The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported yesterday (October 11, 2007) that a survey conducted by Nielsen Media Research (NMR) Philippines indicated that families of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) tend to just sit back and wait for remittances, apparently content with that kind of life. I share the same observation.
But my family has its own huge problems and I should not be commenting on other families? That is not the point. This is about our common social concern.
Like most other provinces in the Philippines, Overseas Boholano Workers (OBWs) are the ones resuscitating the economic lifeblood of Bohol. Local politicians are quick to point out that our local economy is vibrant as evidenced by the presence of some 20 branches of different banks. And indeed, if you ask bankers, it is true that there is a lot of time deposit and remittances to Boholano families from their kin working outside of the country. That is where the good news ends, however.
While you will see lots of posh houses in subdivisions and state-of-the-art cars are seen in the streets of Tagbilaran City, business leaders would tell you that the bulk of these deposits remain uninvested. They are just there to be withdrawn and spent on consumer items.
The worse part of the story is this. Many OFWs come home empty-handed.
My driver’s wife, Lorna, worked for seven years as a domestic helper in Singapore. What she earned there could have sufficed to finish a house for her own family. But she had to pay off her family debts, redeem their mortgaged lands, and her own brothers and sisters bought a refrigerator, a motorcycle, a stereo, and television set, all at her expense. Today, she is now home with two young children, jobless, her house unfinished. She is applying as a casual employee at their local health clinic. Her husband continues to work as a contractual driver.
There must be a way to help the likes of Lorna and their families to utilize the remittances intelligently and responsibly and “teach them how to fish”.
1 comment:
People often stuff their homes thinking that they are “building assets”, blissfully (for the moment) ignorant that most of the stuff they bought are really just baubles. Stuff they don’t exactly need or will use to earn more, the resale values of which drop to half the price they paid the minute they open the package.
What’s wrong with this? It’s not that they bought the baubles, but that they spent a chunk of their savings for it, thinking that it’s an asset: the more expensive, the better the value. Chances are, these “assets” often require costly maintenance; or worse, heavy monthly amortizations…and for what?
Assets put money in the pocket, not away from it.
I’m not saying that baubles are a total bane. I myself want A LOT of it (hehe)…and it’s good to want baubles. So long as the want MOTIVATES a person to build real assets in order to afford them.
So how does one build real assets? There is a wealth of opportunities, information and help on financial intelligence going around. Stuff that helped street-sweepers, farmers, a security guard in Davao, a mechanic in Tuguegarao, heck, even senior citizens earn 6-digit monthly incomes, without having to leave their families. The same stuff that makes corporate executives retire young, trading their neck(breaking)ties for family time, and still have all the baubles essential to their (v/s)anity.
All it takes is an open mind.
Interested? Leave a PM for me at: www.midtones.multiply.com OR www.grandeurlifestyle.multiply.com
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