“If anyone is not
willing to work, neither should that one eat..” 2 Thesalonians 3:10
Even the Holy Bible,
people are encouraged to work for at the end of the day he has food under his
table. This is the greatest responsibility a man could do throughout his life,
to work and feed not only himself but also his family. This responsibility is
expected on man to provide food and support his family in any ways he could. However,
lots of circumstances this obligation is not as easy to realize.
According to the Commission
of Population, the Philippine population is projected to increase to hit 97.6
million this 2012 and will rise to 101.2 million by 2014. So far, it’s the 12th
largest population in the world. Furthermore, its unemployment rate (2011
estimate) is 7.2% which is equivalent to more than 10 million people have no
source of living in its home country. So how could anyone obtain a descent job
if the jobs available in the government agencies, private companies, and
non-government organizations cannot absorb the huge number of capable people?
Indeed, employment in
my home country, the Philippines, is hard to find – it’s quite elusive. Though
the country produces thousands of newly graduates and professionals yearly but
they sometimes ended up as unemployed or underemployed after several months of
job searching. The worse thing is, even if one was hired, the compensation is
not enough to support his needs as well as his family. Maybe that’s why some
workers opted to work outside the Philippines to look for greener pasture and
financial stability.
Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFWs) are considered nowadays as “Bagong Bayani” or new heroes for
their remittances sustain the dollar reserves of the country thus helping the
economy stable. These people leave the country to work abroad due to lack of
jobs available or to have higher salary than what they earned in their home
country. However, in my own opinion, I think the non-OFWs are the ones who deserve
to be called as “bagong bayani” because no matter how awful their
workplace, no matter how low their salary is, no matter how they work really hard,
they still serve and work to the benefits of its country. Unlike the OFWs,
including myself, our knowledge and skills are directly benefited by the
foreign country in exchange for higher salaries.
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| Filipino workers staging demonstrations on labor Day photo taken from http://dadaarchive.chicago.indymedia.org |
Today, May 1, Labor
Day is widely celebrated by different countries across the world including the
Philippines. How terrible to know that the Filipino workers usually welcome the
Labor Day with major protests in the streets. Almost annually, the government
is really deaf to the cries of grievances of the workers especially the talk
for reasonable wage hike. Contrary to other legal holidays in the country such
as Christmas, New Year, and Holy Week, the celebration of Labor Day is not really
well-loved. Instead of treating themselves for a job well done in the office,
they prefer to go out and go with the rallies.
Although Labor Day is observed
differently by every worker, I would like to celebrate it personally for my
social achievement and economic contribution to the society as an overseas Filipino
worker. How I wish, in the coming years, the workers get what they truly deserve
from its employers. Anyhow, In behalf of the millions of Filipino workers of
different sectors across the world – Mabuhay tayong mga mangagawang Filipino!
