Treat overseas Filipinos as ambassadors of the Philippines
Dear President Marcos,
I just arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, our home for the past 24 years, after an 11-day personal trip to Italy and Switzerland, with my wife.
We first attended the May 16 to 18 Global Conference of Couples for Christ (CFC) in Rome, where we interacted with fellow brothers and sisters from the Philippines and other countries as our Catholic community movement is present in more than 100 countries.
The CFC’s global footprint is recognized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Laity. In his homily on May 17, CBCP president Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Caloocan said: “Your mission is not only to raise Christ-centered families. It is to be a light to the nations—to bring Christ to every place where families are wounded, broken, forgotten, and searching for meaning.”
The cardinal mentioned the global reputation of Filipinos being good caregivers. As of Jan. 1, 2023, an Italian government report recorded 155,533 Filipinos legally residing in the country, accounting for 4.2 percent of all third-country nationals. The figure places the Filipino community in eighth position among non-EU citizens in numerical terms. Many are employed in caregiving and domestic work and the majority are concentrated in northern Italy.
Based on the 2023 survey on overseas Filipinos by the Philippine Statistics Authority, an estimated 2.16 million Filipinos are working abroad, the majority of them women.
We went to Florence and Milan in Italy, and Interlaken and Zurich in Switzerland, where we met kababayans, who are long-time residents, some with dual passports, and second-generation overseas Filipinos. Just like their Middle Eastern counterparts, Filipinos in the two countries—and perhaps in the whole European continent—will continue to work and live wherever they are.
Let’s accept the socioeconomic reality that working overseas provides more income and comfort to family members back home. Your administration should therefore treat overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) not just as clients of the Departments of Migrant Workers and Foreign Affairs, but as ambassadors of the Philippines who can promote a positive image of the homeland as a tourist and investment destination.
I have been proposing that the Philippines be promoted as an investment destination for Middle East conglomerates. It is a given that in every major company in the region there will always be a Filipino staff. These people can open the backdoor to get appointments with decision-makers and business owners. Much more for caregivers and domestic workers who work closely with employers.
A special task force to promote the Philippines in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, where over three million Filipinos work and reside, should be created to unleash the potential of OFWs to fulfill their destiny as co-architects of national development as indicated in the Vision Statement of the DMW.
You still have three years to build a lasting legacy among overseas Filipinos.
Art Popoy Los Banos,
artlosbaños@gmail.com
