By Joel P. Mapiles
View From The Bottom (Sunstar network)

THIS column decided to give way to the personal accounts of Jason Carmona, an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who shared his observation on the deteriorating Philippine economy and its effect to family relationships. This, I think, is of great importance and relevant to our kabalen-OFWs who tend to work abroad for greener pasture and to give their families a better life. The OFWs are the country’s modern day heroes.

It has been around 40 years ago or so when the dictator, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, rose into power. He ruled for 20 years as a strongman, until a popular uprising in EDSA 1986 toppled him. Soon thereafter, Cory Aquino, FVR, Erap and now GMA have come in succession to lead the nation in what many believe is a country in turmoil resulting from an extremely corrupt political system.

During the 1960s, Jason heard many people’s accounts that life was not as hard as in those days. Jason said family life and values were preserved very well. “People had something to eat three times a day. There were jobs for those who wanted to work. Migration into any desired country was not quite difficult. Families have lesser conflicts and shared a common goal for the success of each and everyone,” he said.

As years passed by, the economic situation in the Philippines — mostly attributed to so many self-promoting politicians and maybe a lackadaisical Filipino lifestyle — had deteriorated so badly that three meals a day is no longer possible for most Filipino tables. Jobs are very evasive to thousands of job seekers, and it is no longer “what” you know that matters, but “who” you know.

Not to mention the many sad stories about visa applications in embassies, either for work or emigration. Many forms of illegal activities targeting “naïve” applicants have proliferated everywhere. Crime rates have risen dramatically. And what is worse is that many kinds of crimes and new tactics to commit them have drastically evolved.

Family values are no longer the general concern of almost every Filipino. Survival of the fittest has become the name of the game, even amongst family members. In the streets of Manila as in many urban or suburban areas in the country, one can personally witness how difficult it is to survive a day.

Then came about the government’s globalization program in the 1970s. It was fortunate that many Filipinos were given opportunities to get good paying jobs abroad. Somehow, people had something to cling on to for survival. However, its effects to separate family members have created new sets of problems, causing undue familial hardship and thus greatly compromising many Filipino values.

Jason went abroad three times and had experienced first-hand how it is to be an OFW — striving hard to survive and to meet the needs of his family.

“Going abroad at first glance is like the culmination of a dream come true, the answer to one’s prayers, the solution to many problems. But it is not. However, it may serve as the first step for opportunities in one’s career. But it doesn’t actually follow that once you board the plane, you will go home rich, and problems are all solved. It is simply a first major step towards a thousand-mile journey. Culture plays a major role in our value formations and changes. Many OFWs tend to believe that what is right for the French may also be right for Filipinos,” he said.

Jason had witnessed many Filipinos adopt other cultures, which he personally believes is the right thing to do once they get abroad. But the reality it brings to their lives and to their families whom they left behind vary based on the level of maturity they have for themselves.

Jason heard many people abroad who would say, it is not easy earning money abroad. If he worked for it, then he must be the one enjoying its fruits. And so, the value and reason they have when they left to work abroad has been forgotten in a wink of an eye. Is that wrong? No, it isn’t. A person has the right to do anything as long as it is legal. And it is not illegal to forget our promises back home, and neglect them. Although, it maybe wrong according to where they stand for. Well, it is simply, a “reality.”

During Jason’s recent homecoming from abroad, he witnessed yet again another face of reality. “I haven’t had much luck in my recent job, so that I was home after barely two months. But then, I was still welcomed very warmly by well-wishers and many would ask me to buy them something, or if I have brought home something for them. I realized and I understand that these people do that because of poverty,” Jason said.

Many people look upon Overseas Filipino Workers as the modern-day heroes of this country. They are the ones bringing in a lot of foreign currencies to the country. And they are the only chance that most people left behind have to be able to taste imported wine, or to puff blue seal cigarettes, or to eat stateside food. Again, this is another clear example that poverty is really what’s driving most Filipinos’ lives these days.

In Jason’s recent stint abroad, he met a lovely woman in her 60s, a New Zealander. Amid their times chatting together, she told Jason one thing: “The Europeans do not know how fortunate they are. Many people in Asia have barely a single dollar to live for a day.” Imagine a dollar? Well, Jason knows that for a fact, as he had experienced life in New Caledonia, a colony of France in the Pacific.

“In London, you would spend three pounds for a hotdog sandwich. And it is almost the same in New Caledonia, which is equivalent to around 300 in Philippine peso. That amount would have survived a week’s meal here for a single person or a family of five for a day. Many would even extend it for as long as they can. That is the value of a single hotdog sandwich abroad, compared here in the Philippines,” Jason noted.

What would Filipinos here expect from a relative who lives and works abroad? Money. A hope to survive. An opportunity to live up a dream. An answer to satisfy the four human basic needs: food, clothing, shelter and education. The dilemma is that many Filipinos abroad have eventually adopted the value of independence, a “live and let live” value. The value of closeness and helping each other is greatly compromised. No one is to blame. It is a matter of many cultural differences, which evolved among and within families.

In itself, this has greatly affected family relationships in many ways. Family members tend to misunderstand each other’s points of view, as they each unknowingly try to inject his or her new adopted culture against each other. And it is normal, because each one wants to be accepted.

However, the process may eventually bring about tension among them, and would turn up a vicious cycle. The many years of economic crises in the Philippines have really brought forth a lot of adverse effects within the Filipino family. From the basic or physiological needs, up to the failure to meet self-actualization, a Filipino’s self-worth has dramatically fallen.

Prayer is the only thing he has. And hopefully heroes will come to save his day. Jason knows the travails of working abroad. Money is not easily earned and they would really sweat out for it. Much worse is when they see how their family would spend back home. And there are many sad stories that come along the way.

Many happy marriages break because of couples’ being apart and unmet expectations from each other. Children suffer the lack of presence of one or both their parents. The Lolas and the Lolos become parents in many families. Children grow up lacking the necessary love they need.

And so here goes another person growing up and learning new things that dramatically destroys Filipino values yet again. This is what happens to most families with a member within them who works abroad. There are a lot of compromises, sufferings, and even misunderstandings. “Who is to blame? No one. The goal for the family is good, in the first place. We all want a happy family life, free from worries of financial or emotional distresses. But where is that goal right now?,” Jason asked.

If you have any comments or reactions, please email the author at joeley01@yahoo.com or text him at 0921-519-9223.

MANILA — Labor Secretary Arturo Brion ordered Monday the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) to stop the scheduled swearing-in of the June 2006 nursing board passers and asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to allow the limited retake of the licensure exams. Brion directed the PRC to refrain from administering the oaths and issuing licenses at this time since the decision of the Appellate Court is not yet final. He added that the decision has not even been served yet.

The labor secretary’s order is the second time the oath taking was stopped. In August the Court of Appeals issued a 60-day temporary restraining order against the oath taking of students who passed the June 2006 nursing licensure examination pending investigation on the test leakage.

The appellate court, in a ruling released last Friday, said only 1,687 examinees from the 17,821 board passers will retake tests 3 and 5 of the nursing board exam. “The CA decision (on a selective retake of the test) is not yet final so if we will allow the oath-taking it would only aggravate the situation and will be more far from finding closure to the problem,” Brion said.

What is best, he added, is for the PRC to defer the oath taking since various groups are set to file their respective motion for reconsideration of the court’s decision. “What will happen to the examinees if the PRC would proceed with the oath-taking and then eventually the CA reverses its decision,” Brion asked.

“I sent a letter to the CA wherein I suggested that a limited retake of the licensure examination be allowed,” said Brion. However, he did not give details on his proposal except to say that it would provide a “win-win” solution to the controversy. “I have met with those who are in favor of re-taking and those who are not and I could sense that there is a middle ground position that is almost all will accept and this is it the limited retake,” he said.

Meanwhile, the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) College of Nursing faculty association pushed for wholesale, not selective, retake of Tests 3 and 5, which were tainted by leakage scandal. The group led by faculty president Rene Luis Tadle asked the CA to reconsider its October 13 decision that paved the way for the oath taking of 1,687 nursing students who passed the June 11 and 12 nursing licensure exams.

Tadle said while they welcome the decision with respect to the nullification of Resolution No. 31, which orders the invalidation of 20 items in Test 3 and re-computation of scores in Test 5, the CA failed to address the culpability of officials who participated in the leakage.

“The decision raised more questions than answers. It did not address the issue of the leakage itself and how it affected and continues to affect the integrity of the nursing licensure examination (NLE). On the matter of selective retake of Tests 3 and 5 of 1,687 examinees, it seems that these examinees were given undue advantage over others who did not pass. If the effect of the leakage remained in the NLE, the integrity of the examination remains in question,” said the petitioners.

The appellate court’s order for a selective re-taking of the 1,687 examinees, according to the petitioners, violate the right to equal protection of all those who took the exams.

“To solve this issue, petitioners prayed for a retake of Tests 3 and most especially, Test 5. Indeed, the Court ordered a selective retake for the two tests but it discriminated against those who passed but did not cheat, and those who did not cheat, and it favored those who passed and cheated,” they said.

They further pointed out the admission made by RA Gapuz Review Center and its sister review company, Millennium Review Specialists, during oral arguments that they have 21 branches nationwide. “This was not disputed by respondent PRC and Board of Nursing (BON) during the hearing or in their memorandum, and this multiplied the chances that the leaked test questions were extensively disseminated,” said Tadle.

In its ruling, the CA ordered the selective retake of Tests 3 and 5 among the 1,687 examinees whose names were included in the list of successful examinees following the implementation of PRC’s Resolution No. 31. Test 3 is on medical/surgical nursing exam while Test 5 is on the neuro-psychiatric nursing exam.

The CA ruling was issued a day after criminal charges were filed against two members of the BON and 17 officers and owners of three nursing review centers. It was concurred in by CA Presiding Justice Ruben Reyes and Associate Justice Juan Enriquez Jr.

The CA, likewise, ordered the immediate oath taking of the 17,324 out of 42,600 nursing graduates who originally passed the NLE. (MSN/ECV/Sunnex)

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