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31 July 2012

OFWs Are Not ATMs

People think that all Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are rich. Maybe some but not all. They thought, just because we are outside the Philippines make us eligible to claim fortune. On the contrary, we are just doing fine. We can live comfortably, enjoy other perks we cannot have back home, and invest our hard-earned money to properties and income-generating business. All these are achieved because of our sweat and toil.

Photo credit: yahoo.com
It is so unfair to be stereotyped as money-spewing Automated Teller Machines where you can get  money day in and out. It does not work like that. Please remember, we are humans too. We work, we flex our muscles, lift our fingers and exert effort to earn a decent living. We won't be here in the first place if we have a better life back home and if there is a high-paying job waiting for us in the Philippines. We too, have our sacrifices. We didn't get here by sheer luck nor fate. We got where we are because we worked hard. We spend money here for our daily sustenance. We have bills to pay, kids to send to school, loans and mortgages to settle and on top of that, money to send back home. We can only stretch ourselves so much but at one point, we need a break too. So, don't get mad if our ATMs will show a sign that says "out-of-order" one day.

3 comments :

  1. Ria i really liked this article.

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  2. My aunts, after living in the US for over 40 years, still send money back home and Balikbayan boxes every three months. I don't know how they do it. Trying to support my own family here, I almost never have money to send elsewhere.

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  3. Thanks for the comments ReneeG and HC Montgomery. It's so sad to think that while we are toiling, people back home (ie. families) are sitting pretty and waiting for the money to come, or even those big balikbayan boxes. If you don't send one time, your selfish....sigh :( The sad plight of an expat...

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