No Winnie, Filipinos who go overseas are not traitors

[sharkey360]

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No Winnie, Filipinos who go overseas are not traitors



I am a Filipino. I live and work in the United States. I have established myself as a physician of some stature in my community. American physicians acknowledge me as an esteemed colleague, students look up to me as their mentor, patients respect me as their doctor. They do not question the color of my skin. They do not treat me any differently from any other respected member of their community. I have been integrated into their lifestyle and have adapted to their culture. I speak as they speak. But I am Filipino. And I am proud of it.

The Lost Generation of Americans from the 1920s includes some of the most easily recognizable names in American literature: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, E.E. Cummings, and T.S. Eliot. Why are they the lost generation? Because they chose to live the life of expatriates in Europe, Central America, and other places in the world at that time. They expressed the thoughts and feelings of young Americans from that period when there was a general exodus of the intellectual elite, recent graduates, artists, war veterans and the independently wealthy. They spoke American in those foreign lands, and yes, they became fluent in French or Spanish as well. But they remained American, and to this day, America loves them.

Gertrude Stein characterized the expatriates’ sentiment in these words, “America is my country, and Paris is my home town." This is the essence of every expatriate’s attitude towards their country of origin, whatever it may be; there is a place that we consider home, but this is not our homeland. And the country we have adopted acknowledges in no small measure that whatever beauty or knowledge or skill we have brought in to their soil remains rooted in the land from whence we first came.

Whenever I receive the occasional compliment for a medical paper I write or a patient I make better, and the person who speaks my praise describes me to another, invariably the narrative would include, “that Filipino doctor from Connecticut". I have never denied my ethnicity, but it does not define me in my career. I stand successful and respected for who I am and what I do, regardless of race, color or accent. Americans delight in the success of a well-established immigrant. They celebrate the courage and tenacity and sacrifice it took for someone to succeed in self-exile. They accept them as fellow Americans, yet appreciate too the ethnic background that makes them different.

But in my country of origin, in my homeland, they apparently speak of me and think of me as a traitor. Professor Solita Monsod of the University of the Philippines, in a video of a lecture to her students currently being circulated by unquestionably well-meaning Filipinos to expatriates they know and love, expressed her anger towards those who have chosen to leave their home and their people to find work, sustenance and success in another land. How is this different from a Manileño who chooses to re-establish himself and his family in Cagayan de Oro because the business opportunities there turned out to be more conducive to his success? How is it a betrayal of the Filipino people for a Filipino in another country to be recognized and applauded for the good that he does on a global scale?

How am I a traitor when the dollars I earn here translate into businesses and consumer confidence and local spending by the family and people I still support back home? How is it that I am a fool when I have wrought only respect and admiration and love in this country for a Filipino? Professor Monsod suggested that Filipinos abroad “pay back" what is owed to the country. In my lifetime, I hope I have done a lot of good, and have paid forward.

Filipinos overseas are self-exiles. We chose to leave our homeland when this became intellectually, politically, financially, artistically or philosophically limiting or oppressive. We are drawn to another country because of the vitality of its intellectual, scientific or artistic scene, its support and tolerance for innovation, progress and intellectual energy, and by its high regard for the immigrant who brings in new talent and skill, allowing him or her the freedom to achieve success, find his or her identity and express his or her ideas. Self-actualization in another land is not a crime. And Filipinos back home, who seek their own success, would be well-served to rejoice in ours. We are no different. We are just far from home.

No Winnie, Filipinos who go overseas are not traitors - Special Reports - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

[rom69erz]

yes...we are modern hero indeed. we are not traitor!

[em_b]

i agree on the first post and disagree on the second post.

Filipinos working abroad are not traitors. They just do what they are supposed to do. Earn a living. Practice their profession. As to where, it really doesn't matter. You don't owe anybody anyway. Except maybe for us, or some who get their education from the taxpayers.

But to be called a hero is something else. A hero because of what? Because of remittances sent to the Philippines? That is a positive effect, true. But to be a hero, it should be the main intention. Is it? No. Filipinos work abroad not because they want to help our country. Not because they want to contribute through remittances. They work abroad because they want to earn a living, feed their family, and have a comfortable life. What is heroic in that? Working away from their family? As what the first post is asking, how is it different from Pinoys working in other regions in the Philippines?

And for our government to name these people heroes? OFWs are a manifestation of our countries problem. They are the byproducts of our governments inability to provide them work. It is a problem. It needs to be addressed. The government should stop acting like they are some sort of a recruitment agency!

[vipvip68]

yes...we are modern hero indeed. we are not traitor!

I think those OFW's who were offended by the "traitor" remarks shouldn't be as I don't think this was the intended message of Prof. Monsod.

Out OFW's comprise our most talented and valuable citizens. Some of them work in other countries does not mean that they are turning their backs on their country. Most of them do it out of necessity. It underscores the failure of our country not only to provide enough jobs but to provide well paying or quality employment opportunities for our countrymen.

I have several friends who chose to work in SG, Japan, US and Canada,.. simply because those countries offer better opportunities.

But had the same opportunities been available here and had the salary disparity not been that great, these people would have chosen to stay here and live with their families instead of going it alone in a foreign land.

Prof Monsod's point I believe focuses more on our foreign policy than anything else. Instead of relying on OFW remittances for our country to survive, we need to build intellectual capacity here at home to be able to compete globally.

We can tell our laborers to make sacrifices and work for the country... but they should be given employment opportunities to showcase their talents and skills. Until this is done, OFW's will be a symptom of an educational and employment system that does not work for the country.

[personalmgt]

Is a Filipino who goes overseas not entitled to the sweat of his brow?

No, says the economists. They're contributing to the brain drain.
No, says the sick people in the hospitals. There are no more good doctors and nurses that can take care of them.
No, says the common filipino. Because we have something called "crab mentality".

Oh LOL.

[dv1000]

Is a Filipino who goes overseas not entitled to the sweat of his brow?

No, says the economists. They're contributing to the brain drain.
No, says the sick people in the hospitals. There are no more good doctors and nurses that can take care of them.
No, says the common filipino. Because we have something called "crab mentality".

Oh LOL.

mao jud

[unsay_ngalan_nimo]

maybe you guys should first see the lecture on youtube... first, its about UP graduates and not any university graduate which the professor called traitor...

why should they be called traitor because they were not able to give back to the people, imagine ang gibayad sa ilang pag-eskwela kay ang people's tax... and their contributing to brain drain...
HONOR and EXCELLENCE
HONOR before EXCELLENCE...

[JezzyCalm]

oh! i thought, ang gipasabot ato ni dr. winnie kay ang taga-UP ra man.. na dapat mag-service sah sila sa country before mu-abroad cla... she's not referring man cguro sa mga OFW oi... only to UP students.

[crossramz]

If working abroad help phils economy by dollar remittance how come they become traitor?

[Tirong-say]

Traitor....
Is there something to betray here,
a lot of professionals are jobless now in the philippines.
Where is the realism on such a rhetoric.