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Wednesday, June 09, 2004
OFWs no longer excited about letters from home
By Raquel C. Bagnol
SOME Filipino migrant workers, or the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), are no longer excited with letters and text messages they receive from family members left at home.
The reason: These all contain a litany of problems at home, if not, a family member is asking for money.
"Many workers came to the office and confide to us that instead of being excited when letters arrive from home, they start to fear what these letters contain. In fact, they are also getting allergic to text messages," said Manuel Roldan, labor attach‚ to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during Monday's Kapehan sa Dabaw forum.
As this developed, he urged the families of migrant workers left in the Philippines to write inspiring letters to their loved ones working not only in Saudi Arabia but in any other part of the world.
"The problem with some Filipinos is that they only write one or two lines to ask how their loved one is doing and fill three pages asking for money and other things," Roldan said. He said it came to a point migrant workers developed a "phobia" when letters arrived from home.
Roldan also urged the government to address the serious cost of social problems plaguing migrant workers and their families they left in the Philippines.
"About 70 to 75 percent of the migrant workers in Saudi Arabia resort to infidelity and this could be due to loneliness," Roldan said.
"Saudi Arabia is a very lonely country. It would not be surprising if our male workers turn to the company of other female workers who are also lonely for temporary relief," Roldan said, adding that in many cases, these "temporary arrangements" have resulted to broken homes and families.
"Something must be done by the government to address this problem, because some of the partners left here also seek comfort in the company of others which could also lead to the same problem," Roldan said.
(June 9, 2004 issue)
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