living conditions in the Philippines are difficult with overpopulation, high income tax and high cost of living. That’s why these people grab the opportunity to work in places where a carpenter can afford to buy iPhones for all his kids.
Family relations are suffering, yes that is true, but think of practicality. It’s better to miss your family than to watch them starve. (angelica.panaynews@gmail.com)/PN
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