There’s nothing more painful than rubbing rock salt to a gaping wound. And topping it off with a few drops of lemon? Ouch!
That’s what I felt when I read the article ‘OWWA exec rules out special $ rate for OFWs’ by Marie Neri today at http://www.gmanews.tv/. The culprit? A supposedly high ranking official of the government arm that is supposedly tasked to look after the welfare of OFWs, ironically.
OWWA Deputy Administrator Noreil Devanadera reportedly said that “the families should instead be educated in having a change in their lifestyles. The OFW families should learn how to be wise in their expenditures and practice better management of their earnings," That was the rock salt.
This is the second time I’ve heard of this idea. The first time it was tossed around by the present government, an angry housewife penned an open letter that got circulated via e-mails and landed in, as far as I know, at least two tabloids. And now here it is again. Being an OFW all my life, I was just about to say ENOUGH ALREADY.
What the heck is wrong with Mr. Devanadera and all the other government officials who share the same line of thinking? Have their intelligence and doctoral degrees deserted them already? Have their fingers of no better use than pointing it somewhere else but themselves? Why keep on passing the buck to our families instead of coming up with better, more logical solution?
For your information people, not all OFW families are lounging in luxury. A lot of them, including my own family, are still struggling to make ends meet in your ill-fated Philippine economy. A lot of them are still renting shabby apartments or shanty-like houses in the murky parts of Metro Manila. A lot of them are still trying to survive the day’s expenses on three simple meals, paying enormous electric bills, taking on the ridiculous tuition fees, tricycle or jeepney fares, not to mention the exorbitant cost of medication. Why? Do I have to tell you how much a kilo of galunggong is? Do I have to tell you how much a sack of rice is? Do I have to tell you how expensive the medication of my already frail mom is?
And here you are telling them to spend their money wisely? How do you want them to do that? Enroll in UP College of Economics just to achieve your idea of wise spending?
Change their lifestyle? To what? Surely not to upgrade coz that would mean more ‘unwise’ spending. So downgrade? Yes? Well you are not just a bunch of morons but a bunch of ruthless technocrats as well.
How can you downgrade something that is already at the minimum? If a family is living simply, barely above the line of what you can call a ‘decent living’, how can you ask them to downgrade? No more three square meals? Two will do, is that what you want? Wow!
And now, the lemon drops.
“The foreign exchange will not affect the entire OFWs. There are only certain groups that are affected. These are the domestic helpers and laborers, who are in the $200 (monthly salary) bracket. But those who are earning euros are not affected by the strengthening of the peso," Devanadera said.
Mr. Devanadera sir, I’m sure you’ve heard it many times before: Less talk, less mistake. More talk, well, more enemies. And in this statement, you’ve just earned the ire of thousands of domestic helpers and laborers who feel insulted by your indifference. What they need right now is help from you and the government. Not a callous statement like that.
And you’re talking of Euro earners. Now where are your statistics? Do you mean OFWs outside the EU earning dollars are less in number and are, therefore, insignificant? Well, you also earned the wrath of OFWs like me in the Middle East and our brothers and sisters in the other 5 non-euro earning continents.
And oh, before I forget, let me mention Mrs. Corazon Atuel who, after being awarded the Model OFW Family of the Year award, was the dirty gauze to dress the wound. This lady beamingly announced “Hindi ako pabor diyan dahil dapat walang special treatment [ang OFWs]”. Newsflash Mrs. Atuel, what your fellow OFW’s are asking for is not a special treatment. What we are asking for are:
a: help to alleviate the current problem we have
That’s what I felt when I read the article ‘OWWA exec rules out special $ rate for OFWs’ by Marie Neri today at http://www.gmanews.tv/. The culprit? A supposedly high ranking official of the government arm that is supposedly tasked to look after the welfare of OFWs, ironically.
OWWA Deputy Administrator Noreil Devanadera reportedly said that “the families should instead be educated in having a change in their lifestyles. The OFW families should learn how to be wise in their expenditures and practice better management of their earnings," That was the rock salt.
This is the second time I’ve heard of this idea. The first time it was tossed around by the present government, an angry housewife penned an open letter that got circulated via e-mails and landed in, as far as I know, at least two tabloids. And now here it is again. Being an OFW all my life, I was just about to say ENOUGH ALREADY.
What the heck is wrong with Mr. Devanadera and all the other government officials who share the same line of thinking? Have their intelligence and doctoral degrees deserted them already? Have their fingers of no better use than pointing it somewhere else but themselves? Why keep on passing the buck to our families instead of coming up with better, more logical solution?
For your information people, not all OFW families are lounging in luxury. A lot of them, including my own family, are still struggling to make ends meet in your ill-fated Philippine economy. A lot of them are still renting shabby apartments or shanty-like houses in the murky parts of Metro Manila. A lot of them are still trying to survive the day’s expenses on three simple meals, paying enormous electric bills, taking on the ridiculous tuition fees, tricycle or jeepney fares, not to mention the exorbitant cost of medication. Why? Do I have to tell you how much a kilo of galunggong is? Do I have to tell you how much a sack of rice is? Do I have to tell you how expensive the medication of my already frail mom is?
And here you are telling them to spend their money wisely? How do you want them to do that? Enroll in UP College of Economics just to achieve your idea of wise spending?
Change their lifestyle? To what? Surely not to upgrade coz that would mean more ‘unwise’ spending. So downgrade? Yes? Well you are not just a bunch of morons but a bunch of ruthless technocrats as well.
How can you downgrade something that is already at the minimum? If a family is living simply, barely above the line of what you can call a ‘decent living’, how can you ask them to downgrade? No more three square meals? Two will do, is that what you want? Wow!
And now, the lemon drops.
“The foreign exchange will not affect the entire OFWs. There are only certain groups that are affected. These are the domestic helpers and laborers, who are in the $200 (monthly salary) bracket. But those who are earning euros are not affected by the strengthening of the peso," Devanadera said.
Mr. Devanadera sir, I’m sure you’ve heard it many times before: Less talk, less mistake. More talk, well, more enemies. And in this statement, you’ve just earned the ire of thousands of domestic helpers and laborers who feel insulted by your indifference. What they need right now is help from you and the government. Not a callous statement like that.
And you’re talking of Euro earners. Now where are your statistics? Do you mean OFWs outside the EU earning dollars are less in number and are, therefore, insignificant? Well, you also earned the wrath of OFWs like me in the Middle East and our brothers and sisters in the other 5 non-euro earning continents.
And oh, before I forget, let me mention Mrs. Corazon Atuel who, after being awarded the Model OFW Family of the Year award, was the dirty gauze to dress the wound. This lady beamingly announced “Hindi ako pabor diyan dahil dapat walang special treatment [ang OFWs]”. Newsflash Mrs. Atuel, what your fellow OFW’s are asking for is not a special treatment. What we are asking for are:
a: help to alleviate the current problem we have
b: a concrete manifestation of the many lip service by this government trumpeting OFWs as the new heroes, and
c: a miniscule return of the billions of dollars we are funneling, day-in and day-out to keep the heart of the Philippine economy beating.
So don’t you ever refer to it again as a special treatment. Because it is not. That goes as well to you Mr. Devanadera and the rest of your tribe.
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