This story is written by one of the members of WorkAbroad.ph Facebook community page. The storyteller narrates his journey as he tried various jobs such as being a taho and ballot vendor, gasoline boy etc. just to finance his studies and fulfill his dream to land a good job.

His advice to Filipinos who are in a difficult situation: always persevere and trust God as all good things come to those who wait.

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“Taho, Taho! Balot, Penoy,” sigaw ni Juan dela Cruz, isang magtataho sa umaga at magbabalot sa hapon at gabi.”Isang marangal na hanap buhay ng isang karaniwang mamayang Pilipino na nangangarap mangibang bansa.”

Masipag si Juan dela Cruz, taong 2000 noong magtapos sya ng high school sa probinsya ng Biliran isang maliit na isla sa pagitan ng Samar at Leyte. Lumuwas siya ng Maynila upang mag trabaho para matulungan ang inang may sakit, at kasabay nito ang pangarap na makapag-college at makapagtapos ng kahit anong kurso sa kolehiyo.

Sa murang edad na labing-anim na taong gulang ay nakikipag-sabayan sa paghahanap buhay sa isang mataong lugar ng Divisoria, Recto at Tondo bilang isang store helper at kargador sa isang establisyementong pag aari ng isang malupit na Intsik.

Medyo sanay sa mabigat na trabaho si Juan dela Cruz dahil sanay sa gawaing bukid at pagbubuhat ng troso sa probinsyang pinanggalingan kaya di alintana ang bigat ng trabaho. Ngunit malupit at matapang ang amo at gustong sulitin ang ibinayad na halagang 110 pesos sa labingdalawang oras na trabaho at walang oras na pahinga Alas-tres na kung mananghalian tuwing nagtatrabaho.

Dahil sa hirap ng kalagayan at ang kinitang halaga sa paggawa ay kulang na kulang, nagpasyang umalis ito sa kanyang trabaho at makipagsapalaran sa isang bayan ng Rizal.

Dahil sa isang mabait na kaibigan, naipakilala sya sa isang magtitinda ng taho at balot. Naging daan ito upang mag-umpisa siyang maglako ng panindang taho sa umaga at balot sa gabi.

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Read this essay that ponders on the pains and loneliness one goes through because of being physically separated from family and loved ones for long periods of time. Migrant Filipino workers can surely relate.

 Away from Home
Written by: Ricardo Liong

Last year was the first time in our 49 years of marriage that I was away from my wife during the Christmas season. Even for a brief two months period, it was markedly different from all my previous trips.

The rekindling of Christian faith in our twilight years made a difference. Worshiping together as a married couple in the past decades had brought changes in our lives. Although thousand of miles away and in different time zones, whenever I was praying the rosary or attending Mass, in communion with God I felt her presence besides me.

Moreover, as a pilgrim on earth I saw this as learning to adjust to our future inevitable separation. Thus I viewed it positively as God’s blessings to teach my wife and me how to continue a life filled with faith “when death do us part.”

Recalling my earlier separations during my younger days, I have learned to share the feelings of my brothers and sisters who are working away from home.

Even after forty years, I could still remember the pains of homesick and loneliness during those frequent trips. It was not a figurative pain but one that I could feel in my chest. Meeting a family reminded me of my own and food on the table flashed my memory to the scene of our family meal. Yes, besides my wife, my concern was focused our growing children.

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The Bagong Bayani Awards that aims to honor and recognize exemplary overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for their contributions to the Philippine society is now ready to accept applications. The Bagong Bayani Awards that started in 2005 has five (5) award categories. The highest honor is the Blas F. Ople Award para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani, which is given to an OFW deemed as the most outstanding and exemplary and satisfies all the requirements of other awards criteria.

The five (5) categories are:

1.    Bagong Bayani Award for Outstanding Employee

2.    Bagong Bayani Award for Community and Social Service

3.    Bagong Bayani Award for Culture and the Arts

4.    Capt. Gregorio S. Oca Achievement Award

5.    Blas F. Ople Award para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani

Selection Procedures:

Who may nominate?

Nominations may be made either by: the employer, the deploying recruitment or placement agency, industry associations, co-worker/s; or other reputable individuals or institutions.

Deadline of Sending Nominations: August 31, 2013

Download the Nomination Form here.

Two Asian Layperson Saints
by Ricardo Liong

The canonization of St. Pedro Calungsod by Pope Benedict XVI on the 21^st October, 2012 was a day of rejoicing for millions around the world. For Hong Kong’s 120,000 Filipinos, Catholics and others, it was a day of blessings. A native of Cebu, Philippines, at around 14 he was chosen to accompany the Jesuits in their missionary works. With Blessed Jesuit San Vitores, he preached Christianity as a missionary catechist to the Chamorro people in Guam. He suffered religious persecution and died as a martyr there at the age of 17 in 1672.This Second Filipino canonized saint’s Feast day is on 2 April.

St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint, was born in Manila to a Catholic couple –Chinese father and Filipino mother. He served as an altar boy and after educated by the Dominican friars, he became a skillful escribano (calligrapher).While living peacefully with his family of two sons and a daughter; he was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard. He then fled and joined the Dominican priests on their mission to Japan where he met an extremely painful martyrdom in 1637 atthe age of 36.St. Lorenzo Ruiz is the first saint canonized outside of the Vatican by Pope John Paul II in Manila in 1981 and his Feast day is on 28 September.

Both of these 17^th century martyr saints were simple and ordinary people. More significantly, they were not clergy, i.e. priest or religious brothers, but laypersons like you and I.

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Many Filipinos dream of working overseas to seek a greener pasture. They are willing to take the challenge of working in an unfamiliar country and endure years of being separated from their loved ones for years.

One may therefore assume that the decision to accept an overseas job is most of the time worth it, that the workers would finally find the job security and satisfaction they are looking for. Sadly, an informal survey conducted by site visitors of WorkAbroad.ph and OFWGuide.com showed that many Filipinos working abroad are still dissatisfied with their current employment status.

In the survey question, “Are You Happy or Satisfied with Your Current Work Abroad,” 68% of the respondents answered “No” which shows that only 32% of them are happy or satisfied with their current overseas post. The said survey was conducted from November 10, 2012 to January 25, 2013.

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Survey Says Many OFWs Are Not Satisfied With their Overseas Jobs