^^ I'm not sure if I would actually be happier back in Pinas... whenever I go home, it's always been for a vacation, and I really get to enjoy it with my family and friends. That makes me think that I'm really happy there.

But then I realized that I wouldn't be able to do a lot of things (that made the visit enjoyable) if I didn't have the money that I earned here. I just don't know... :dunno:

I know for certain that I'm not totally happy here, and that I would always want to go back home even for just a visit. But as for fulfilment, I'm still looking for that.

I have a question for those living in Europe. How did you guys end up working there? Here in the USA and Canada, it's either people were born here or petitioned by family or work. Is it the same for you guys there? Did you guys start with a working visa then get residency permits? Just wondering how it works coz I've always wanted to live and work in Europe.

Hola to all the people online! :hi:

^^ Hey, chot. I'll respond to this later... have to run. Catch you guys later.

I have a question for those living in Europe. How did you guys end up working there? Here in the USA and Canada, it's either people were born here or petitioned by family or work. Is it the same for you guys there? Did you guys start with a working visa then get residency permits? Just wondering how it works coz I've always wanted to live and work in Europe.

Hola to all the people online! :hi:

i'm not the right person to respond to this, but the temptation is great. i read in a national geographic issue 2 years back about migration. it has been primarily work driven. the need to compensate for whatever's lacking back home.

my father too was a migrant, back when it was yet fashionable to call them ocw's or ofw's. but back then what he was earning in pinas was more than enough for us. life in davao was more than laidback. then, he too might have decided that us kids were growing so he wanted that maybe a little sacrifice can at least insure some funds for our college education. but he did not land in europe, it was in a jungle in indonesia (kalimantan or the indonesian borneo). that decision took him away for 16 years. he left us in his prime adult years, and came home, too old and a skeleton of himself.

so i'm the second generation migrant. landing in some place probably my father have not envisioned himself. i too left the country at my prime but nowhere to go (career-wise) in my own city. i am in a new place too big to just imagine. will i go home years from now a skeleton of myself? i wonder.

so back to this great migration. this is the new phenomenom, economic migrants. people ending up somewhere for a reason, his or family's comfort and future. this may result in a population mix diluted to an extent never before seen.

europe is the target because it's situation is different from north america. borders have been opening up and it has attracted migrants not only from asia but from other places as well.

so why europe? or maybe the question is, why another place? almost and always, the answer, the grass is always green in some other man's land.

@Paul - Thanks for sharing your and your father's story with us. Migrating to another country entails so much sacrifice and hardship. I suppose the hardest part is the separation from friends and family. No amount of comfort and convenience can easy the pain. But somehow, the promise of a better future drives us and keeps us going.

@Cha - It is very heartwarming to hear that you, although born here in the States, have so much appreciation for the Philippines to the extent of wanting to live there. :)

I was born of a Swedish father and a Japanese mother who migrated to Europe as a figure skater... :lol: (Just being silly... currently watching Women's Figure Skating in Calgary.)

Seriously though... through the recommendation of a college friend, I was recruited by a Filipino company providing IT consulting services to international organizations in New York and Geneva. I was originally slated to go to New York, but because I couldn't get a visa (got denied in Manila), I came/was sent to Geneva instead to work as a consultant for the World Health Organization. I only worked in Manila for 9 months after graduating from college. My two elder sisters had already been working abroad for a couple of years by then. (They both started out in Taiwan, but while one is still living there at present, the other one ended up as a TNT in the US. Luckily though, she no longer is. :) ) My aunt also worked as a nurse for Aramco in Saudi Arabia for quite a number of years. (She and her husband whom she met there are now back in Pinas and are running their own business.) So, early on, I knew I had to leave to make a decent living and to support my family. My parents used to run a junk shop, but fell on hard times. Since then, I haven't been too keen to set up my own shop. Better be an employee, I told myself. Why take the risk? But now I find myself rethinking the whole thing...

^^ kala ko totoo na. swedish pa and japanese mom. ano kayang tawag sayo?

^^ japadish :lol:

^ako din napaniwala for a sec! :lol:

Sayang Andy! Kung sa NYC ka napadpad e di nagmeet na kayo ni Lili! :colgate:

^^ Haha, oo nga ano!!! Tsk, tsk... di bale, hindi pa huli ang lahat. :lol:

Those cartoons are quite interesting.

I guess I can see how one can misconstrue the real message of the cartoons, which is unfortunate, because I think these illustrations are satirical commentaries. He's presenting difficult and discomforting issues to the surface, regarding unequal treatment/attitude towards Filipina workers in general. This issue is sensitive, but it's real, and it's 'there' especially within the context of the time when these cartoons were published. By infusing humor with it, people are encouraged to think, to become aware.

Of course Hong Kong has seen a tremendous change over the years, and Hong Kong has become a very cosmopolitan and tolerant city.

In any case here's a short link about Larry Feign, which provides some hints on his intentions behind his cartoons:

http://lambiek.net/artists/f/feign_larry.htm

Contrary to his mother's plans, Larry Feign dreamed of a cartooning career. In 1985, his career took a giant step forward when he settled in Hong Kong. His first work was titled 'Learn Cantonese the Hard Way'. In November 1986, Feign created 'The World of Lily Wong', which ran six times a week in the South China Morning Post. The strip graduately took on political nuances, becoming one of the government's few critics in the press. At the peak of its popularity, 'The World of Lily Wong' was dropped by the Post in 1995. The cartoon was brought back to life when the Hong Kong iMail began publication in 2000, but was brought to a halt again soon after that. After 21 years as a professional cartoonist, Larry Feign retired.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/Zootsuit.jpg

A zoot suit is a style of clothing popularized by African Americans, Filipino Americans, and Mexican Americans in the late 1930s and 1940s. It has wide-legged, tight-cuffed, or "pegged," trousers (called tramas); and a long coat with wide lapels, and wide, padded shoulders (called the carlango). Often zoot suiters wear a felt hat with a long feather (called a tapa or tanda) and pointy, French-style shoes (called calcos). A young Malcolm X described the zoot suit as: "a killer-diller coat with a drape shape, reet pleats and shoulders padded like a lunatic's cell."

Zoot suits first gained popularity in Harlem jazz culture in the late 1930s where they were called "drapes". The word "zoot", according to the Oxford English Dictionary, probably comes from a reduplication of the word 'suit'. It was probably first coined by Mexican American pachucos as part of their slang, "Calo". They were extremely popular with the African-American and Filipino-American youth, and also with young Latinos, most particularly, among those Mexican American youths who styled themselves as "pachucos" in Los Angeles. In March of 1942, the War Production Board banned zoot suit production - allegedly because it deemed the style wasteful of valuable suiting material during wartime, but the measure was taken in a climate of general anxiety and fear of latino youths. The fashion persisted, despite restrictions placed on the amount of fabric in the production of garments.

It has been suggested by some that zoot suits originated as a passive protest to measures during World War II to limit nationwide consumption of many items due to war needs, but this is unlikely, as they were fashionable in Black, Latino, and Filipino communities long before the imposition of such restrictions.

Zoot Suits were satirized by Al Capp in 1943 in the comic strip Li'l Abner, in which Abner Yokum appeared as "Zoot Suit Yokum," a gullible but near-indestructible man chosen by a clothing manufacturer to serve as role model for white youth through dangerous, staged heroic feats. The story ended with mainstream businessmen also taking to the zoot suit, whereupon it suddenly went out of style.

This type of suit inspired the album Zoot Suit Riot, by the American band Cherry Poppin' Daddies. The name of the song was based on the Riots caused by military personel during WWII, who would beat up any Latino they found wearing a Zoot Suit in Los Angeles.

Zoot Suitis also the name of a musical play by written by Luis Valdez, featuring music from Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero, the "father of Chicano music." When in debuted in 1979, Zoot Suit was the first Chicano play on Broadway. In 1981, Luis Valdez also directed filmed version of the play.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit

I remember the group DeBarge and MC Hammer wear that style. Also those from Harlem in the 80s. I used to read comic books entitled O'Malley and the Alley Cats and those cool cats wear those zoot suits.

Seriously, thank you WANCH for posting that articles on Filipino-Americans! You wouldn't believe how much of a relief it is just to see something like that turn up!

Seriously, thank you WANCH for posting that articles on Filipino-Americans! You wouldn't believe how much of a relief it is just to see something like that turn up!

No problem man. But decided to create this thread since I had my own experience with Filipinos in The United States and I'll tell you I had beef with some of them!

No problem man. But decided to create this thread since I had my own experience with Filipinos in The United States and I'll tell you I had beef with some of them!
Understandable, being a Filipino-American myself (though currently in Japan...), I've noticed a few things among my fellow Fil-Ams, more notably the "Pinoy pride" thing going on.

Understandable, being a Filipino-American myself (though currently in Japan...), I've noticed a few things among my fellow Fil-Ams, more notably the "Pinoy pride" thing going on.

That Pinoy Pride thing with most of these Filipino-American youths is mediocre to me.

But it's one of those things they need if they're living in a very diversed and multicultural country.

Here's a question regarding the comment above: How about when you're in a work place setting?

Somehow I do find it quite inapproriate, unprofessional to speak in your native language when you're surrounded by co-workers who obviously, are excluded out of the conversation.

Same here. I find that talking in another language in the workplace is highly inappropriate and unprofessional. Whenever I get a call on my cellphone from my parents or my sister, I go to the breakroom or go outside the office to take the call as to not get weird looks from my coworkers when I talk to them in Tagalog.

here in toronto, it's always a temptation to talk in your language. wherever you go, you will always bump into a kabayan. i think it's accepted altho frowned upon practice talking in the language. should it be discouraged, pretty hard to decide upon. some would even encourage of talking to guys in your language so as to express more your ideas, concerns and whatever.

911 here in toronto even have so many languages, and it was depressing of a news when kids drowned because the grandma hesitated to call 911 because she spoke mandarin. yes, toronto is very multicultural and you can be in a diverse group (like a party) and so many languages being spoken. each would take the effort of translating what they've said so as not to offend. sometimes it's a riot and fun to hear all these languages.

what i've notice is it's getting to be a norm that english or french (for quebec) should be used in a workplace.

There has been a case here in the US where the employees filed a discrimination lawsuit against the employer for prohibiting them from speaking with each other in their language. They were upheld by the judge because the employer could not justify a 'business necessity'.

It is of course a matter of professionalism and courtesy to not speak in a foreign language in the workplace, but the recent court rulings have veered towards ruling "English Only" in the workplace rules as discriminatory unless justified by a business necessity.

Funny story. One night, we had ice cream Haagen-Dazs in Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii in the early 90s. My folks and I placed our orders (and my young brother who 4 or 5 at that time) asked for ube (purple yam) ice cream! The person behind the counter was confused at first, and asked us what was ube ice cream. After explaining to the person behind the counter what it was, she apologized that they did not carry ube ice cream. When we returned home, my mom told everyone what happened that night at Haagen-Dazs and everyone laughed!

There has been a case here in the US where the employees filed a discrimination lawsuit against the employer for prohibiting them from speaking with each other in their language. They were upheld by the judge because the employer could not justify a 'business necessity'.

It is of course a matter of professionalism and courtesy to not speak in a foreign language in the workplace, but the recent court rulings have veered towards ruling "English Only" in the workplace rules as discriminatory unless justified by a business necessity.

Isn't that the case with most call centres in Manila? Except there's is a business neccessity.

Definitely business necessity in Call Centers. The employees' job performance is tied to their ability to speak good English in processing phone calls. Proficiency in English (which is the international business language) is a bona fide occupational qualification in this case.

Some of the situations in which courts have found speak-English-only rules to constitute a business necessity include:

- the need to communicate with customers, co-workers and supervisors who speak only English
- the promotion of safety in emergency situations in which workers must speak a common language
- the promotion of efficiency in cooperative work assignments in which an English-only rule is needed and enabling a supervisor who speaks only English to monitor the performance of an employee whose job duties require communication with co-workers or customers.

What about office-break chat? What about complaints by employees who speak only English: that non-English conversations among co-workers disrupt or create a hostile environment, because of their perception that employees not speaking English are making fun of the workers who speak only English?

The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) here in the US takes the position that customer or co-worker preference does not constitute business necessity, unless English-only clearly relates to job performance (i.e., an employee needs to speak English to customers who speak only English). Hence, pinoys cannot be prohibited from speaking in their language among themselves during breaks in work while in the cafeteria, having lunch. Diversity sensitivity is key in resolving conflicts such as these.

it is considered bad form to speak in a different language in the presence of others, even in the working environment. It gives all sorts of opportunities for backstabbing. Its simply bad manners.

That said, bad manners or otherwise, when I'm in another country, I tend to speak in Filipino more often, considering I barely speak a word of Filipino at home :D

^^ What do you speak at home Solblanc? :dunno:

English :)

je parle ngongers

^^ What's this obsession with anything "ngongo" of yours Tigs? :dunno: (Just curious. :) )

i know right, me neither, just wondering too

There are more Filipino-Canadians than Filipino-Americans..

I think..................................

Yap, youre completely wrong

Last I heard there are roughly 2 million Filipinos/Filipino-Americans in the US, a million or so just in California and the rest are scattered across the country.

^October pala Filipino-history month just found that out today :D
oh yeah the first filipino that came here was in cali, year 1587, and yeah about 2.4 million the total of population of flip. today, we can be found mostly where chot/ram lives. in canada, there's about 327,550 or 19th place. First from both countries are Chinese.

c/o wikipedia

GIVE US YOUR SKILLED

Australia's government is also committed to a major expansion in immigration, and this in a country where a quarter of all people were born overseas.

In the 2004/05 fiscal year, net migration added 110,000 to the population, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.

Betraying a statistician's love for numbers, the government notes this equates to a net gain of one international migrant every 4 minutes and 47 seconds leading to a total population increase of one person every 2 minutes and 12 seconds.

Policy makers are targeting permanent immigration of 140,000 in the current fiscal year, the highest in over 40 years, and industry groups are lobbying hard for a rise to 180,000.

A government Web site shows some 120,000 job vacancies in an economy that is experiencing its 15th uninterrupted year of growth.

But Australia faces growing international competition for skilled labor, with officials from Britain, Canada, India, China, New Zealand and Iceland among those searching the world for workers. Some have started to offer perks like housing and education subsidies to attract foreign talent.

The Australian government has responded by easing migration rules. In March, it added 16 occupations to the list of those it considers "skilled", making a total of 81 that receive preferential consideration for migration to Australia.

The new additions included boat builder, floor finisher, lift mechanic and stonemason.

Immigration laws have also been relaxed to allow foreign students at Australian universities to settle if they can organize a job after graduating. And to further widen the country's appeal, skilled migrants will soon be able to sponsor same sex partners to come to Australia.

Australian companies have also run road shows across the globe looking for talent. This year the Australian Industry Group will hold expos in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila, Detroit, Houston, Sao Paulo, Lima, Dubai, Dublin, London and Manchester.

The labor shortfall is greatest in the mining, construction and engineering industries. A diesel-engine fitter, for instance, can easily bring in $150,000-plus -- three times the average wage -- if prepared to fly in and out of jobs at remote mines.

"Obviously, it adds to the supply of labor and that's what many industries are crying out for," said TD's Koukoulas.

"But ultimately, such population growth will also stretch resources. It's, maybe, not the one-way bet policy makers would like it to be," he added.

Filipinos are everywhere. They are almost everywhere in the globe. People say that even in the most remote areas in Africa there is a Filipino. What do you think? Are Filipinos the most scattered?

i think the chinese are more scattered... they even have china towns in almost every country... but filipinos are a close second place...
:)

I guess the Jews WERE, during the diasphora. :D

Debatable yan. Pero parang ngayon kahit saan ka pumunta, may Pinoy :D

i think almost all continents and countries, there's a Filipino...except i Antartica maybe?

^^ Well no one settles in Antarctica. ;)

except those scientists from Canada, USA, and the Russian Federation.

in fact, there's a pinoy scientist in antartica, i forgot his name...

Malay nyo baka may Pilipino o Fil-Am scientist doon :D

ok, that answers everything... the Filipino is in every continent... and every territory...

Surprise nako kung may pinoy dito :D

Sakhalin, Russia
Dakar, Senegal
Eastern Island, Chile

there are pinoys in Ushuaia, Chile but I don't know about eastern island. i've got a school mate who is now a volunteer in ghana.

kahit san sulok ng mundo may pinoy kang makikita eh.

there are pinoys in Ushuaia, Chile but I don't know about eastern island. i've got a school mate who is now a volunteer in ghana.

Ushuaia is in Argentina, not Chile ;)

my bad hehehe...oh yes argentina indeed :D

kahit san sulok ng mundo may pinoy kang makikita eh.
At saang sulok ng mundo na may Pinoy, may WOWOWEE! :lol:

antarctica wala pa yatang pinoy don.

Surprise nako kung may pinoy dito :D

Sakhalin, Russia
Dakar, Senegal
Eastern Island, Chile

I know of a Pinoy in Dakar. :colgate:

nah, I think chinese are most scattered, but the Filipinos are closing to beat that lol

yup, chinese ngah, sa forumers sa SSc phils? sinong chinese LOL, hahaha, sa school namin, lahat ng parte ng mundo din, may sariling city ang mga chinese, Chinatown sa New York, Binondo, anu pa ba?

Sa South America na lang, almost all countries there have Chinatowns.
Sabi nga nila "We are everywhere".

Cuba's Chinatown was featured in National Geographic.

But Pinoys help build Los Angeles and some small towns in Louisiana.

And there is no Chinatown in Beijing. niyahahaha :bash:

sa cebu ba may chinatown???

sa cebu ba may chinatown???

“there is no Chinatown in Cebu because all of Cebu is Chinatown.” :D

And there is no Chinatown in Beijing. niyahahaha


oo nga noh... hmmmmmm bakit kaya. :lol:

Dami pala Pinoys sa Latin America at Africa.
Sikat din ang mga Pinoy teleseryes sa Africa.

Dami pala Pinoys sa Latin America at Africa.
Sikat din ang mga Pinoy teleseryes sa Africa.

i never knew pinoy teleseryes are shown in africa...

which ones?

san pa ba scattered ang Philippines teleserye, sa Asia ba mayrun???

^^^
Pangako Sayo
It Might Be You
Sana'y Wala nang Wakas
Kay Tagal kang Hinintay.

I found an article about Pinoy teleseryes gaining fans all over the world...

Marina and Krystala now in Indonesia

Work stops. Meetings are adjourned. Staff and top honchos alike rush home to watch Pangako Sa ‘Yo (The Promise) and Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas (Timeless) and other ABS-CBN teleseryes in which they are hooked they do not dare miss a single episode. And this phenomenon is happening not in the Philippines—but across Asia, especially in Malaysia, Europe, and Africa, where various ABS-CBN series are being shown.

“Pangako Sa ‘Yo has made a name in my country,” wrote Malaysian viewer Tania in a Web site created by fans of ABS-CBN shows. According to fellow viewers, they have watched many other soap operas from other countries but they were not moved with any of those like The Promise did. “The soap has beaten all other soaps we have watched here in Zambia!” affirms Hildah, another loyal viewer. This audience does not understand Tagalog, and they knew none of our stars at first but now they are self-proclaimed big fans of Filipino actors and actresses, especially of the Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa love team.

And now, Philippine TV’s drama princess Judy Ann Santos and teleserye queen Claudine Barretto are also expected to be huge stars in the international scene with the airing of their shows Krystala and Marina, respectively, on Indonesia. Marina, a mermaid’s take, is the country’s very first fantasy series (fantaserye) whose phenomenal success has spawned various shows of the same genre. Krystala features Judy Ann Santos like you’ve never seen her before: as the generation’s super heroine.

Bringing local programs overseas not only provides entertainment but also serves as a cure for the homesickness to our kababayans. A Filipino based in Kenya, Africa, says, “[ever] since [ABS-CBN shows] were aired here, everyone’s been asking me if I’m a Filipino, like their favorite characters in [the series]. Even in the capital city or nearby towns, people always make positive comments. It makes me feel more confident about being a Filipino!”

Other soap operas that are gaining hype abroad are Kay Tagal Kitang Hinintay (The Long Wait), It Might Be You, Darating Ang Umaga (Till Morning Comes), Bituin (Star), Sa Sandaling Kailangan Mo Ako (The Moment You Need Me), Familia Zaragoza and ABS-CBN’s long-running drama series Maalaala Mo Kaya. This slate of exceptional series has been changing the viewing habits of international audiences for many years now.

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife04_july01_2005

puro ABS, dapat GMA din...

Meron din palang Filipino garment workers in Madagascar. Off the coast of Africa. Grabe! Pinoys are everywhere!

Sa South America na lang, almost all countries there have Chinatowns.
Sabi nga nila "We are everywhere".

Cuba's Chinatown was featured in National Geographic.

But Pinoys help build Los Angeles and some small towns in Louisiana.

And there is no Chinatown in Beijing. niyahahaha :bash:

hehehe, corny mo tsinoy. i'd say the chinese are more scattered. chinese here in toronto are the biggest visible minorities, pinoys are 4th. i was in st. johns in michigan 4 years ago. akala ko pinakasulok na part ng michigan, but they have an eat-all-you-can buffet. there was this famed cuban artist surnamed lam, anywhere you go, they are there and can form very visible communities.

nagulat ako sa article na un ah! astig!!

And there is no Chinatown in Beijing. niyahahaha


oo nga noh... hmmmmmm bakit kaya. :lol:

so do they call Chinese food in China, Chinese food too? :colgate:

pumunta ako two years ago sa Philippines Island, madami akong pinoy na nakita

Ang dating ng title nung thread parang "Kalat kalat ba ang utak ng mga Pinoy?" :lol:

“there is no Chinatown in Cebu because all of Cebu is Chinatown.” :D

Cebu City not the whole island :sleepy:

Cebu City not the whole island :sleepy:

Ok, then Cebu City :D

Yun sabi ng isang politician kasi...

^^

Ever heard of the Taoist Temple? Chinese make up 10-15% of the Island.

^^

Ever heard of the Taoist Temple? Chinese make up 10-15% of the Island.

In Beverly Hills, Cebu City?

http://www.ngkhai.net/cebupics/albums/userpics/10018/normal_DSC01239.JPG

http://homepage.mac.com/robtrent/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2005-01-29%2011.49.42%20-0800/Image-F7CE2219722D11D9.jpg

^^

Yup

Cuba's Chinatown was featured in National Geographic.
talaga may madaming chinese na nakatira sa cuba except ofcourse yung mga tourist Huh...neat

Ang mga Pinoy lang sa Cuba yung nasa Pinoy Embassy, yung nasa Gitmo Bay, siguro 2 lang, tatlo lang alam ko when I was there.

so do they call Chinese food in China, Chinese food too? :colgate:

nope not chinese food, more of the region where the food came. I think there are 3 major cuisines in China, shan dong, hong something and the most famous of which is Sze chuan. lol (hirap tandaan, last year pa namin inaral lol)

I think maraming Chinese sa Toronto kasi mga Chinese sa Philippines doon din ang bagsak lol

BTW yung sa Cebu, daming taga HK na nag settle doon. Mas malakas ang mga Cantonese sa Cebu kay sa Manila.

nope not chinese food, more of the region where the food came. I think there are 3 major cuisines in China, shan dong, hong something and the most famous of which is Sze chuan. lol (hirap tandaan, last year pa namin inaral lol)


The Early Chinese cuisine only have the North and South - By regions

Then came the four schools of cooking - (depends on how you spell them)

Shandong, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Guangdong

Then became eight schools -

Shandong, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Guangdong, Hunan, Fujian, Anhui and Zhejiang

Then became 10, adding Beijing and Shanghai Styles

They don't want to recognized the Chinese style of cooking in The Philippines which is - Lutong Makaw :D

I don't know why, but masarap naman diba?

Speaking of Argentina I met a Argenchino in their forum. I have also met in real life a Chinese who was born and raised in Venezuela. She spoke Spanish too.

Ala lang... ingat ngayong Semana Santa. :)

Speaking of Argentina I met a Argenchino in their forum. I have also met in real life a Chinese who was born and raised in Venezuela. She spoke Spanish too.

Ala lang... ingat ngayong Semana Santa. :)

I met a chinese from colombia and she speaks spanish prett well. :sleepy:

Cute sounding Chinese-Latinas, no? I was in Mexico City when I was surprised there are Chinese restaurants, then in Mexicali dami din. They said the original Chinese there in Mexico were from the Philippines during the Galleon trade.

Cute sounding Chinese-Latinas, no? I was in Mexico City when I was surprised there are Chinese restaurants, then in Mexicali dami din. They said the original Chinese there in Mexico were from the Philippines during the Galleon trade.

Well she was speaking spanish to another person who happens to be also from colombia.

Wtf is mexcali?! :laugh:

I guess Mexico-California?

Along with the Chinese, Filipinos probably are the most scattered. Unlike the Jews we have airplanes to help up spread out. By the time airplanes became big the Jews were using it to gather again. But the thing is we're so spread out yet there's still 80 million in the homeland

Wtf is mexcali?! :laugh:

I guess Mexico-California?


Mexicali is a city (capital of the state of Baja California, México) near the boundary of California.

http://www.universalgroup.com/mexicali.htm

http://www.universalgroup.com/mexica1.gif

^^ lol 2 million+ pinoys in the states, according to TFC

Filipino households registered as having the highest per capita income in New York and New Jersey in the recent census survey here.

^^ cool! :okay:

a friend of mine told me how filipinos dont have greencards and they have jobs, while homeless american citizens dont have jobs.

^^ cool! :okay:

a friend of mine told me how filipinos dont have greencards and they have jobs, while homeless american citizens dont have jobs.

Homeless amerian citizens gets food stamps and such and non legal immigrants can't get it, or non citizen can get food stamps also? illegal immigrants have families to support also in their home countries so they do need to get a job to sustain support to their families...

^^ cool! :okay:

a friend of mine told me how filipinos dont have greencards and they have jobs, while homeless american citizens dont have jobs.

Filipinos are very resilient and 'ma-abilidad'. Very strong survival instincts. Somehow, America brings out the best in them, especially when it comes to work ethics and drive to succeed.

Cute sounding Chinese-Latinas, no? I was in Mexico City when I was surprised there are Chinese restaurants, then in Mexicali dami din. They said the original Chinese there in Mexico were from the Philippines during the Galleon trade.
yup they even refer to filips as Chinos

yup they even refer to filips as Chinos

Even in some cruise ships, lots of Pinoys or Pinays that worked there looks like Chinese.


Masarap Mexican Food sa Mexicali -- :laugh:

Filipinos are very resilient and 'ma-abilidad'. Very strong survival instincts. Somehow, America brings out the best in them, especially when it comes to work ethics and drive to succeed.

It is true because we knew what real poverty is back home. We are reminded of the sink or swim situation all the time. However, survival is not enough. Now is the time to engage in entrepreneurial endeavors.

It is true because we knew what real poverty is back home. We are reminded of the sink or swim situation all the time. However, survival is not enough. Now is the time to engage in entrepreneurial endeavors.

entrepreneurial endeavors - nabulol ako -- hehehe

you mean it is time to be part of the Business communities?

Filipinos are very resilient and 'ma-abilidad'. Very strong survival instincts. Somehow, America brings out the best in them, especially when it comes to work ethics and drive to succeed.

well said. :D

@tsinoy: Eventually we should. We should get our own slice of the opportunities available too. :) I dunno with others because that's how I feel. I wanted to be in the business of doing something I'm really interested at. A job and eventually a rewarding career is only my springboard to establish it.

@tsinoy: Eventually we should. We should get our own slice of the opportunities available too. :) I dunno with others because that's how I feel. I wanted to be in the business of doing something I'm really interested at. A job and eventually a rewarding career is only my springboard to establish it.

That is why America is called "The Land Of Opportunity", anyone can do whatever they want as long as they follow the law. There are some sites on the internet about Filipinos who found success in America. Just do some research and be amazed on how they started their own piece of the pie.

Just a curious question again folks. Are there any billionaire/millionaire filipinos out there? I mean those who doesn't have a spanish nor a chinese descend but is well known(that's residing in the Philippines not overseas), pure filipino with an all filipino last name.

Hmmm... I don't even know what a "pure" filipino is. We're all hybridized in some way or another. Our differing backgrounds are what make us unique and different from more homogenous countries like say Japan or Korea. A filipino is a filipino is a filipino. If you were born and raised in the country, you're filipino. Just my $0.02 :)

Forbes listed three filipino billionaires in this year's billionaire list. They are:

-Lucio Tan (chinese origin)
-Henry Sy (chinese origin)
-Jaime Zobel de Ayala (european/malay hybrids)

A few other uberly rich but-not-quite-billionaires out there would be: Tony Tan Caktiong, The Cojuangcos, The Lopez clan, John Gokongwei.

The Chinese are like the jews of the east, a large percentage of them can go to a foreign country and truly become success stories. They are definitely overrepresented in the billionaire's list. I'm sitting here asking whether they're successful because they're not constrained by the social norms, memes, and what-have-yous of the country they immigrate to; whether the culture they come from has taught them to just generally be more ambitious and driven; or whether it's because they place such a high emphasis on education?

I really have no idea.

I respect them for what they could achieve, though, and I definitely try to use their success stories as a means for motivation.

^^ Don't forget wheeling dealings. They know how to do it.

There you go, maybe the Lopez's are the more full blooded filipinos. What I mean about the pure filipinos are those who are not 1st or second generation filipinos. Just for the purpose of giving example. I'll use Macapagal, Arroyos, Pimentel, Abad and so on as an example of well to do filipinos with a real filipino last name, unlike the Gokongweis and the Ayalas who are very much Chinese and Spanish.


Don't get me wrong okay? I just want to know if there are those who contributed in the Philippine economy. I've met a Supetran before from Cebu, I think they are neither chinese or spanish but they are extremely rich.

The Chinese are like the jews of the east, a large percentage of them can go to a foreign country and truly become success stories. They are definitely overrepresented in the billionaire's list. I'm sitting here asking whether they're successful because they're not constrained by the social norms, memes, and what-have-yous of the country they immigrate to; whether the culture they come from has taught them to just generally be more ambitious and driven; or whether it's because they place such a high emphasis on education?

I really have no idea.

.[/QUOTE]

It's probably a mixture of all of the above. For example, it has been said that the Jews became successful in commerce because of the Christian disdain for business during the Middle Ages (especially banking, as taking interest payments was considered a sin). This left the market vacant for those whose religion had nothing against entrepreneurs.

^^ Don't forget wheeling dealings. They know how to do it.

Hahahahaha, yes. Can't forget that. The most obvious examples for that would be Lucio Tan and Danding Cojuangco...

But millionaires and billionaires of all races have representatives that are guilty of doing such things, so i've had to cross that out as one of the options.

Just a curious question again folks. Are there any billionaire/millionaire filipinos out there? I mean those who doesn't have a spanish nor a chinese descend but is well known(that's residing in the Philippines not overseas), pure filipino with an all filipino last name.

As evangelistik (sorry I'm not sure what yr real name is :) ) has pointed out there are definitely billionaires in the RP even if you don't count the Marcoses and the Cojuancos. There are even more if you mean peso, rather than dollar billionaires! If only some of these people start paying taxes that are vaguely proportionate to what their income is, the Philippines would be much wealthier.

Does the name Manny Paquiao ring a BELL to anyone here?


Maybe his original name was Pakyaw? :D

It's probably a mixture of all of the above. For example, it has been said that the Jews became successful in commerce because of the Christian disdain for business during the Middle Ages (especially banking, as taking interest payments was considered a sin). This left the market vacant for those whose religion had nothing against entrepreneurs.

That is a VERY good point!

I wonder then if Catholicism is somehow guilty for indirectly holding back a large % of the populace from stratospheric financial success? Would it be a moot point because this is the 21st century and the church is more lax? Would it be moot because the Church no longer has a hold on the people like it used to have? Or would it have an influence, as some of the Church's edicts still imply that anything in excess is deemed evil.

Does the name Manny Paquiao ring a BELL to anyone here?


Maybe his original name was Pakyaw? :D

Pacquaio is not a billionaire. He's not even a decamillinoaire. =P

As evangelistik (sorry I'm not sure what yr real name is :) ) has pointed out there are definitely billionaires in the RP even if you don't count the Marcoses and the Cojuancos. There are even more if you mean peso, rather than dollar billionaires! If only some of these people start paying taxes that are vaguely proportionate to what their income is, the Philippines would be much wealthier.


Yeah I know, I just want to know the more notable ones. Those whom are really well know all over the Philippines and other countries in the same caliber of the Ayalas, Tan, Lopez and Gokongweis, I'm sure there are hundreds and hundreds of wealthy filipino businessmen who started out from the scratch.

That is a VERY good point!

I wonder then if Catholicism is somehow guilty for indirectly holding back a large % of the populace from stratospheric financial success? Would it be a moot point because this is the 21st century and the church is more lax? Would it be moot because the Church no longer has a hold on the people like it used to have? Or would it have an influence, as some of the Church's edicts still imply that anything in excess is deemed evil.

I agree that the Church still has a very powerful influence on Philippine society. But I'm not sure to what extent it is "holding back" our country's economic growth. After all, the USA is nearly 50% Catholic and it doesn't stop it from being an entrepreneurial nation. Incidentally the poorest parts of the US are the ones that are most solidly Protestant ( I mean the Deep South states). The Catholic church of today has obviously renounced some of its most medieval doctrines, many still remain - such as contraception etc...which do affect our population growth rate. I definitely do think that our political and economic culture will have to change if we want real progress.

There you go, maybe the Lopez's are the more full blooded filipinos. What I mean about the pure filipinos are those who are not 1st or second generation filipinos. Just for the purpose of giving example. I'll use Macapagal, Arroyos, Pimentel, Abad and so on as an example of well to do filipinos with a real filipino last name, unlike the Gokongweis and the Ayalas who are very much Chinese and Spanish.

Don't get me wrong okay? I just want to know if there are those who contributed in the Philippine economy. I've met a Supetran before from Cebu, I think they are neither chinese or spanish but they are extremely rich.

Ahhh okay, i see what you mean now. I didn't mean to come off as being in the offensive.

Pacquaio is not a billionaire. He's not even a decamillinoaire. =P


The question asked was "Are there any billionaire/millionaire filipinos"

I'm sure he is a $millionaire already with his purses and endosements.------------------------------

And there are lots of Rich Filipinos but just keeping a very low profile.

I agree that the Church still has a very powerful influence on Philippine society. But I'm not sure to what extent it is "holding back" our country's economic growth. After all, the USA is nearly 50% Catholic and it doesn't stop it from being an entrepreneurial nation. Incidentally the poorest parts of the US are the ones that are most solidly Protestant ( I mean the Deep South states). The Catholic church of today has obviously renounced some of its most medieval doctrines, many still remain - such as contraception etc...which do affect our population growth rate. I definitely do think that our political and economic culture will have to change if we want real progress.

Actually, more than half of the USA is protestant, Catholics make up about a quarter of the population.

Mostly I agree with you, though. There are too many intangibles (and too many events that occurred in history) involved when trying to figure out the Anthro-economic reasons for a given people's success. At this point any ideas we bring about without extensive research will be mere conjecture and incomplete.

Okay, you guys can go back to the main topic. I didn't mean to stir up any commotions, TJ never participated here it seems like,so no fun without him here...LOL (kiddingggggggggggggg).

Thanks for responding to my Q y'all!!!!!

congrats sa mga pinoy sa Newjersey at newyork . Sana magtulungan sila at magkaisa at hndi magkaingitan at maghilahan .
Iagree with askal na kailangan mas maging enterprenuerial mga pinoy. Parang mas marameng vietnamese at chinese ang nasa business endeavors. :cheers:

congrats sa mga pinoy sa New jersey at newyork . Sana magtulungan sila at magkaisa at hndi magkaingitan at maghilahan .
Iagree with askal na kailangan mas maging enterprenuerial mga pinoy. Parang mas marameng vietnamese at chinese ang nasa business endeavors. :cheers:
You got to include the Koreans and Indians from India. When I first arrived here in the US, Koreans and Indians owned most of 7-11 and Gas Stations in the LA area. I heard their associations let them borrowed some money to start a business although the interests are quite high, they were able to survived. The filipinos are mostly into Restaurants and Asian Grocery business.
Now they are very busy with those Balikbayan shipment and Forex, realty and other documentation business. Naubos na yung mga involved sa insurance frauds and Pyramid scams. :D
Nakaraos na rin ang mga Pinoy sa mga kaldero, tupperware and water filter business.

hindi pa naman siguro baka americans are the most scattered hehe.. pero oo nga kahit san ka mgpunta may makikilala kang pinoy! astig!

I wasn't sure whether to put this in the Not So Good News thread, but in the end, I thought it was more appropriate to put it here.

http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=594

"WE should awaken memory"

Singer and songwriter Jim Paredes joined June Keithley in Radyo Bandido, which broadcast news of the Edsa revolt to Filipinos. Soon after, he composed “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo,” which became the Edsa anthem. After the 1989 coup attempt that nearly toppled the Aquino government, Paredes went to the U.S. embassy to surrender his green card, a symbolic act that affirmed his faith in country and democracy. This year, on the 20th anniversary of People Power, Paredes is migrating to Australia with his family to “take a vacation from being a Filipino.” His disaffection reflects that of many among those who took part in Edsa.

My siblings and I are planning to put-up multiple businesses in the Philippines. Each of us has a different specialization, in engineering and it communication, food, rtw, and soon arts and crafts. My brother has opened a start-up business and he’s up for expansion later this year. Working abroad helps me earn the capital to get things going because I am the so called “investor” and we don’t want to borrow money.

I don’t like the Pinoys living abroad who bad-mouth the Philippines. I tend to argue with them and ignore them in the end. At the same time I feel sorry for them because obviously life in Pinas was hard during their time and most of them had to come as tnt. I don’t associate with those people particularly the ones who act “pasosyal” and speak with a trying hard conyo accent, eeww. I notice that they are the ones clamoring for a blue passport. I don’t think I will give up my green passport ever. It’s my identity. I don’t care if I have to apply for visas to go for vacation. I’ve never been denied and the visa officer likes me during interviews:P

So, you end up working on a tourist visa in the States? That's just like going staying on as a TNT!

In the United States it's so hilarious how some Filipinos who were born and reared in the Philippines pretend they are Hawaiians, I know of someone who pretended to be Hawaiian in the salon I frequent for haircuts but I quickly shut her down and started conversing with her in Tagalog. I have no patience for such antics and I don't care for people who are maarte and "trying hard".

Regarding overseas Filipinos, remittances last year amounted close to 17 billion US dollars which was coursed thru banks, remittance centers, relatives and other means. Remittances coursed thru banks almost reached 9 billion US dollars. This definitely buoyed the Philippine economy.

That attitude is just plain rude. I encounter many Filipinos like that here in the Middle East... I always start a conversation in English... but with my native Ilonggo accent and when a Filipino responds in Tagalog, I respond in English and asks him/her if he/she could understand Ilonggo/Hiligaynon. If he does, I start speaking my dialect with him. The thing is, a lot of Filipinos think that other Filipinos are being arrogant by speaking in English to a fellow Filipino. To me it is not about pretending to be something else, though I get mistaken to be Chinese or a Westerner at times, rather, it's just that I cannot speak Tagalog. Sorry but English is still an Official language of the Philippine Islands and I'm sticking with English.

well for me I hate Filipinos who claim they dont speak Filipino.

well for me I hate Filipinos who claim they dont speak Filipino.

I may not speak Filipino/Tagalog... But I can speak Hiligaynon - which is one of the many languages and dialects of the Philippine Islands! Why should I speak Filipino - which really is just Tagalog - a dialect forcibly imposed on the rest of the non Tagalog regions to the detriment of the English proficiency of the Filipino people? I do not agree with the statement that we are the 3rd largest English speaking country in the world when a lot of Filipinos here in the ME and in the non Western countries cannot carry an conversation beyond 2 sentences. Sometimes some of them even dare to imitate an American accent just to hide their deficiency.

^^ So what happens when you meet a Filipino who can only speak Tagalog/Filipino? You just ignore him? :dunno:

I think the problem there Dinho is that, it's not that you don't speak nor understand tagalog, I think it is more of a fear that you would be ridiculed by the tagalogs with how you pronounce or say certain words. I fully understand your sentiments there, I'm sure it's getting too old for you but then again, even if you speak english, they will still detect your accent. Still, somehow there is no excuse for your action. You can't always make them stoop down on your level, that would be very insensitive of you. It should be a give and take treatment towards one another.

I do think that the very reason why some other filipinos would refuse to talk to you in english is that they knew very well that you are also a filipino. And just like you, they are just too sensitive on certain issues, one of it may possibly be about being branded as "pretenteous" which is a stigma connected to alot of other filipinos who forgets the real color of their "skin" whenever they are in another country and that you are feeling superior over them. Some of the concens you may have might just be in your "state of mind" because you want to convince yourself that you are a good and a native english speaker just to boost your ego in a wrong, shallow and nonsensical way.

I think the problem there Dinho is that, it's not that you don't speak nor understand tagalog, I think it is more of a fear that you would be ridiculed by the tagalogs with how you pronounce or say certain words. I fully understand your sentiments there, I'm sure it's getting too old for you but then again, even if you speak english, they will still detect your accent. Still, somehow there is no excuse for your action. You can't always make them stoop down on your level, that would be very insensitive of you. It should be a give and take treatment towards one another.

I do think that the very reason why some other filipinos would refuse to talk to you in english is that they knew very well that you are also a filipino. And just like you, they are just too sensitive on certain issues, one of it may possibly be about being branded as "pretenteous" which is a stigma connected to alot of other filipinos who forgets the real color of their "skin" whenever they are in another country and that you are feeling superior over them. Some of the concens you may have might just be in your "state of mind" because you want to convince yourself that you are a good and a native english speaker just to boost your ego in a wrong, shallow and nonsensical way.

You got it wrong there. I never pretend to be something else other than a Filipino. I speak English with a very Hiligaynon accent. And them stoop down to my level... you have twisted that around man! They can hardly speak English and they stoop down to my level? What do I do when they insist on Tagalog, I try to adjust to them by responding in Ilonggo so that they won't feel insecure. If it doesn't work, well, I just bid them goodbye.

^^ So what happens when you meet a Filipino who can only speak Tagalog/Filipino? You just ignore him? :dunno:

Question is, how can they survive in a foreign country if they don't even know how to speak English? I am sure they can understand and speak English. They are just insecure because they are afraid that the other Filipino will laugh at them... which is something I never do.

^^ Oh Of course, I was not only referring to incidents when you are abroad but also when you are in the Philippines like Manila or Davao? Ok, I will be more specific. What fi you meet someone from Ilocos who only knows how to speak Ilocano and Filipino? How's that? I'm just curious coz I have never encountered a Filipino who cannot speak or understand even just conversational Tagalog.

okay, just a question to break away from that other head on collision we are heading into..LOL How does an hilagaynon sounds like? Is it anything close to Ilo-ilo dialect and Cebuino??

I would tell you a story or i guess more of an incident where a filipino started talking to my gf in english, I had my eyes closed at the time because i'd rather rest than pay attention to a commotion from another passenger whom was just bitching about something not too important i imagine and in filipino. Anyways, I believe it was a male flight attendant in PAL, when my gf responded in english, for some odd reason I'm not sure about, he started talking back to her in tagalog instead while my gf carried on in english. Well, I really didn't get why or what but I asked my gf about it whenever he left and she just told me that the guy seems like he got uncomfy when she responded in straight english, she told me that it might have been because the guy must have felt intimidated. So, I guess that might be the case with you when you do the same thing. I would be guessing it's their fear of being looked down upon incase they slipped and said something wrong in english. It doesn't necessarily mean they are inefficient or not fluent in english, it's just a sudden feeling of insecurity. Is that a fair assumption?

^^ Oh Of course, I was not only referring to incidents when you are abroad but also when you are in the Philippines like Manila or Davao? Ok, I will be more specific. What fi you meet someone from Ilocos who only knows how to speak Ilocano and Filipino? How's that? I'm just curious coz I have never encountered a Filipino who cannot speak or understand even just conversational Tagalog.


That is a very good question ramvinegar....

^^ Oh Of course, I was not only referring to incidents when you are abroad but also when you are in the Philippines like Manila or Davao? Ok, I will be more specific. What fi you meet someone from Ilocos who only knows how to speak Ilocano and Filipino? How's that? I'm just curious coz I have never encountered a Filipino who cannot speak or understand even just conversational Tagalog.

IF IT HAPPENED IN BACOLOD, I'D LOOK FOR SOMEBODY WHO COULD TRANSLATE, IF IT HAPPENED ELSEWHERE, EITHER OF US SHOULD LOOK FOR SOMEBODY WHO COULD TRANSLATE. SIMPLE SOLUTION ISN'T IT?

IF IT HAPPENED IN BACOLOD, I'D LOOK FOR SOMEBODY WHO COULD TRANSLATE, IF IT HAPPENED ELSEWHERE, EITHER OF US SHOULD LOOK FOR SOMEBODY WHO COULD TRANSLATE. SIMPLE SOLUTION ISN'T IT?
What is there is just the two of you in one island isolated from the civilization?
What if there is a medical emergency and you have no recourse but to speak to a non-hylagaynon speaking filipino who didn't have the luxury of acquiring a higher education just like you do , whom cannot speak and understand english?

What is there is just the two of you in one island isolated from the civilization?
What if there is a medical emergency and you have no recourse but to speak to a non-hylagaynon speaking filipino who didn't have the luxury of acquiring a higher education just like you do , whom cannot speak and understand english?

STARTING TO GET EXASPERATED? WELL, USE HAND SIGNALS. WORKS WITH THE LOCALS THOUGH IT'LL TAKE A WHILE. SORRY BUT I JUST CANNOT SPEAK TAGALOG... YOUR EXAMPLE WAS ILOCANO RIGHT? MY BARBER HERE IN DOHA IS FROM SOUTHERN LUZON, I THINK HE IS CHAVACANO. I CANNOT UNDERSTAND HIM WHEN HE SPEAKS IN HIS DIALECT, BUT I WONDER WHY HE CAN UNDERSTAND ILONGGO/HILIGAYNON? CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT?

Question is, how can they survive in a foreign country if they don't even know how to speak English? I am sure they can understand and speak English. They are just insecure because they are afraid that the other Filipino will laugh at them... which is something I never do.

Well, the problem is, here in SCC forums alone and even in the other threads, you critisized your fellow filipinos and even have a condescending attitude towards their failure to keep up with your high standard in the english language. What more if you laugh at them behind their backs? I don't think you are being true to yourself there buddy...

IF IT HAPPENED IN BACOLOD, I'D LOOK FOR SOMEBODY WHO COULD TRANSLATE, IF IT HAPPENED ELSEWHERE, EITHER OF US SHOULD LOOK FOR SOMEBODY WHO COULD TRANSLATE. SIMPLE SOLUTION ISN'T IT?

I have several friends from Bacolod and a few of them are scions of Bacolod's "oligarchy". They often summer in Manila or Davao where they also have relatives and none of them have a problem speaking in Tagalog (Taglish, really). They converse in Ilonggo among themselves but when I (a Dabawenyo) am in their presence, they automatically switch to Taglish - which becomes the common tongue among friends.

STARTING TO GET EXASPERATED? WELL, USE HAND SIGNALS. WORKS WITH THE LOCALS THOUGH IT'LL TAKE A WHILE. SORRY BUT I JUST CANNOT SPEAK TAGALOG... YOUR EXAMPLE WAS ILOCANO RIGHT? MY BARBER HERE IN DOHA IS FROM SOUTHERN LUZON, I THINK HE IS CHAVACANO. I CANNOT UNDERSTAND HIM WHEN HE SPEAKS IN HIS DIALECT, BUT I WONDER WHY HE CAN UNDERSTAND ILONGGO/HILIGAYNON? CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT?

Well, Dieseljock isn't the one using all caps so who's exasperated now? Dinho, why can't you just carry on a discussion without becoming so defensive or condescending?

As for your example of the Chavacano Barber who is able to understand Hilgaynon, would it be possible that some people are actually open and willing to learn/speak other dialects in the Philippines?

STARTING TO GET EXASPERATED? WELL, USE HAND SIGNALS. WORKS WITH THE LOCALS THOUGH IT'LL TAKE A WHILE. SORRY BUT I JUST CANNOT SPEAK TAGALOG... YOUR EXAMPLE WAS ILOCANO RIGHT? MY BARBER HERE IN DOHA IS FROM SOUTHERN LUZON, I THINK HE IS CHAVACANO. I CANNOT UNDERSTAND HIM WHEN HE SPEAKS IN HIS DIALECT, BUT I WONDER WHY HE CAN UNDERSTAND ILONGGO/HILIGAYNON? CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT?

Well, an Ilocano or chavacano won't understand your Ilonggo because unlike the tagalog language, it is not being taught in school for one thing. My assumption with your Chavacano barber would be, he had somehow influences and has been around some Ilonggos but has forgotten how to speak it after being detached to that Illongo dominated environment, somehow he retained an ear for that dialect .

You cannot speak tagalog because you refused to speak it in an effort to be defiant, it's somewhat synonymous to a selected hearing or listening which is more or less brought about by your own defense mechanism in your effort to gain social distinction and control basically to boost your own ego. For some unknown reason you embraced english to pretend something that you are not and for what ever gain, only you yourself could only tell, unless ofcourse if I actually would be given a chance to dissect your inner psyche face to face.

How's my explanation to Dinho Ramvinegar?

whoa....lets cool the hostility around here. Dinho, i've already warned you about confrontation with other members. And please dont write in caps. Its annoying and hostile (cos it means you are shouting).

You my friend, are quite ignorant.

Well, an Ilocano or chavacano won't understand your Ilonggo because unlike the tagalog language, it is not being taught in school for one thing. My assumption with your Chavacano barber would be, he had somehow influences and has been around some Ilonggos but has forgotten how to speak it after being detached to that Illongo dominated environment, somehow he retained an ear for that dialect .

You cannot speak tagalog because you refused to speak it in an effort to be defiant, it's somewhat synonymous to a selected hearing or listening which is more or less brought about by your own defense mechanism in your effort to gain social distinction and control basically to boost your own ego. For some reason you embraced english to pretend something that you are not and for what ever gain, only you yourself could only tell, unless ofcourse if I actually would be given a chance to dissect your inner psyche face to face.

Good point! Majority of my friends are from Bacolod and some come from the so-called "Bacolod aristocracy". They can all understand and speak conversational Tagalog and are ready to make the effort to converse with a Tagalog-speaker. Yes, some have difficulty but they do not mind at all. For them, being able to communicate with other fellow Filipinos is more important. I admire them for this.

Once a Xenophobe, always a Xenophobe. (A leopard can't change its spots. right? ;) )

OH BTW dinho, i just read your private messages to me. It was too defensive, I won't even comment on those.....

Wow, Dieseljockx you are on a roll. Wish you were my personal trainer / psychiatrist / motivation coach. :nocrook: The wife/GF acculturated you very well. :okay:

A lot of my Filipino friends here in my school are from Davao or Gen. San, so basically they speak Bisaya. But like most Filipinos do, they can speak and understand Tagalog. When they talk to each other, they use their dialects, and when they're with us we all use Filipino. We only speak english if we are hanging aroudn with our foreign friends so as not to alienate them.

It has also become a bit of a joke when they speak to us in Bisaya since we dont understand it, so we ask them to translate it to english or tagalog. There are times when I happen to mention some deep Tagalog slangs or words and they would ask me what's the meaning of it. So it became a point of interaction between us.

OFW remittances jump 14% to $1.8B (http://money.inq7.net/topstories/view_topstories.php?yyyy=2006&mon=04&dd=13&file=1)
Posted: 2:05 AM | Apr. 13, 2006


Inquirer

MONEY remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) totaled $1.8 billion in January and February, sustaining a double-digit growth rate of 14 percent from the same period last year despite a slowdown in the number of workes going abroad, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the central bank) said Wednesday.

In February, OFW remittances coursed through banks reached $866 million, up 11.6 percent year-on-year despite a 10-percent decrease in number of land-based workers deployed abroad to 134,436, the BSP said, citing preliminary figures from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Sea-based workers deployed in February increased 5.9 percent year-on-year to 41,595, it said.

"The increased deployment of highly skilled, thus higher-paid, land-based workers such as engineers, teachers, ship and pilot/aircraft officers, production-related workers and service providers more than compensated for the decline in the total number of deployed land-based workers," the BSP said.

The BSP attributed the increase in OFW remittances partly on commercial banks' expansion of services.

"Commercial banks ... heightened their marketing campaign by offering various 'telemoney' products and services -- such as phone-banking, Internet/online banking and bills payment services-specifically in Hong Kong, the United States, Italy, and the UK as well as strengthened tie-ups with foreign money transfer agents and non-bank channels," it said.

The major sources of OFW remittances were the United States, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

The BSP said the government was pursuing programs that would strengthen workers' technical training and education to enhance job-skills matching.

There are about eight million overseas Filipinos, equivalent to about 10 percent of the Philippine population, including three million who are permanent residents overseas.

How's my explanation to Dinho Ramvinegar?

sorry, diesel. I did not see this post earlier. Was too busy fuming, I guess. :)

Your explanation was very clear and you took the words right out of my mouth. :okay:

OVERSEAS Filipino workers (OFWs), who have to leave their loved ones behind, wager on the belief that a reward awaits their sacrifice -- a good life for their families.

And a good life is usually characterized by providing the family with a house and a stable source of income.



The dream of a good life sustains them as they immerse in a different culture and work for strangers.

But earning enough money to afford a house or to put up a business is never easy for anyone. OFWs send their hard-earned money to their families, hoping there will be enough left for savings to buy a house and put up a business later.

But most of the time, the money they send is just enough for survival.

Valeriano "Butch" Perez, an OFW based in Spain, understands this common problem among Filipino workers abroad.

To help his fellow Filipinos, and to earn money at the same time, Perez worked on the suggestion of a friend to put up a lending company for OFWs in Spain. This gave birth to SP Sabado International S.A.

SP Sabado acts as a guarantor for OFWs who want to borrow from banks in Spain to buy a house or a vehicle.

To make sure that the borrowed money is really spent on buying a house or a vehicle for the families in the Philippines, the borrowers do not get to hold the cash. SP Sabado purchases the houses or vehicles in their stead.

Perez explained that a borrower has a 1.2-million-peso credit limit that is payable within five years at an interest rate of 8 to 9 percent a year.

SP Sabado has constructed houses in different locations in the Philippines such as Bicol, Ilocos Norte, Laguna, Pangasinan and Isabela.

Perez said that a Filipino worker in Spain who wants to borrow just has to show proof of employment and a residence card. The Filipino workers should have stayed in Spain for at least a year to qualify for a loan.

Like most undertakings, SP Sabado had its share of hardships. It took Perez a while to establish relationships with banks in Spain and convince them to lend money.

But his unrelenting efforts to woo as many banks as he could made his project a success. The company now has ties with four banks, including Banco Santander.

Life has not been easy for Perez, whose family had been financially hard up. Unable to finish his studies, he knew there were few opportunities for him in the country.

He used to work in a farm in Nueva Ecija, but insufficient income forced him and his wife to seek greener pastures abroad. The plan was to go to Spain, which did not require a visa for migrants, then to the United States, after preparing all the required papers and saving enough for the fare.

But fate meant him to stay in Spain.

When the couple arrived in 1981, Perez found a job as a laborer. His job of mixing cement for construction sites earned him the equivalent of 120 dollars a month.

From there, Perez jumped to various jobs like gardening, driving and cooking. His menial jobs paid well, according to Perez.

"The average income of Filipino workers in Spain then was only about 500 dollars, but my wife and I were earning 1,000 and 700 dollars each," Perez said.

But Perez did not want to stay as a laborer forever.

An insurance agent offered him a pension plan while he was still working as a cook in a fine dining restaurant in Madrid.

Seeing the benefits of the plan and earning more than enough to afford it, Perez got one without knowing that this would signal the start of a promising career.

When his friends found out about the pension plan that Perez got, they became interested in getting one for themselves, too. Seeing an opportunity to earn, Perez decided to work as a sub-agent in the insurance company and sold insurance plans to his friends.

His unprecedented success in the field of selling brought in a lot of money for British Life Insurance Co. (now known as Norwich Union). He became its top salesman during his five-year stay.

The amount he earned from the insurance job encouraged him to work full-time as an agent and to leave his cooking job.

Exemplifying the Filipino's talent and hard work, Perez was nominated by the Filipino attaché in Spain to the Bagong Bayani Award in 1994, where he placed second.

That same year, three of his four children were able to go to Spain. The eldest had joined them in 1987.

Achieving financial stability, Perez applied for early retirement and joined a real estate firm in 1997. He was attracted to work for the firm when it promised to give him a house for free if he could sell 10 houses.

Perez knew selling 10 houses was a piece of cake, since he had many friends who would like to buy houses for themselves. And true enough, Perez got his free house in one month.

But the suggestion of a friend to put up a lending company never failed to tickle his fancy. It was the same friend who referred him to the bank director who first agreed to do business with SP Sabado.

In need of capital for the lending venture, Perez sold the house he got from his real estate job and used the money together with his savings from his insurance job to finance SP Sabado.

The OFW-friendly services of the company made SP Sabado a hit among Filipinos in Spain. With its increasing clients, SP Sabado needed more funds to expand. This made him ask the help of a friend who introduced him to Victor Fraguas, a Spanish consul general, and Jose Rodriguez, a known banker in Spain.

The two new business partners poured in more resources into the company, thus expanding its capital base. This required SP Sabado, which was registered as a small family business, to change its name to SP Summit Trading S.L., now registered as a corporation.

SP Summit is based in Madrid. Its office here in Manila is located in Marikina, headed by Angie Perez, Butch's sister-in-law. She is assisted by her husband Mark Perez, the younger brother of Butch.

Butch's wife Shirley and Victor's wife Remy do the public relations work for the company.

To date, SP Summit has helped over a hundred Filipino workers in Spain realize their dream of owning a house or a transport vehicle for their families.

The local office buys the lots and builds the houses.

When it started in 1997, its initial sales totaled to 433,378 euros. SP Summit Trading has had continual sales growth. It projects sale of 2 million and 4 to 6 million euros for 2002 and 2003, respectively.

Aware of the patronage of OFWs in Spain to the company's lending services, SP Summit Trading is planning to expand to other countries in Europe.

THE LOSS of Filipino talent to foreign shores has been a perennial problem, but what makes it truly alarming now is that, this time, Filipinos are not merely being "pushed out" of the country by depressing Third World wages but are being "pulled in" by the host countries' rising demand for trained professionals. The changing demographics of Europe and America should warn us that they will be recruiting more and more Filipinos to fill jobs for which there are not enough trained and willing locals.

How have we responded to this challenge?

First off, we must be careful to avoid the class prejudice implicit in the most recent lamentations, which were triggered by hospital closures caused by the exodus of doctors and nurses. There are also earlier anecdotal accounts of middle-class migration. When poor Filipinos relocate to find jobs abroad, we see no loss, and indeed we all celebrate the new contributors of dollar remittances. When middle-class Filipinos find jobs abroad, we bemoan the loss of the nation's human patrimony and see shortages of professional services 10 years down the road. The first is apparently "brawn drain" -- they are expendable and unusable in our economy. The second is "brain drain" -- they are valuable to Philippine society and must be retained. This bias is completely misguided.

We lose Filipino genius either way. In the first, we lose the benefit of Filipino labor that we have failed to develop, harness and reward. Just the other day, I spoke to a Filipino chef in Spain who, from the way he described his oeuvre, could create mouth-watering paella. When I asked what he used to do in Manila, he said he was a bodyguard to a local politician! And it took Spain to bring out the culinary artist from within!

We must also consider that the children of migrant Filipino families could very well be the next generation of Filipino professionals. For all we know, the next Manny Pangilinan could have just now exited through airport immigration, tagging along with his parents who are bound for a new life in Canada. When families migrate, we typically tend to look at their class origins in Manila. But migration precisely liberates them from the shackles of class, gives them a chance to start anew and find a place where hard work and determination matter more than pedigree and birth. The North Atlantic democracies on both sides pride themselves in rewarding achievement, and for them, what matters most about their newly arrived Filipino migrants is their future, and not their past.

The real difference, however, lies in the loss of investments in trained labor. We invest scarce resources to educate Filipino professionals, only to export them when they are fully trained. When they leave to use their skills abroad, in effect it is other societies that reap the harvest that we have sown. They tap our products full-grown, and enjoy a hidden subsidy from us because they no longer need to invest in their own schools, in teacher training, in scholarships or, for that matter, in the entire social infrastructure needed to raise an infant into a medical doctor, nurse, physical or occupational therapist, accountant, or banker.

I do not agree with the proposal to ban, or regulate tightly, the exit of trained professionals. If businessmen can speak of the free movement of capital, struggling fathers and mothers must live by the free movement of labor. Let Filipino talent seek the market where it is paid the highest value. Let Filipino parents find the most congenial world for their children. Using the law to stifle this market will only create a discrete class of people who are both frustrated and intelligent, a combination both combustible and nasty. Worse, given the state of corruption in the country, such regulations will only create a new industry of exemption fixers.

I think there are tiny, incremental steps that can stem the hemorrhage of Filipino talent. For one, perhaps the respective professions should reorganize themselves to take care of their young, entry-level cohorts. As a total outsider to the medical field, I sometimes wonder if the fee system among doctors is geared to those already "made," those who have "arrived."

Contrast that to the profession I am more familiar with, namely, law. In the early 1970s, the big American-style law partnership entered the scene and offered young lawyers an opportunity to earn a living wage immediately upon passing the bar. Until then, the idea was that a fresh graduate could work only as an apprentice and must live on an apprentice's stipend until he was able to take clients on his own. This changed the rules of the game, so to speak, and has enabled law graduates from humble families to live decently even while they wait for the time when they have earned their spurs.

I do not know if the medical guilds have looked at how they can nurture young doctors when they need that nurturing most, i.e., when they are investing in new equipment and technology, when they are building their own patient-base, and coincidentally, when they are raising their children. I am aware of US hospitals that pay their young doctors real salaries and advance some of their start-up expenses, chargeable against future earnings.

http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=57676&col=115

Wow, Dieseljockx you are on a roll. Wish you were my personal trainer / psychiatrist / motivation coach. :nocrook: The wife/GF acculturated you very well. :okay:

Awwww, you are making me blush, now, all of a sudden I'm shy again...ROFL

whoa....lets cool the hostility around here. Dinho, i've already warned you about confrontation with other members. And please dont write in caps. Its annoying and hostile (cos it means you are shouting).

You my friend, are quite ignorant.

Sorry about writing in CAPS. I was in a hurry and left the caps on.

^^Sorry to be "O.T." but Dinho, May I ask you something? Please answer me “FRANKLY”. No or little explanation first, please.

1. Do you hate all Tagalog speaking Filipino?
2. Do you blame all Tagalog speaking people for the imposition of the “Tagalog-Filipino” language policy throughout the country which was done by politicians?
3. Do you think all Tagalogs don’t speak good English?

Please answer these questions so I may know you. And, I am with you against imposition of the "Tagalog/Filipino Language" policy to non-tagalog speaking Filipinos. It is pure stupidity to do that.Yet, I must know something from you first.

Hey Jamaicus! i wanna answer too. :)

1. Certainly not
2. No time to blame

3. Filipinos who speak English as first language (out of total 85 million pop):
est. less than 0.0001 percent.

Filipinos who can speak English as second language:
est. less than 30 percent (and to quote Dinho below, the learned 'upper middle class and elite'. may be included in this figure the balikbayans and many returning OFWs.)

English as Sole official language in the Philippines?
Niloloko n'yo lang mga sarili ninyo. :)

^^Sorry to be "O.T." but Dinho, May I ask you something? Please answer me “FRANKLY”. No or little explanation first, please.

1. Do you hate all Tagalog speaking Filipino?
2. Do you blame all Tagalog speaking people for the imposition of the “Tagalog-Filipino” language policy throughout the country which was done by politicians?
3. Do you think all Tagalogs don’t speak good English?

Please answer these questions so I may know you. And, I am with you against imposition of the "Tagalog/Filipino Language" policy to non-tagalog speaking Filipinos. It is pure stupidity to do that.Yet, I must know something from you first.

1. I do not hate Tagalog speaking Filipinos - I am just annoyed at some of them when they insist on using Tagalog.
2. I do not blame them but when arguing with people like Dieseljox, I sometimes end up doing just that. My apologies for that. But, I know it was the Tagalog majority government then that is to be blamed.
3. As I've said Tagalogs can speak English. No question about that. A lot of them could speak good English. But most would belong to the upper middle class and the elite. I still have to find a typical middle class Tagalog who could sustain a conversation in English.

Just a clarification. I don't have much choice now since I never did study Filipino in school. I studied at a combination of Amercian and Chinese schools in my hometown. Filipino/Tagalog was taught but never given any importance. Araling Panlipunan & Rizal, supposedly taught in Filipino/Tagalog was taught in English. As for the other Negrense being able to speak Tagalog well, it is indeed true. But they are the people with interests in Manila. They are the elite. I am just middle class. But I grew up with expatriate Americans in Bacolod. That is why I am quite comfortable speaking English.

I still have to find a typical middle class Tagalog who could sustain a conversation in English.

That's it. English can't be the only official language because not even a significant number of Filipinos can speak the language. If english-speaking middle class filipinos are rare, what more when we go down the ladder onto the biggest class in society, the masa and those living in poverty. (more than 50%). :)

^^ May I request soemthing? When you are going to say that "Tagologs don't speak English" or something like that, please use the word SOME like "Some Tagalogs are....." or use non-generalization words. Please do this because the generalization of Tagalogs makes some of the most decent SSC forumers tearful(like what you did to your AP teacher probably?Which, sharing the story with us made some angry) which can cause misunderstandings in debates. Please, the generalization is hurtful to some. Please, for the sake of peace in SSC, do this. At least, when doing this, the fury among some would tone down. PEACE!!! Good day! :)

I still have to find a typical middle class Tagalog who could sustain a conversation in English.What's a typical middle-class Tagalog? How do you define him/her? What's he/she like? :dunno:

(Side comment: I understand the value of having pride in one's ethnicity and culture... but why insist on focusing on the differences? We are all Filipinos after all. Shouldn't it be that the joy of one region is the joy of the entire nation? The affliction of one is the affliction of all? :dunno: )

^^ i think he meant average. :)

660!

^^ May I request something? When you are going to say that "Tagalogs don't speak English" or something like that, please use the word SOME like "Some Tagalogs are....." or use non-generalization words. Please do this because the generalization of Tagalogs makes some of the most decent SSC forumers tearful(like what you did to your AP teacher probably?Which, sharing the story with us made some angry) which can cause misunderstandings in debates. Please, the generalization is hurtful to some. Please, for the sake of peace in SSC, do this. At least, when doing this, the fury among some would tone down. PEACE!!! Good day! :)

Will do.

What's a typical middle-class Tagalog? How do you define him/her? What's he/she like? :dunno:

(Side comment: I understand the value of having pride in one's ethnicity and culture... but why insist on focusing on the differences? We are all Filipinos after all. Shouldn't it be that the joy of one region is the joy of the entire nation? The affliction of one is the affliction of all? :dunno: )

The lower class is earning barely enough for day to day living

The middle class is earning enough to be able to afford the most basic necessities in life including a decent house and car at the very least.

The upper class are people who earn a substantial income with enough for savings.

deleted

alam mo Mang Dinho kung ayaw mong magsalita ng Tagalog eh di wag kang magsalita ng Tagalog. PERO huwag ka ring magpumilit na intindinhin ka ng mga kausap mo dahil marming hindi nakakaintindi sa 'yo. Ang problema mo kasi ay ang pagiging hambog at arogante mo. Wala kaming pakialam kung nasa middle east ka at nabubuhay ng maaliwalas sa disyerto tutal naman eh wala ka rin namang pakialam sa buhay ng ibang tao.

alam mo Mang Dinho kung ayaw mong magsalita ng Tagalog eh di wag kang magsalita ng Tagalog. PERO huwag ka ring magpumilit na intindinhin ka ng mga kausap mo dahil marming hindi nakakaintindi sa 'yo. Ang problema mo kasi ay ang pagiging hambog at arogante mo. Wala kaming pakialam kung nasa middle east ka at nabubuhay ng maaliwalas sa disyerto tutal naman eh wala ka rin namang pakialam sa buhay ng ibang tao.

tanggalin mo yong "Mang" kasi tawag nila sa akin dito Mandino baka isipin ng iba ako yong jologs na social climber dito hi hi hi :D mahirap na mapagkamalan.

tanggalin mo yong "Mang" kasi tawag nila sa akin dito Mandino baka isipin ng iba ako yong jologs na social climber dito hi hi hi :D mahirap na mapagkamalan.

haha.. sige Manong Dinho na lang? Tatang? Nuno?

NCBMandy and Amras, I had posted somewhere that I could understand some Tagalog, some Cebuano, some Spanish and even the Ilonggo subdialect Karay-ah. So I understand what you were saying. But I cannot speak all of those dialects because listening to another language is totally different from having to speak or write it. It takes longer to translate to some other language you are not accustomed to.

I never pretend to be something I'm not. I speak English but with a very Ilonggo accent. Of course I could easily speak with an American accent... but I choose not to because some people might think I am pretending to be a Fil Am which I'm not. I am not a social climber as you have accused me to be. I belong to the middle class but have friends from every social level in Bacolod, Iloilo, and even here in the Middle East. I do not look at a person's income before deciding on whether I should be friends with him/her. I have British friends who run the biggest companies here... I also have Nepali friends who are labourers at the construction sites and other establishments. In Bacolod, I have friends who live in nipa huts at Banago Port, Pulupandan (a poor subaurb of Metro Bacolod) and I have friends who live at Ayala Northpoint, Sta. Clara, and Capitolville. I look at the persons character first. What annoys me is that many (not all) Filipinos here in the Middle East start comparing salaries when they meet somebody new. Then they start talking about Pinoy Showbiz. It is totally distasteful.

Branding somebody as a social climber just because he speaks English and has friends from the upper classes is injustice. That is why a lot (not all) of Filipinos are not improving because they are afraid of being branded as such and such or being alienated by their own peers. If we retain this attitude, we might as well adopt the Caste system of some of our Asian neighbors so that we can make sure that nobody would become friends with people from other groups. Even India and Nepal is trying its best to do away with the caste system. So, question to both of you is, should we go backwards just so everybody will be kept in their place?

(Why do some Filipinos have to resort to personal attacks when discussing something they're opposed to?)

NCBMandy and Amras, I had posted somewhere that I could understand some Tagalog, some Cebuano, some Spanish and even the Ilonggo subdialect Karay-ah. So I understand what you were saying. But I cannot speak all of those dialects because listening to another language is totally different from having to speak or write it. It takes longer to translate to some other language you are not accustomed to. I never pretend to be something I'm not. I speak English but with a very Ilonggo accent. Of course I could easily speak with an American accent... but I choose not to because some people might think I am pretending to be a Fil Am which I'm not. I am not a social climber as you have accused me to be. I belong to the middle class but have friends from every social level in Bacolod and even here in the Middle East. I do not look at a person's income before deciding on whether I should be friends with him/her. I have British friends who run the biggest companies here... I also have Nepali friends who are labourers at the construction sites and other establishments. I look at the persons character first. What annoys me is that many (not all) Filipinos here in the Middle East start comparing salaries when they meet somebody new. Then they start talking about Pinoy Showbiz. It is totally distasteful.

Branding somebody as a social climber just because he speaks English and has friends from the upper classes is injustice. That is why a lot (not all) of Filipinos are not improving because they are afraid of being branded as such and such or being alienated by their own peers. If we retain this attitude, we might as well adopt the Caste system of some of our Asian neighbors so that we can make sure that nobody would become friends with people from other groups. Even India and Nepal is trying its best to do away with the caste system. So, question to both of you is, should we go backwards just so everybody will be kept in their place?

filipino middle class can be classy and elegant without criticizing the english proficiency of some of his fellow filipinos. I know you mean no harm to your previous posts but the tactlessness of some of your post makes us totally pissed off. Your implying that we are not a well bred citizen of this country because we lack the mastery of the english language. Most filipinos in the middle east are working there to earn for a living because of lack of opportunities back home. They are comparing salaries maybe because they intending to transfer to a job where they can get a good deal (bigger salaries, better benefits). They are not just as lucky as you. For once in your life why don't you try to be humble, just once dude just once.

(Why do some Filipinos have to resort to personal attacks when discussing something they're opposed to?)

you started it. remember your post in the Airplane Airline thread
The most annoying thing for me is to be seated next to a Tagalog who just cannot speak decent English!

WTF! I know you edited your post because I cant find the original one.

Tatang, wow! nakakagulat. ang dami mo palang kaibigan.

Tatang, wow! nakakagulat. ang dami mo palang kaibigan.

Don't you have anything better to say?

You're blaming the reason that a lot of filipinos aren't proficient with english because of the fear of social rejection?

Hmmmm. I think it's because the education system doesn't do enough to teach its students the language; I think that it's also due to a lack of necessity, and thus it only seldomly needs to be used...


Maybe it's just me, but to be ostracized for wanting to master a new language is an alien concept (to me).

You're blaming the reason that a lot of filipinos aren't proficient with english because of the fear of social rejection?

Hmmmm. I think it's because the education system doesn't do enough to teach its students the language; I think that it's also due to a lack of necessity, and thus it only seldomly needs to be used...


Maybe it's just me, but to be ostracized for wanting to master a new language is an alien concept (to me).

That too! That's why I would rather speak English so that my fellow Filipinos could have a chance to practice it... Even helped a Nepali colleague learn English from nada. At least he is now able to converse relatively well for a Nepali. Add to that the constant practice he's been getting from frequent contact with the Westerners.

Ok. I am confused. What is the issue here again? The abolishment of Tagalog leaving English the only official language in the country? OR English Proficiency level of Filipinos?

Ok. I am confused. What is the issue here again? The abolishment of Tagalog leaving English the only official language in the country? OR English Proficiency level of Filipinos?

the last one. read my previous post. i quoted his post from the other thread.

thanks mandy :)

I think that it's also due to a lack of necessity, and thus it only seldomly needs to be used...

im gonna have to agree with evangelistik here. I think the majority of Filipinos are satisfied in their own country and that of course not even half of the population can leave and work abroad. :) I think the main culprit to low proficiency level of Filipinos in English (and i mean nationally) is the fact the farmer and fisherman, vendor and weaver won't succumb to the global language and would stick to their own cultures and still live decent and normal lives. English is no use to them in their work place and would only be forced to speak it in Intramuros, Boracay or when a lost foreigner lands in their town. :) We can't blame them.

Not everone dreams of Makati and Abroad.

^^ I'm out of here. Arent you guys going to greet me a Happy MAuNDY Thursday? :D GTG, enjoy your holy week. Ciao! manileño, Dinho, evangelistik, amras.

@Dinho
Peace Bro, I don't mean to offend you on my post. I just gave my reactions to your "unintentional" insults towards us (tagalogs).

Happy MAuNDY THursday? Hehe, sorry na lang. Hinde ko gets.

Cya later bro.

^^ I'm out of here. Arent you guys going to greet me a Happy MAuNDY Thursday? :D GTG, enjoy your holy week. Ciao! manileño, Dinho, evangelistik, amras.

@Dinho
Peace Bro, I don't mean to offend you on my post. I just gave my reactions to your "unintentional" insults towards us (tagalogs).

That's better. I also enjoyed "talking" with you. Am going out to the dunes with my friends tomorrow - which is our equivalent of Easter Sunday. And Mandy, your English is quite good! Do you have an unmarried sister? Heheh... just kidding! Already have a girlfriend...

You're blaming the reason that a lot of filipinos aren't proficient with english because of the fear of social rejection?

Hmmmm. I think it's because the education system doesn't do enough to teach its students the language; I think that it's also due to a lack of necessity, and thus it only seldomly needs to be used...


Maybe it's just me, but to be ostracized for wanting to master a new language is an alien concept (to me).


Dinho was just finding an excuse for his actions to cover up his mess, he has a lot of hang ups in life. To name one, he is so touchy on the issue of using OFC to all filipino expatriates in the middleast which is purely just a state of mind. And to think that the majority of the Illongos and Bacolod people in this town I'm living in are below the middle class whose parents strived hard, owed money to send their kids to college, They all speak tagalog, even if it means they have to resort to tagalog-english combi.

Dinho was just finding ways to justify his pretentiousness and the more he open his mouth and expressed what he had in mind, the more you discover more of his pretenteousness.

I'm sorry to say these, it does came from my gf who was from Cebu and she did verified to me that the people from Bacolod, a great many of them feels high and mighty even if deep inside their stomach is empty. It seems like everybody from Bacolod belongs to rich and famous. Just read back on his previous post before this? You can pretty much tell he is full of delusions and it's a "delusion of grandeur" to be exact.

Again, I'm not generalizing all of them.

"Pouvez vous tout de phase dans la paix et être heureux avec ce que vous avez. "

Ah. Unfortunately I didn't read enough of the thread to really grasp what everyone was arguing about.

It's sad, though, if you think about it. Because those who are cocky or pretentious about a specific thing... is the VERY thing they're insecure about. If Dinho really has the kind of outlook that most of the forumers here say, then we should pity him, instead of getting angry @ him. =P

PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THIS!!!


Economic impact of Filipino migration
Posted: 7:54 PM | Apr. 16, 2006

Aurelio R. Montinola III
Inquirer


Published on Page B2-2 of the April 17, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

I WILL HAVE TO START with an Albert Einstein test question. Supposedly, he gave the same test to his graduate students at Princeton, and one confused student said "Professor Einstein, these are the same questions you gave us last year." To which Einstein smiled, and said, "Yes, but the answers are different."

The OFW issue is similar to Einstein's test. Three decades ago, when Filipino migration began to accelerate, we coined the phrase "brain drain" to emphasize its phenomenon being inimical to national development.

Today, the answer is different, or at least mixed.

Why? There are three major reasons. First, there is globalization, which has brought the world's economies into closer integration. Second, there is the information revolution through the fax, the cellphone, the Internet, and even VOIP. Third, there are changing demographics as the developed countries find themselves with aging populations with job needs, which in turn developing countries (including the Philippines with a 21.6 years median age) fill with mobile jobseekers.

These tidal changes have transformed the 8 million overseas Filipinos into a powerful national force. They have opened the world literally for our people. They have increased many times over the earnings and remittances of overseas Filipinos. Perhaps, as never before, Filipino migration is now in a position to make a lasting contribution to the modernization of the country.

Migration facts and figures
Whether because of adverse local conditions or attractive opportunities abroad, some 2,700 Filipinos leave daily for abroad--or almost one million annually. Compare this with the situation in 1975 when the Marcos government deployed 35,000 workers as the start of a new national policy.

Next to Mexico, the Philippines has become the second largest migrant sending country in the world, with an estimated 8 million abroad. The key difference is that Mexicans generally go to the neighboring U.S., while the Filipinos go everywhere.

In turn, after Mexico and India, we are the third largest remittance receiving country.

Of the 8 million abroad, some 3 million are immigrants (permanent), another 3.5 million are contract workers (temporary), and some 1.2 million are classified as irregular.

The $10 billion POEA reported dollar inflows last year come generally from the Americas , with 60 percent of the total. Whether these come truly from the United States or from worldwide remittance companies using US bank accounts is harder to track. Also, some $8 billion come from land-based OFWs and the remaining $2 billion from seafarers.

Top 5 destinations last year were Saudi Arabia, Hongkong, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, and Japan; the fastest growing are Qatar, Singapore, and the UAE 65 percent of the OFWs are women--domestic workers, entertainers, nurses, and teachers.

We also supply 29 percent of all seamen worldwide--the largest percentage of any country in the world.

Government has always been involved, through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), and this is one area where they have generally been considered to have done well, or at least not badly.

In short, as the columnist Jessica Zafra once stated tongue in cheek, "The Filipinos will rule the world--with a maid in every ruler's bedroom and bathroom." Thankfully, today, we have upgraded our OFWs to our missing, hopefully to return one day, middle class.

The migration debate
Opinion is mixed on the economic benefits of migration.

One side sees only a negative impact--excessive consumption, perpetuation of a culture of dependence on overseas remitters, and, similar to countries cursed with too much oil, the government's reluctance and delay in passing much needed structural reforms to put our economic house in order.

These reservations are not to be ignored. However, lately, the evidence for a positive economic impact has been compelling.

The Asian Development Bank , in its first in-depth report on OFW remittances, notes, "Remittances provide the most direct, immediate, and far reaching benefit to overseas workers, their families , and their country. These international transfers... are a more constant source of income than official development assistance, foreign direct investment, and other private inflows."

I submit the following additional evidence:

1. At the macro level, country effects have been positive.

As OFW remittances have steadily grown in the past three years, the peso/dollar rate has increasingly become more stable. In fact, it can be posited that during the dark days of the Asian economic crisis, it was OFW inflows that kept the Philippines from falling further.

OFW remittances pay for the annual amortization of Philippine foreign debt principal and interest. Previous to 2003, this was not the case; however both in 2004 and 2005, OFW remittances cover annual foreign debt amortization, probably the only country in the world to do so. Paradoxically, Filipinos outside the Philippines are paying for the debt of Filipinos in the Philippines.

We hear of other countries using "other people's money" in the form of direct foreign investment or tourism to grow their economies. Our OFWs use "other people's infrastructure" to live and go about their business, and in this way, ease the strain on our own limited infrastructure resources. Put another way, we don't have room for 8 million OFW pay jobs in our country, but our citizens are resourceful and intrepid to find these jobs in someone else's country.

We know that the Social Security System (SSS) and the GSIS pay for the benefits of employed private sector and government sector employees, but in amounts less than desired. One can posit that the OFWs serve as the defacto SSS of their beneficiary families, many of whom may not be employed, as they steadily send $ 300 - $ 400 a month to their families. These were about $1.4B equivalent in SSS and GSIS benefits in 2004: if you assume that only 20 percent of total OFW remittances are requested from relatives overseas for unexpected calamities, this already doubles the local SSS and GSIS benefit amount.

While recognizing that population control is a major developing standblock, we have national debates on what is the appropriate form. I will submit that OFWs going abroad is one of the more natural forms of birth control, and as the women majority of OFWs leave and become more educated about globalization, this eases our population control problems. In fact, I am told that our population growth rate has reduced from 2.36 percent for the period 1995 - 2000 to 2.2 percent estimated for the period 2001 - 2005; I understand, however, that you have to go below 2 to make progress.

2. Sectoral influence has likewise been beneficial.

Targetting remittances
For the banks, targeting OFW remittances started simply as national development assistance and an alternative source of much needed dollars. About 10 years ago, most major banks strategically bet on adding overseas outlets and tie-ups, improving their technology, and then loudly advertising their branding and product reach. The results are impressive, as total OFW remittances through the banking channels have increased from around $2 billion 10 years ago to almost $ 11 billion today. Also, as competition has increased and as volumes of scale have developed, remittance fees and spreads have come down significantly.

For the telecom companies, the cellphone has been the great global connector. TV ads constantly show overseas families talking to each other, and one day they may even do VOIP conversations at economical prices. Again, aside from the branding focus on this large segment, competition and volumes of scale have enabled the rival telecom companies to advertising continually dropping outward long distance calls, and even text or SMS messages. A guesstimate is that 10 - 20 percent of telecom revenues come from calls from Pinoys to their OFW relative.

For property companies, the effects are even more dramatic. Development companies are now building housing communities with OFWs clearly part of the target market, and some companies regularly send sales people to OFW-rich foreign locations. Today, 25 percent of all cash payments and 25 percent of all housing loans are OFW in nature, and this has caused the mini property development boom you are witnessing today.

Retail shopping
Finally, there is retail shopping, which was the original beneficiary of OFW consumption shopping and eating, particularly during the Christmas season and in all the growing malls around the country.

3. Geographical growth has been noticeable.

Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas are primary examples of OFW driven housing developments. However, there are many other examples around the country.

In fact , a study by Dean Young and Claudia Martinez on remittances and poverty in migrants' home areas observed, "Remittances have broader effects on economic activity in migrants home areas, leading to changes in poverty and inequality even in households without migrant members."

Sadly, it means that families without OFWs are poorer than families with OFWs.

While excessive consumption is criticized, in fact the act of consumption creates a multiplier effect on the demand for goods and services, and even indirect investment. When used for health or education reasons, human development is in fact aided.

Lately, there has been rising evidence that an increasing portion of remittances is being invested and saved. The ADB study indicates that 9 out of 10 overseas Filipinos surveyed in the US save in banks, and 70 percent of these maintain bank accounts in the Philippines. In fact, as all the Philippine banks have improved their overseas reach and their local distribution capability, they have strongly contributed to helping increase the total amount of remittances being sent through formal banking channels to the Philippines.

Given all these, it can be hypothesized that, with some behavioral changes, the OFW funds can be used as an important tool of national development.

Looking forward
Looking forward, much still has to be done to better understand and study the phenomenon of Philippine labor migration and its impact on economy and society. Professor David has eloquently spoken on the social side, but others will continue the search for more insight.

Overseas Filipinos constitute our country's biggest comparative advantage in the borderless world of our time. We are way ahead of other countries in proactively training and deploying our workers overseas. Before the new global economy emerged, we were already there. Now we are in position to negotiate better arrangements for our workers in receiving countries.

Wired magazine hit the nail on the head when it observed: "The Philippines is the forerunner of tomorrow's distributed economy in supplying nurses, teachers, techies, and sailors to the global village...

With advances in transportation and telecommunications barreling ahead, it's only a matter of time before the Philippine miracle becomes a standard for the new mobile global order, zapping their wages homeward through space, reentering for a new assignment."

What is strategically significant is that this resource and competitive edge will abide for many more years. The demand for migrant labor will increase, particularly in Europe, Japan and the US, because their work forces are diminishing with every passing year.

The challenge is not whether we can sustain the numbers of our people overseas, but how we can improve their development, maximize their earnings, exact better terms for their labor, and utilize more effectively their remittances for national development. The ADB study makes this observation that we do well to heed: "The sheer volume, stable growth overtime, and anti cyclical nature of remittances suggest that they hold tremendous potential as a source of external development finance. With resources for development assistance dwindling, migrants' remittances are emerging as a strategy for uplifting conditions in developing countries."

Harvard program
A Harvard program on International Migration has also been recently initiated, with special focus on the Philippines. Its focus will be to help academe understand the complex dynamics between socio economic development and global migration, to assist Philippine policy makers to anticipate and to respond to migration in many countries, and to identify cross border and cross population learnings.

I would also like to thank the Ayala Group, Doris Ho, Washington Sycip , and all other individuals who are doing current research on this same problem today.

Conclusion
The time for feeling guilty about our OFWs is over. We must shift gears and recognize the vital role they can play in national development and modernization.

The government and the private sector must therefore work together to pursue a strategic policy on labor migration that will eventually turn the current "Brain Drain" into, as Fernando Zobel has stated in another speech, a " Brain Gain." India today is the best example of its overseas non-resident Indians coming back to assist in specific technology locations and fields; if they can do it, why can't we dream the same?

While migrants' remittance reached record levels last year, we now have the more encouraging news that OFWs and their families are saving and investing more. If we can convince them to save and invest in the Philippines, as actually many of them are predisposed to do so at least partially, then even better.

We are constantly told that the Philippines by growing 5 percent GDP a year will at best stay flat. If we can utilize our OFW remittances and their corresponding savings or investment better, perhaps we can raise this to a more growth oriented 7 percent. As a banker, I recognize the vital role that financial institutions must play in linking remittances to development. Large banks as well as community based financial institutions should strive to provide products and services that encourage savings among OFWs and support their entrepreneurial ventures. We at BPI will be prepared to assist in these national development objectives.

UP chancellor to grads: We didn't teach you to be exported
By DJ Yap April 25, 2006

Members of the Graduating Class 2006 of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, may have proven themselves to be of "export-quality," worthy of employment anywhere in the First World. But their Chancellor has a gentle, somewhat stern, reminder for them: "Wherever you go, remember that we did not teach you just to be exported."

"If you're not going to be part of the solution to the country's woes, then please do not become part of the problem," said Chancellor Sergio Cao, addressing almost 4,000 graduates during the premier state university's 95th commencement exercises on Sunday.

The new graduates should use their skills and talents where they are most needed--right here in their own country--rather than search for greener pastures and fatter paychecks elsewhere, according to Cao.

In a four-hour ceremony, accompanied by the UP Symphonic Orchestra, the graduates were formally bestowed their degrees at the Amphitheater.

This year's batch had a total of 3,963 graduating students. Diliman, the largest among the units in the UP System, has 15 colleges, four institutes and four schools, two centers and one program.

Of the total number of graduates, 3,177 received baccalaureate degrees, 717 masteral degrees and 69 doctoral degrees. Twelve of them graduated summa cum laude; 125, magna cum laude, and 198, cum laude.

Country needs all help

In his opening remarks, Cao said the Philippines needed all the help it could get, as it was reeling from one disaster after another--from the "Wowowee" stampede to the Guinsaugon landslide.

The "Wowowee" stampede on Feb. 4 killed 71 fans of the popular TV game show, many of them old women who had camped out in front of the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City for days, along with thousands of poor people, in the hope of winning prizes.

The Guinsaugon landslide buried a whole village in St. Bernard town in Southern Leyte on Feb. 17, killing 152 people. More than 900 others were missing.

Serve own people

It is during crises like these that a UP education can help, Cao said.

"You are scholars of the nation who are supposed to serve your people, not to serve another country," he said, eliciting cheers from the huge crowd of graduates, parents and well-wishers.

Now that they were no longer students but alumni of the state university, the graduates should begin "repaying" the people, whose taxes subsidized their education and made them true "Iskolar ng Bayan" (Scholars of the People), he said.

The chancellor said the payback should be similar to the government's "study now, pay later" program, but its beneficiaries would be ordinary Filipinos.

Cao compared the graduating class to grain--planted, watered and harvested lovingly--the fruit of the teachers' hard work.

"Do better than us, your teachers, in coming up with the solutions to all the world's problems," he said.

Role in nation-building

Donald Ngwe, a Bachelor of Science in Economics graduate who delivered the response on behalf of the graduating class, said the hallmark of a UP education, or "tatak UP," was the desire to rid society of its sickness and to learn fundamental truths "in different ways, in different fields."

Each graduate, according to Ngwe, has his or her role in nation-building: Musicians in creating masterpieces, journalists in reporting the truth, teachers in guiding the next generation, engineers in building infrastructure in the community, and businessmen, government workers and economists in implementing policies for the common good.

"Our generation is called upon to face the problems confronting our nation. Let us use our strength and wit to enrich our land, instead of leaving our shores for better opportunities abroad," he said.

Acts of good citizenship

Ngwe said the graduates could help move the country forward through acts of good citizenship, such as paying one's taxes and obeying the law.

Guest of honor was Edgardo Gomez, a professor emeritus, world-renowned marine biologist and founding director of the UP Marine Science Institute (MSI).

Gomez discussed the beginnings of MSI, and how it became the country's foremost research institution for marine biology and chemistry, physical oceanography, among other disciplines.

He stressed the importance of service: "Serve others well before you serve yourself, and the man upstairs will look after you."

Lightning rally

As part of tradition, a lightning rally was staged just before the graduates sang "UP Naming Mahal (UP Beloved)" toward the end of the rites.

A small group of militant students suddenly appeared in front of the stage and began shouting slogans against President Macapagal-Arroyo and demanding justice for murdered activists.

Some of the graduates joined the protesters, who unfurled protest banners and streamers.

Facing the crowd, the militants raised their fists and sang along to the dying strains of their alma mater's song.

RP overseas schools urged to promote Filipino identity
By Alcuin Papa

PHILIPPINE SCHOOLS overseas must continue promoting the Filipino identity, Department of Education officer in charge Fe Hidalgo said in a speech she delivered last week before officials of Philippine schools in Xiamen, China.

"As Filipino educators overseas, you all know the importance of promoting Filipino identity. But... you must [also] recognize the need to teach Filipino children abroad that they, too, are part of that Filipino identity, not just because they belong to our race, but because they, too, contribute to the richness of our race. They are integral to our national pride and our national identity. The efforts we made to make Philippine schools overseas possible are all about our children and what we teach them," Hidalgo told her audience of administrators and educators.

She asked overseas school officials to maintain both quality and access to overseas schools. She also suggested that educators maintain a high degree of quality and professionalism in the management of their schools.

"I am sure that you are very much aware of the important role you play in the Philippine education system and in the lives of the young Filipino boys and girls you serve. But while you continue to provide affordable quality education based on the Philippine curriculum, while you contribute to shaping the Filipino identity of the overseas Filipino children and youth you serve, and while you endeavor to ensure that the standards overseas can enable students to be readily integrated into the Philippine educational system upon their return to our country, you must also ensure that your schools are managed well," she said.

Hidalgo also suggested that school managers "find ways of making your schools run productively and smoothly. Provide the leadership necessary to ensure quality performance in all aspects of school management."

She said the hiring and selection guidelines for school managers and teachers must be tailored to the same standards as the host country "to ensure that the management of your schools -- and the management of your classrooms -- are at their optimal levels. Also, provide opportunities for the professional development of your principals and teachers."

So Filipino overseas students would have a smoother transition to local schools, Hidalgo said the teaching and testing methods must conform to local standards "so we can find out how well our overseas Filipino students perform, and find out how well they can adjust to studying in Philippine schools upon their return."

She also suggested that overseas schools build links to local schools to keep in touch with standards being used in the country.

Hidalgo also pushed for the adoption and eventual institutionalization of the Department of Education's flagship program called Schools First Initiative (SFI). The program seeks to bring in other education stakeholders into projects meant to develop and support schools in the community.

Dinho was just finding an excuse for his actions to cover up his mess, he has a lot of hang ups in life. To name one, he is so touchy on the issue of using OFC to all filipino expatriates in the middleast which is purely just a state of mind. And to think that the majority of the Illongos and Bacolod people in this town I'm living in are below the middle class whose parents strived hard, owed money to send their kids to college, They all speak tagalog, even if it means they have to resort to tagalog-english combi.

Dinho was just finding ways to justify his pretentiousness and the more he open his mouth and expressed what he had in mind, the more you discover more of his pretenteousness.

I'm sorry to say these, it does came from my gf who was from Cebu and she did verified to me that the people from Bacolod, a great many of them feels high and mighty even if deep inside their stomach is empty. It seems like everybody from Bacolod belongs to rich and famous. Just read back on his previous post before this? You can pretty much tell he is full of delusions and it's a "delusion of grandeur" to be exact.

Again, I'm not generalizing all of them.

"Pouvez vous tout de phase dans la paix et être heureux avec ce que vous avez. "

You are out of line Dieseljoxx. This thread is about the Filipinos outside the Philippines. This thread is not about me! Whatever I said, was based on my experience here in the Middle East. Why do you have to insist that we Filipinos should live like people from the 3rd world. I only complained about those things because I wanted my fellow Filipinos to improve themselves.

You are out of line Dieseljoxx. This thread is about the Filipinos outside the Philippines. This thread is not about me! Whatever I said, was based on my experience here in the Middle East. Why do you have to insist that we Filipinos should live like people from the 3rd world. I only complained about those things because I wanted my fellow Filipinos to improve themselves.


Oh, you are still breathing. Where have you been? we've missed you. LOL

Alright, whatever. I'm not the only one who noticed some things on you. If you want others to improve, maybe you can try how lili and the rest of these wonderful people encourage others without the use of a not so constructive critizism and being self-centered. I don't see anything in any thread that I've indicated nor mentioned anything that would suggest for any filipino to live like in 3rd world, that's rubbish. But if you are genuinely encouraging other people to do better ? Then , more power to you. ;)

How's life in Qatar anyway? You like it there? Is it better than UAE? I heard so much about UAE, even Michael Jackson loves it there. One of these days, I'll visit that area. Cheers, life is good.

How's life in Qatar anyway? You like it there? Is it better than UAE? I heard so much about UAE, even Michael Jackson loves it there. One of these days, I'll visit that area. Cheers, life is good.

Umm....isn't he (Michael Jackson) in Bahrain, not the UAE? :dunno:

Umm....isn't he (Michael Jackson) in Bahrain, not the UAE? :dunno:

I'm almost positive he is in UAE but who knows? I really don't care about the guy I just happened to mention him because the tabloid indicated that he is enjoying his middleast stay.

Bump! :colgate:


There's The Rub : Charity begins at home
By Conrado de Quiros April 25, 2006

Fe Hidalgo, the officer in charge of the Department of Education, had an interesting message for the Filipino officials of Filipino schools in Xiamen, China. After pressing upon them the importance of good management, she asked them to make sure their Filipino students kept well to their roots.

"As Filipino educators overseas, you must know the importance of promoting Filipino identity. You must recognize the need to teach Filipino children abroad that they are part of that Filipino identity not just because they belong to our race but also because they contribute to the richness of our race. They are integral to our national pride."

I'm glad that Hidalgo did not go into the usual government spiel about the importance of Filipino children learning English to get ahead in life. The Chinese are bad English speakers, and so are the Thais, but they've gotten far ahead in life simply by learning the language not just of efficiency but of ethics. To paraphrase Shakespeare, it's not in our tongue but in ourselves that we are underlings. To paraphrase Shakespeare even more, a cheat by any tongue would smell just as foul.

Hidalgo's message isn't bad at all, but it's also not a little ironic. Because her message in fact shouldn't just be addressed to Filipino officials in Filipino schools abroad, it should be addressed to Filipino officials in Filipino schools in the Philippines. The need to strengthen Filipino identity among Filipino students is no less pressing here than abroad.

It's not unlike the complaint of Filipinos being discriminated against abroad, particularly in the United States and other Western countries, which I've written about in the past. Frankly, I cannot understand why we complain about being discriminated against abroad when we discriminate against ourselves right in our own country. We look down on our countrymen who are dark (to this day, I find the concept of a product devoted to whitening the skin, its premise being that it improves looks, absolutely stupefying), flat-nosed and short (which itself is a judgment based on a particular norm). Indeed, we laugh at people who speak English with a Visayan accent while ironically admiring deejays who mangle Tagalog with an American accent. The discrimination begins right at home.

So does lack of identity. The problem begins right at home. In fact, the bigger irony is that it's Filipinos abroad who often have a stronger sense of Filipino roots from being driven to confront them than Filipinos at home. I've written about that before, too. We look closely at our Asian neighbors, many of whom have taken vast strides in life, and we will notice that the real difference between them and us is not that they have parliamentary governments instead of presidential ones (some are parliamentary, some are not), not that they have authoritarian systems instead of democratic ones (some are authoritarian, some are not), but that they have a strong sense of national identity. They have a strong sense of country. They have a strong sense of who they are.

I doubt that the other Southeast Asian kids--the Thais, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Indonesians, Vietnamese, Laotians and Khmers--will answer in surveys that they prefer to be nationals of America, Japan and Saudi Arabia the way our kids do. That was what the late Malou Doronila found out in studies in the 1990s about the values and attitudes of public school kids in the Philippines, America, Japan and Saudi being the first three preferences in that order, the Philippines ranking only fourth.

Lest we think that the idea of national loyalty is a luxury rather than a necessity in these "globalized" times, let us think again. Its practical effects are patent and immense. Other countries have humongous corruption, too, Suharto having stolen much more than Marcos, but the difference is that Suharto kept the money in Indonesia where it employed Indonesians while Marcos stashed the loot abroad where it merely became an object of treasure hunt for the Presidential Commission on Good Government. That is an epic difference, which goes a long way to explaining why we are poor and miserable and why our neighbors are not.

Indeed, as education goes, we can run our universities with the most modern management principles learned from the Asian Institute of Management and we can equip the same universities with the latest digital marvels from South Korea, but none of that will mean anything for the country if our graduates will just make a beeline for workplaces abroad. Which is happening even as we speak: We are no longer just losing maids and forklift operators to Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, we are now losing doctors and teachers to the United States and Canada. That may help to stave off the free fall of the peso relative to the dollar in the short run, but that will have the most vicious consequences in the long run. Given in particular the economic wisdom that says a country's most precious resource is its people, notably its educated people.

I know I felt envious when a friend of mine told me about being toured in a steel plant in northern China and meeting all sorts of managers in jeans and polo shirts, many of whom toted degrees from Cambridge and Oxford. Filipinos abroad may, of course, argue that that is so because the Chinese have jobs to come home to. But that is probably putting the cart before the horse. In fact the opposite is true: They have jobs because their people who acquire knowledge and skills abroad come home to build a country, which creates the jobs. The difference lies in the attitude. They say: Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. We just say: Ask not. Different attitudes, different results.

Remind Filipino kids abroad they're Filipinos? Remind Filipino kids at home they're Filipinos!

I have migrated here in the US since October of 1992. I do miss Phil. I would love to go back and visit more often.


Tim David
------------------------------
Tim David's Official Website (http://www.TimDavid.org)

Gemma C Araneta

THE world has probably forgotten that Haiti, now one of the most politically precarious countries in the Caribbean, was once upon a time the first republic ever to be proclaimed in that region. St. Domingue, as it was called during French colonial days declared its independence on 1 January 1884, and reverted to Haiti, its original name in Taino. Independence did not come easily, there were fierce and bloody encounters of slaves against French colonizers and plantation owners, the most decisive of which was the Bataille de Vertiere on 18 November 1803. Haitians have their share of heroes and the most beloved liberators are JeanJacques Dessalines and Toussaint Louverture, both exslaves, who are revered as fathers of the nation and of independence.

Haiti’s history seems more star-crossed than ours. They were also invaded by the USA, but much later, in July 1915 and the occupation ended in 1934, when the blueprints of the Philippine Commonwealth were almost done. From 1957 to 1986, Haiti was ruled by the Duvalier dynasty. Francois (Papa Doc) and son Jean Claude (Baby Doc), both presidents-for-life, reigned with terror using zombies and the dreaded Tonton Macoute. In February 1991, Jean Aristide, ex-priest and victim of Duvalier’s incredible cruelty, became the first popularly-elected president of Haiti. There were no public services to speak of in that first republic of the Caribbean.

Today, there is a presidentelect in the person of Rene Preval and his initial move was to visit Cuba. That will probably provoke the ire of a powerful neighbor but Mr. Preval believes it is important to reestablish links with a country that has remained at Haiti’s side, through thick and thin. Mr. Preval is aware that health is Haiti’s most urgent problem and that Cuba is an affordable and reliable source of assistance. After all, in the past six years, Cuban doctors remained steadfast and were tirelessly working in Haiti’s remotest and most depressed areas, where even locals dared not go.

During his visit to Cuba, Mr. Preval was accompanied by a multi-disciplinary delegation that included agronomists, physicians and healthcare workers, artists and advocates of culture. As expected, he received a red carpet reception after which he had several "fraternal and intense talks" with President Fidel Castro. That is the beauty of South-South relations; these usually go beyond diplomatic rituals and motherhood statements and are in-depth discussions about how the two countries, Cuba and Haiti, should face local and global challenges. Upon his return, .President-elect Preval affirmed that the encounter with the Cuban leader resulted in very concrete measures which will be set in place by joint committees in June and July of this year. Mr. Preval reiterated his commitment to the integration of Latin America and the Caribbean, in particular, the promotion and strengthening of relations with Cuba.

Since the outstanding breakthrough in medical science and biochemistry, Cuba has been offering and sending aid to many Third World countries. In Haiti, Cuban doctors are also training students and practitioners gravely affected by decades of political turmoil and economic deterioration. To date, Cuban doctors have performed a hundred thousand operations and have attended to eight million consultations in Haiti. Over and above that, Haitian patients have also been sent to Cuba, in particular to the eastern province of Santiago, for more sophisticated medical treatments. "Operation Miracle" a joint Cuban-Venezuelan project has offered free ophthalmologic attention to indigents in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Haiti, some six hundred afflicted persons have undergone sight-saving surgery. (source: PhilippineCuban Association).

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the first ever republic in Asia, doctors are transforming themselves to nurses and caregivers, hoping to get lucrative jobs in the USA and Canada where ‘baby boomers’ are now coming of age. There is news about Indian doctors coming over to fill that vacuum. Could their Cuban colleagues be far behind? (gemma601@yahoo.com) Tune in "Krus na daan," DZRJ, 810 khz, Monday-Friday, 5 -6 pm.

Watch "Only Gemma!" RJTV, Mondays, 7-8 pm. Sky 19 (Mla.&Baguio), Sky 44 (Dagupan) Destiny 6 (Cebu) & 79 (Mla), Palompon 23 (Leyte), Colorview 40 (Zambales), Caceres 6, Comsatel 44, Quezon 29, Mananap 18, Mariveles Space 27, La Union 38, Albay 6, Isabela 18.

http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/04/27/OPED2006042762471.html

go back on march or october, the airfare are cheap

everytime i encounter a thread on OFWs, it breaks my heart. my partner is a nurse. i know, he will be leaving me soon to follow his dreams. i cant imagine yet how hard it would be but i know it could be devastating, and life-changing on my part. just sharing my predicament, guys. i really do not have any idea on how life works having your loved ones far away from you.

LAST week’s column, Kapit Sa Patalim, elicited some touching responses from readers. In that piece, I suggested that overseas Filipinos, especially those in the US who may be affected by proposed stringent immigration legislation, should save up and prepare for a better life back in the Philippines rather than consider a return to the homeland as a consignment to “hell.”

I gave the example of the janitor at our office in Daly City, California. By working hard, setting aside some of his earnings and investing in his hometown in Nicaragua, he now owns a cattle ranch and a farm planted to coffee.

Fernando B. Cruz, who works with Finsa Trading Middle East FZE in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, wrote:

“I have been working in Dubai for the past 15 years and very lucky to have my family with me . . . but I and my wife are certain that we will go back to the Philippines after some time. Why are we not afraid? We are able to build our own dream house and we are trying to save as much as we can for our retirement. In fact, now we are able to build a small four-door apartment for renting, bought some preneed retirement plan, etc.

“In Dubai it is sad to see how many of our kababayan are [spending] more than what they earn, hence, they end up in debt or worse, some Filipinas engage in prostitution dahil sa luho nila.”

From Minnesota came an email from Adelbert “Addi” Batica, program manager for the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. I consider Addi a relative (he is from Basey, Samar, I’m from Tacloban, and we are both Waray-Waray).

In 1979 Addi and his wife, Elsa, spent six months in Azpitia, a small village in Peru. He was project director of the Azpitia Human Development Project, an experiment in “total community development.” When they visited the village 25 years later, it had been transformed for the better. Addi looks at Azpitia as “a symbol of hope for other depressed communities, and it could serve as an inspiration for many villages in the Philippines.”

Here is what Addi wrote to me:

“I’m doing exactly what that Nicaraguan janitor is doing, saving a little for my eventual return to the old hometown. In my case, it will happen pretty soon, I’m giving myself one more year here in the US… I do know that when I first set foot in the US in 1977, [my] stay was going to be temporary. In fact, that urge to return was so strong, so that my wife and I decided to go down to Peru for a year to get a feel for the rural life.

“I poured out my energies and passion plotting for an eventual return, and in 1995 [my first visit to the Philippines in 18 years], it occurred to me that, ‘Yes, I’m coming back.’ Hence, I began preparing for my return back then. In 1998 I decided to revive my father’s old farm, and in 2000, I bought three hectares of coconut land right next to it. This is the place where I finally plan to relocate.

“Anybody who is expecting a ‘rose garden’ to simply sprout in the Philippines is reaching for the moon. Certainly, government can’t work that kind of miracle for us, like you said, the rose garden has to sprout from our own efforts.

“More needs to be done in the Philippines, instead of simply relying on remittances from OFWs. In fact, OFWs’ families and beneficiaries should at least save, or better yet—reinvest a portion of those remittances in the local economy, in agriculture, fishing, as well as microenterprises.

“I think many of us who are overseas can learn from the experiences of other people. In my case, I learned so many things by listening to Latin Americans who were doing ‘menial’ jobs in the US. One thing, though, that impresses me about these folk is what we might call malasakit for their home country.

“It’s not just that they dream of great things for their country, but they pitch in, in their own humble way.

“Such malasakit does bring tears to my eyes. And yes, once back in their home countries, they don’t mind doing ‘menial’ work either, be it being a driver or a farmer. I suppose there are many of them scattered all over Latin America doing small but heroic deeds in their own way. Now, if only all of us could put more effort into improving conditions in the Philippines, just imagine the kind of Philippines that could be created in the end.”

To that, I say, “Amen.”

Link: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/apr/19/yehey/opinion/20060419opi4.html

Isnt that what domestic helpers are doing all around the globe?^
Most filams don't return home to retire in the Phils. Only a few do. It's not because they're not financially secured it's because from years of living in a developed country with efficient public services getting adjusted to the public service system in the PHils will be severe torture in hell.
No doubt it is a tropical lush paradise, if the govt. could just improve how they run the system I think more would be enticed to return .

Bump! :colgate:

PINOY KASI: Thinking American
By Michael Tan 07/05/2006

Some time back, I was talking with some people in an urban poor community when one young man interrupted to ask if I could translate an English word I had used: colony.

I was surprised by the question and fumbled for a split second, realizing we didn’t have a local term. Eventually, I explained the word as a place conquered and occupied (“sinakop”). To illustrate, I used the Philippines as an example, i.e., that we used to be first a colony of Spain and then of the United States.

I was in for an even greater surprise. The young man, who was in his early 20s, was incredulous. “We were occupied by the Americans?” he asked. “We were their colony?”

Lobotomized

This wasn’t a case of amnesia. We do have memories of our past, but they tend to be selective, and eclectic, a bit here, a bit there but without coherence. This young man was well aware of America; as with many other Filipinos, there is no lack of connections with that distant land with a grandaunt who had migrated many years ago to work as a nurse in New York, plus a smattering of relatives in the US Navy. He idolizes American culture, in terms of rap and popular music and Hollywood films, mainly of the “Terminator” and “Son of Chuckie” genre.

Perhaps what we’re seeing is something closer to what Benedict Anderson describes, in his book “The Specter of Comparisons” as “lobotomies.” It’s almost as if part of our brain has been removed, leaving us with a selective memory of our colonial past, as well as a selective sensory perception of the present.

Many younger Filipinos may not be aware that for some 20 years, we celebrated Independence Day on July 4, which was America’s own Independence Day and which was used, in 1946, to “grant” us independence. Rightly so, President Diosdado Macapagal moved Independence Day to June 12, traced back to the First Malolos Republic in 1898. But unintentionally, that move may have become part of our national lobotomy in the sense that many Filipinos are no longer as conscious of a long and difficult US colonial occupation and our long struggle to regain our independence.

Social engineering

We forget that the Philippines was in many ways America’s First Vietnam, First Afghanistan, First Iraq. We were one huge social laboratory where the United States tested military strategies, counter-insurgency -- and social engineering. American “benevolent assimilation” sought to re-create the Filipino in their image, and succeeded.

Today, we are known in the world for our desire to emulate America in everything from our culture to our economic policies and our politics. We think American, sometimes more so than Americans.

Which need not be a bad thing in itself. To some extent, many Filipinos did imbibe some of the United States’ most cherished values, including a respect for individual worth, freedom and dignity. These were the values that led to the American Revolution in the 18th century, and built the foundation for the American version of liberal democracy. The emphasis on independence and autonomy has sometimes led to an excessive aggressiveness, but more often these values have benefited the world in the way they unleashed innovation and creativity. It’s that ability to think laterally, to be ourselves and speak our minds, and not just an ability to speak English, that has so far given us an advantage in the world job market.

Fundamentalisms

Sadly, we live today in a world where religious fundamentalisms are taking over and threatening those values. On one hand, we see the Islamist variety that looks at America as nothing short of satanic, threatening local traditions and morality. But we forget that a Christian variety of religious fundamentalism is strongest in the American homeland. It is a fundamentalism that fears freedom from among its young, from women, from any group that speaks of rights.

What we see today is not a clash of Muslim and Christian civilizations but a competition of absolutist ideologies masquerading as religion. Whether of the Islamist or Christian variety, we find common threads in their contempt for so-called secularism. They preach a retreat into a world of absolutes, of black-and-white definitions, and of fighting “evil” (meaning anyone who disagrees with them) with violent force.

Even as we Filipinos continue to grapple with ideas of freedom and democracy, many are attracted by the allure of fundamentalisms. Because of our close ties to the United States, we are seduced by the American variation of fundamentalism, with all its bigotry and intolerance and simplistic notions of “right” and “wrong.” The scenes are all too similar, whether in the United States or in the Philippines: burning novels like “The Da Vinci Code” and attempting to ban the film, opposing sex education and family planning, growing censorship in the media, all in the name of Christianity.

The other America

Understanding where America came from and where it is today helps us understand why we are in the rut we are today.

I am sometimes described as “anti-American,” simply because I write against American militarism and the Religious Right. But my criticism comes precisely because I was trained, maybe too well, in an American tradition of liberalism. I had American teachers in high school, regularly went to the Thomas Jefferson Center, and spent several of my college years studying in the United States.

To this day, thanks to the Internet, I remain in touch with an America that I love. I read The New York Times daily and tune in most days to National Public Radio for its incisive commentaries on American politics, as well as its fare of American culture that reflects its growing demographic diversity. Unfortunately, all that is another America for many Filipinos.

I can’t help but invoke the metaphors of gender. Perhaps America tries too hard to recreate the Philippines and the world in its own male image, of GI Joe and Marlboro Man and imperial American ambassadors. (It isn’t coincidental that it was only this year, after more than a hundred years of Filipino-American relations, that Washington finally assigned a woman ambassador to the Philippines.)

Perhaps America would do well to explore how she might project a gentler side, an America brimming over with a love of a good life defined beyond strip malls and consumerism and reality TV shows, an America of justice and fairness.

We Filipinos have seen America in ways more intimate than many other people. That can be both a privilege and a burden. As we continue to seek our national identity, we will never really be too far from America, and yet will need to be courageous enough to maintain some distance, charting our destiny with a determined self-confidence that should do America proud.

do they still celebrate Filipino-American Friendship day over there in the Phils?
That's also July 4th. If they do, and this is a bilateral celebration, what does Washington D.C. have in store for them flips today? :)

THE FILIPINO is a lover and among the things the Filipino individual loves is his lifestyle, his immediate family, especially the elders, and his close friends over the years.

As the word ‘lovers’ often connotes, thoughts bordering on illicit sexual relations may come up but that is not the case in the matter of the balikbayan box. Strictly speaking, however, the human animal being the only rational creature produced by God, is the only one capable of true love.

The Filipino loves the idea of living, singing, dancing, and smiling – all generated by basic feelings of love to be shared with others.

One current symbol of love, Filipino style, is embodied in the balikbayan box that we Filipinos never fail to ship with goodies galore to our loved – there it goes again – ones in the Philippines or elsewhere.

Some observers say that we are among the few immigrants who slave at our jobs – oftentimes, three jobs at a time – and instead of saving most of our earnings we “squander” our incomes on foodstuff and items we know will make our Philippine-based loved ones happy.

In fact, to many the balikbayan box is almost like the galleon of centuries ago which the Spanish throne launched from Manila to Acapulco, those first trading vessels of the time which brought gold, silver, precious metals and rare artifacts.

Our modern galleons today are the balikbayan boxes containing the fruits of our sacrifice which we offer in love to our parents, brothers, sisters and even children, who for some reason cannot yet or will never be able to come and join us as immigrants here in the U.S.

Unlike Pandora’s box which tragically contained a multitude of plagues such as gout, rheumatism, and colic which attacked the body, and envy, spite, and revenge which assaulted the mind, the balikbayan box is a more positive offering and that is the hope which lies at the very bottom.

Whatever evils we may suffer in our homeland, hope never entirely leaves us; and while we have that, no amount of other ills can make us completely wretched.

So, the balikbayan box is our hope chest and is at the root of all our efforts in fashioning a life outside the Philippines, building a career in the U.S. while remaining linked, like the umbilical cord between a mother in the Philippines and her son in America.

This brown, cardboard magic box is a treasure chest and its contents represent a loving son’s investment in time and sweat. It could very well be a small treasure straight from someone’s heart.

Not only that, the relative who returns as a balikbayan also brings along padala in the form of cash or precious jewelry to some special person in the mainland, “galing sa ‘Pinas” as they refer to our home.

Oftentimes, aside from items in the box, some secretly wish vicariously that they themselves are virtually inside the box taking this journey back home – which many yearn to go back to, and rejoin and reconnect with that special person.

It could be a husband, a son or daughter, or an aging mother or father. For every shipment of a balikbayan box holds within the spirit of love from across the seas, bearing not only products but also our hearts. Balikbayan has now become synonymous with the intense love of one who wants to nurture it in every box that is sent home.

These brown soldiers of peace – fathers, mothers, and sons – venturing outside the limits of our shores, do so with confidence and hope that someday somehow they can get above the struggle and live comfortably with the earnings they make abroad.

Indeed, the balikbayan box seems to be an indictment against the many administrations over the decades who have failed to provide sufficient jobs for the growing population of Filipinos, all because unscrupulous individuals in government thought of their own selves first and the citizens last.

Myrna, who used to teach in a Luzon town, now works as a muchacha in a Madrid family and has learned to speak Spanish, religiously saves all her income so that she can send money (via bank transfers) and goods (via balikbayan boxes) to her three children living with their grandmother.

Her husband early in their family life just took off with a bar girl and was never seen again. With this chance to work in Madrid, she has really exerted all her efforts at her job. Soon she will be sending for her children once her papers are fixed – and many Spanish employers are delighted to help Filipinos whose personalities they appreciate and like.

The same is true in Rome where thousands of Filipino domestic workers quietly care for Italian children. Once they are hired by Italian families, they get personal assistance from their employers to secure their working visas, for these women and men from the Philippines have won the hearts of many Italians.
Would that we see the time when not only boxes of balikbayan reach our shores, but also treasure chests of balik katarungan, balik tulungan, and balik tunay na samahan as our elders knew in their Filipino lives back then before World War II.

http://www.philippinenews.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=b8adffabeb872b91ef993a0a3e873c00

(I don't know if I should even post this here since I don't want the Philippines to experience brain drain and mass emigration. Just consider also the higher cost of living.)

The Top 50 More jobs:

Stats on 166 titles How MONEY picked the best jobs

Rank Career- Job growth(10-yr forecast) - Average pay (salary and bonus)

1 Software engineer 46.07% $80,427
2 College professor 31.39% $81,491
3 Financial advisor 25.92% $122,462
4 Human resources manager 23.47% $73,731
5 Physician assistant 49.65% $75,117
6 Market research analyst 20.19% $82,317
7 Computer/IT analyst 36.10% $83,427
8 Real estate appraiser 22.78% $66,216
9 Pharmacist 24.57% $91,998
10 Psychologist 19.14% $66,359
11 Advertising manager 20.34% $107,049
12 Physical therapist 36.74% $54,883
13 Technical writer 23.22% $57,841
14 Chiropractor 22.40% $84,996
15 Medical scientist 34.06% $70,053
16 Physical scientist 12.18% $80,213
17 Engineer 13.38% $76,100
18 Curriculum developer 27.53% $55,793
19 Editor 14.77% $78,242
20 Public relations specialist 22.61% $84,567
21 Sales manager 19.67% $135,903
22 Optometrist 19.73% $93,670
23 Property manager 15.30% $78,375
24 Actuary 23.16% $81,509
25 Writer 17.72% $60,519
26 Social service manager 25.52% $74,584
27 Paralegal 29.75% $61,204
28 Health services manager 22.76% $92,211
29 Advertising sales agent 16.33% $112,683
30 Physician/Surgeon 23.98% $247,536
31 Management analyst 20.12% $63,426
32 Occupational therapist 33.61% $51,973
33 Mental health counselor 27.18% $53,150
34 Landscape architect 19.43% $50,383
35 Biotechnology research scientist 17.05% $66,393
36 Urban planner 15.17% $60,891
37 Lawyer 14.97% $153,923
38 Speech-language pathologist 14.57% $58,329
39 Meeting and convention planner 22.21% $56,072
40 Dietitian/Nutritionist 18.30% $52,244
41 Biological scientist 17.03% $61,317
42 Financial analyst 17.33% $66,203
43 Dentist 13.52% $122,883
44 Accountant 22.43% $62,575
45 Environmental scientist 17.11% $59,027
46 Lab technologist 20.53% $51,502
47 Registered nurse 29.35% $68,872
48 Sales engineer 13.96% $78,875
49 Veterinarian 17.39% $79,923
50 School Administrator 14.55% $73,767

Copyright 2000-2003 © Salary.com, Inc.

By CHARISSA M. LUCI

Another batch of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon has departed Beirut to join the 188 Filipinos in Damascus who are scheduled to arrive in Manila today at 1 p.m. aboard a chartered aircraft which will dock at the 250th Presidential hangar at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

President Arroyo will personally welcome the OFWs who will arrive today.

In a teleconference, it was reported that 106 repatriates are on their way to join the first batch of OFWs staying at a safe facility in Damascus, Syria.

Ambassador Roy Cimatu, the head of the Middle East Preparedness Team (MEPT), and charge d’ affaires to Beirut Walter Salmingo informed Vice President Noli de Castro, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and other Cabinet officials of this development.

The additional Filipino workers will bring the total number of OFWs to be repatriated to 294. The Philippine Embassy in Beirut has listed around 1,572 OFWs who have expressed intent to be repatriated.

Salmingo disclosed that some 246 OFWs have sought refuge at the Church of the Miraculous Medal in Achrafieh.

He also described the ongoing conflict in Beirut as "localized" to allay the fears of the Filipino workers’ families.

"Not all 30,000 Filipinos here are at risk. This is not a total war," he said, citing that southern Lebanon is Israeli’s main target.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Special Concerns Rafael E. Seguis said he will facilitate the immediate entry of the 106 Filipinos in Damascus.

Philippine Ambassador to Israel Antonio Modena added that the Beirut-Damascus route is safer than other routes. The 190-kilometer route will take three to four hours of traveling.

"Hindi na baleng mahaba ang biyahe basta safe naman," said Modena who has coordinated with the Israeli government for the safe passage of the Filipinos.

The government has identified five transit points in four countries to be used for the repatriation. These are Cyprus, Turkey, Rhodes in Greece, and Damascus and Tartus in Syria.

During the teleconference, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos announced that the United States, Italy, Spain and Great Britain have approved the government’s request for help in the immediate repatriation of the OFWs.

"Your priority after you move the second batch is to follow up on the commitments of these five governments," Conejos told Salmingo.

Conejos also asked Salmingo to coordinate with the representatives of the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) for the transportation of the Filipinos. IOM provided the government 20 planes to evacuate thousands of Filipinos in 1990 during the Iraq-Kuwait war.

Conejos also told Salmingo that the third batch of OFWs will be joined by 105 Thai nationals.

Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon had earlier requested President Arroyo to help 105 Thai nationals to leave Beirut. (With reports from Anjo Perez and Louie Perez)

http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/07/22/MTNN2006072269857.html

Just FYI for those nurses or family members who has relatives whom is expressing their desire to come to the US and work as a nurse. I have this very reliable resources from an immigration lawyer that the US has reached its mark on their quotas as far as hiring foreign trained nurses. After this year, the hiring of foreign trained nurses will slow or even stopped again as we met the desired number of quotas. So, I'm just letting you guys know just incase you (whoever you are) are nurse and is fiddling around to send your applications or requirement. HURRY UP!!!! You'll miss your chance ...

Here's an extra about Foreign trained nurses ...

________________________________________________________________________

Source: ABS-CBN News , July 23, 2006 7:26am

RP nurses face rivals in US labor market


Indians, South Koreans, Canadians and Cubans have emerged as the chief rivals of Filipinos in the nursing labor market in the United States, former senator and labor leader Ernesto Herrera said.

Herrera, secretary-general of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, said that based on the statistics from the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), the Philippines remains America’s number-one supplier of foreign nurses.

He said a total of 6,171 nurses educated in the Philippines took the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for the first time from January to June this year. They accounted for seven percent of the 89,140 first-time takers of the NCLEX during the period.

The NCLEX is the final step in the nurse licensure process in the US. The number of NCLEX examinees is "a good indicator" of how many US as well as foreign nursing graduates are trying to enter the profession in that country, according to Herrera.

The NCSBN data show that from January to June this year, a total of 1,864 nurses educated in India took the NCLEX, while a total of 948 nurses trained in South Korea took the test.

Completing the top five countries with the most NCLEX takers in the six-month period were Canada and Cuba, with 504 and 260 examinees, respectively.

Herrera said NCLEX statistics also indicate that the US is producing its own nurses by the thousands, except they are still not enough to cope with the growing healthcare needs of the aging US population.

He played down reports suggesting that the leakage in last month’s nursing licensure examination would affect the deployment of Filipino nurses abroad.

"That is not true. Hospitals abroad will keep on hiring qualified Filipino nurses as long as their services are needed. Besides, professional regulators overseas have their own means of determining the eligibility of foreign nurses, such as through the NCLEX in the case of the US," Herrera pointed out.

He was reacting to Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Rosalinda Baldoz’ statement that the leakage would adversely affect the Philippines’ ability to deploy nurses abroad.

"This is not to say that the our regulators should not take decisive corrective measures. Those responsible for the anomaly should be punished swiftly and adequate steps should be taken to prevent a repeat of the leakage," Herrera said.

PINOY TNTs IN U.S. GETTING FEWER
WASHINGTON, AUGUST 20, 2006

The number of Filipinos overstaying in the United States appears to be slowing down.

The Philippines, which ranked as the fourth leading source of illegal immigrants in 2000 after Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, has dropped to seventh place at the start of this year, according to US statistics.

From 200,000 five years ago, about 215,000 undocumented Filipino immigrants, commonly referred to as TNTs (the Filipino acronym for "tago ng tago" or constantly in hiding), were estimated to be living in the US as of Jan. 1, 2006, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics said in a report on Friday.

They made up two percent of an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the US at the start of 2006.

About 3.1 million of all unauthorized residents had come to live in the US in 2000 or later. One million entered the US in 2003 or 2004, while 2.1 million arrived during 2000 through 2002, the office said.

Mexicans made up more than half of the illegal aliens as of the start of this year at nearly six million, followed by Salvadorans (470,000), Guatemalans (370,000), Indians (280,000) and Chinese (230,000).

The office estimated there were 210,000 undocumented Filipinos in January 2005 and that the number grew at a slow rate of two percent a year.

There were also an estimated 210,000 illegal Koreans in January 2005, but their six percent average growth rate a year placed them ahead of the Filipinos in the overall rankings.

The report said illegal aliens were primarily attracted to California which drew in 2.8 million of them, Texas (1.4 million), Florida (850,000), New York (560,000), Illinois (520,000), Arizona (480,000), Georgia (470,000), New Jersey (380,000), North Carolina (360,000) and Nevada (240,000).

The report said estimating the size of illegal aliens living in the US was challenging because of data limitations.

Unauthorized immigrant population must be estimated by making certain assumptions and by combining data that measure events with those that measure populations, it said.

The US census of 2000 estimated there were about 1.9 million Filipinos living in the country — 32 percent of them US citizens by birth, 41 percent naturalized US citizens, and 26 percent permanent residents, or so-called green card holders.

Latest estimates put this number at between 2.1 million and 2.3 million.

^i dont know if thats good or bad

good for the U.S., bad for Filipinos wishing to enter illegally.

i hear tons of news about more tnts on that show on tfc... about ameican immigration :]

I want to learn Tagalog... never had the chance.
But I know visaya

a Q here for Filipino ex-pats. From Filipino ex-pats who have lived oversees (or those that have talked and have a sense from those who have) where and how are the places with large amounts of Filipinos treated and accepted in those countries? Is this U.S. on average a better or worse place then others where Filipinos tend to go?

a Q here for Filipino ex-pats. From Filipino ex-pats who have lived oversees (or those that have talked and have a sense from those who have) where and how are the places with large amounts of Filipinos treated and accepted in those countries? Is this U.S. on average a better or worse place then others where Filipinos tend to go?

I can not speak for the 2 to 4 million (unreliable source) plus Filipinos and Americans with Filipino heritage here in the US. But by the sheer numbers alone would tell you that we are welcomed here on this land of opportunities.
I live in California during the 80's and I think that would be the state where most Filipinos are concentrated.
On how we are treated and accepted , it might depend on how each Filipinos act and react to the way of life here in America.

Your last question is quite hard to figure out. If you are referring to different States that have Filipinos, sure, there are some differences in acceptance to foreigners. But so far, things have change and everyone seems to accept that America is a nation of immigrants.

Here is a nice link about Filipinos in the US :

Filipino Americans in History:
From the Manila Men, to the Alaskeros, to Miss America
(http://www.newfilipina.com/members/pngayon/02.10/filamhistoryalaskerosjna.html)

One thing I notice with some Filipino Americans or even Filipino Canadians is that they're so different from Filipinos especially their attitude and style. I respect anyone and I don't have a problem with Filipino Americans but their are some out there who are just narrow minded especially the youths.

Anyway, when I was in the US especially in LA, I met alot of Filipino American youths who have an attitude problem towards those from the motherland or even from neighboring countries to some extent. Me and a friend were attending a convention in LA and we stayed at a relative's place in Carson. A friend of mine out there invited us to a party in Torrance and some of the guys I met there didn't wanna hang out with us or would call us names like fob and stuff. I just think it's plain bull and very narrow especially if they have the same color and blood.

when you say "youths", i take it to mean teens/kids? so why would their narrow mindedness surprise you?
about the guys you met at a party; so what if they didn't want to hang out with you? it's their choice. why impose yourself on them? just how did they call you "fob and stuff"? were they talking among themselves? i'm willing to bet that they didn't mean to offend you. they may have been somewhat insensitive; but hey, they're kids!


The worst incident was with my cousin. They immigrated to LA from Olongapo a few years back. He's attending high-school and was jumped by some Filipino Americans in his school. Fortunately they were caught and were jailed.

and is that unusual? newsflash: there are school bullies everywhere.

Originally Posted by WANCH
One thing I notice with some Filipino Americans or even Filipino Canadians is that they're so different from Filipinos especially their attitude and style. I respect anyone and I don't have a problem with Filipino Americans but their are some out there who are just narrow minded especially the youths.

Anyway, when I was in the US especially in LA, I met alot of Filipino American youths who have an attitude problem towards those from the motherland or even from neighboring countries to some extent. Me and a friend were attending a convention in LA and we stayed at a relative's place in Carson. A friend of mine out there invited us to a party in Torrance and some of the guys I met there didn't wanna hang out with us or would call us names like fob and stuff. I just think it's plain bull and very narrow especially if they have the same color and blood.

HAHAHHAHHH. that's fucked up.

FOBS today are trendier and live in a more modern lifestyle than their American-born counterparts particularly when it comes to fashion and usage of technology. ;) In the Philippines for example, people have been realizing the serious applications of SMS (texting) technology long before it went mainstream in America.

The Philippines sends around 350 to 400 million SMS daily, more than all the SMS volumes of European countries, America, and China combined.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_service

I heard that in the Philippines right now according to my cousins, they have video phone services available on their 3G handsets.

FOBS

Di ba sa eroplano na sila sumasakay? hehehehe

^^ Kaya Fresh off the Boeing na daw ngayon. :lol:

FOBS today are trendier and live in a more modern lifestyle than their American-born counterparts particularly when it comes to fashion and usage of technology. ;) In the Philippines for example, people have been realizing the serious applications of SMS (texting) technology long before it went mainstream in America.



source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_service

I heard that in the Philippines right now according to my cousins, they have video phone services available on their 3G handsets.


Yeah, 3G capable handsets are selling like hotcakes. What I like very much is the superfast internet access

http://202.91.163.12/clients/g35g/uploads/Image/SUPERIOR%20SPEEDS.jpg


Offtopic na, paano na punta dito. :) :) :)

^^ coz FOBS are stereotyped as third world, culturally and technologically backward people compared to the ones born or raised in America or wealthier countries which of course is not true.

Baka noong 1950's, eh ngayon nauuna ang Pilipinas sa communications technology. Ginagawa kasing test bed which is really good

one important thing i forgot to say wanch, don't mind them calling you FOB
they just don't know any better

More importantly, why would you care what anyone thought of you?

Who are they to decide who and what you are?

^^ coz FOBS are stereotyped as third world, culturally and technologically backward people compared to the ones born or raised in America or wealthier countries which of course is not true.

Whatever the locals call the new immigrants really should not matter to anyone. Those name-callers have nothing on their mind but to put down others and are trying to make themselves look better. I consider them immature and have nothing to do with their own lives. Since those young persons are the ones using those terms, it is more of a trend just to be "in" with their own crowd. Just like those who are used to the term "WTF" here, I called them watdapakers :D , hehehe, it not really nice, but it is a fad, so, we just let them be.

To those Filipinos who were called with those names, just try to prove them wrong, If I can make it here, anyone can. :)


Kaya Fresh off the Boeing na daw ngayon. :lol:

FOB ~ Fresh OFF the BORDER or BAKOD - that's what I thought it meant when I arrived. :D

or FOAB - Fresh Off the Air Bus. ~~

people here call people fobs if they have a strange accent... fresh off boeing! thats a good one ;) gotta keep up with the time :]

By Rose B. Palacio

Davao City (26 August) -- Our overseas Filipino workers are truly one of the champions of the Philippine economy but the government shall continue to push all strategic measures to create well-paying jobs at home rather than have them toll away from their loved ones," said Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye.

Gracing the local radio program "Arangkada" over DXRA anchored by Elmer Kintanar in collaboration with the Philippine Information Agency. Secretary Bunye pointed out that while the government extols OFW remittances as a major lynchpin of the nation's financial stability, "we must make sure that our nationals are always out of harm's way and treated well by their hosts."

The Arroyo Administration is implementing a six-point action plan for the continuous evacuation of Filipino nationals in Lebanon-Israel border, despite the ceasefire now in effect between the two countries.

The implementation of the six-point action plan is in line with President Arroyo's directive for continuous evacuation of the Filipino workers who may be trapped in the war.

Secretary Bunye said right now, the government has been assisting OFWs by facilitating easier, cheaper and secure ways of sending money to their families back home.

This is one way that the government could return our appreciation to our OFWs for the great service they are doing for the country, he said.

Secretary Bunye urged the OFWs to keep in touch with the crisis team and follow the call of the officials since the government is in the best position to assess the security situation in Lebanon.

The Philippine government welcomes the ceasefire brokered by the United Nations but with caution against possible flashpoints that may still abound in the ground.

Philippine crisis team is making the proper assessments for the recommendation of appropriate measures to support the normalization process and at the same time, ensure the safety and welfare of our nationals, he said. (PIA XI)

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news.asp?fi=p060826.htm&no=1

Just read all 13 pages of this thread and would like to give my personal feelings with regards the OFW language issue.

For some reason I find it uncomfortable to speak with people in anything but their native languages. Subukan niyo lang na Inglesin ako sa Pilipinas kung gusto niyo ng away. Same goes for the Chinese here. We're both Chinese, and in China. Talk to me in Mandarin instead of trying to impress me with your English damnit!

Now I understand that outside in the world, it is possible for one to not have learned the native tongue. In that case tell me with a simple "Sorry I only speak Cantonese" or "Sorry I can't speak Tagalog" instead of carrying on in English while I stubbornly continue to reply in Tagalog or something else (and I WILL do that).

For the record my English isn't poor and I have no inferiority complex like other people here seem to insinuate. It is part of my job to coordinate with Westerners and so far the Americans, Canadians, British, Australians, New Zealanders, Germans, French and Italians that i have worked with all have little or no difficulty understanding me, despite the Filipino accent. I am confident enough to even drink and shoot the breeze with these people, but there is no way I will work to consciously remove the Filipino accent from my English. It is part of my identity and will remain so!

the reason 3 million filipinos immigrated to the states and more are coming is because they're in the lower middle class or poor in the philippines. they want to appear super rich in the philippines and they say the reason they moved to america is because of internal strife and corruption. i have been living here in the states for the last 12 yrs and i never met a filipino who left the philippines because of internal strife or corruption. the reason we are all here in america because we are not making decent money in the philippines. and i never met a filipino here in america that was super rich in the philippines also. thats why most filipinos here in america talk bad about the philippines because they came from the ghetto when they where in the philippines. america is no big deal to me. i laugh at this filipinos who where born here in america because they think this place is paradise, because all they heard from their parents are all negative things about the philippines. its funny when you hear them say (im an american) lol !!!. when ever i hear them say that, i look at them as clowns. how could you call your self "american" when people even here in america who are not filipino see's you as filipino only. stop acting like a clown and just be proud to be pinoy. i bet a million buck if america was dominated by blacks this filipinos that where born here wouldn't want to be called americans.

remember that filipina who was in the america idol calling her self hawaiian. i bet a million $ she never been to the last island in the hawaiian chains the (ni'ihau island) because you have to be a true blooded hawaiian native to live in that island. how could self call her self hawaiian with an asian face. what a clown

Now I understand that outside in the world, it is possible for one to not have learned the native tongue. In that case tell me with a simple "Sorry I only speak Cantonese" or "Sorry I can't speak Tagalog" instead of carrying on in English while I stubbornly continue to reply in Tagalog or something else (and I WILL do that).


Slowly but surely, my post count increases to a value more commensurate with my registration date!

This post is quite fitting!

I am a Filipino born and raised abroad, and was not taught to speak Tagalog. Currently, I'm in Makati.

Initiating a conversation in English will always elicit a response in Tagalog as there is no doubt that I am a Filipino due to my appearance.

So, my next sentence is always an apologetic admission of my inability to speak Tagalog.

Most people are very kind about it but I have had some more aggressive queries as to why I cannot speak my native language. Usually, those fellows are satisfied when I go into a rather lengthy explanation.

However, I think you are exceptional in your confidence with your English ability. I have found interacting with most Filipinos to be difficult because of what I assume is their self-consciousness regarding the quality of their spoken English.

I usually say that my Tagalog is much worse than their English to encourage them.

I hope that I don't put off airs that I'm some arrogant and swaggering foreign-born Filipino returning to the homeland to crap on it and that is why most people will not try to speak with me.

To be honest, so far, most Filipinos that I have been able to speak with a lot have been those with exposure to foreigners.

Regarding your continuation in Tagalog when spoken to in English by another Filipino. Personally, I think it is quite rude.

One should not be so egocentric to believe that the other is trying impress you with their command of English. That is the complex "Asian" answer where everything is interpreted as a gesture asserting dominance when the most simple answer is probably, "He can't speak Tagalog."

I have discussed analogies where Filipinos comment on how a Filipina would "show off" her American husband by a showing affection in public. I would reply that perhaps it is the simple answer of the two just wanting to kiss or hold hands at that particular moment instead of having contrived a display of their relationship.

And as for the post below regarding Filipinos in the States... Some Filipinos left the Philippines to complete their education as there is no comparison between the best schools in the Philippines and the best schools in the United States...

I am a Filipino born and raised abroad, and was not taught to speak Tagalog. Currently, I'm in Makati.

Initiating a conversation in English will always elicit a response in Tagalog as there is no doubt that I am a Filipino due to my appearance.
Ooh that's gonna be tough to explain away all right. I don't envy your situation. :D
Regarding your continuation in Tagalog when spoken to in English by another Filipino. Personally, I think it is quite rude.
Very well. Next time I will ask first to clarify things.
I have discussed analogies where Filipinos comment on how a Filipina would "show off" her American husband by a showing affection in public. I would reply that perhaps it is the simple answer of the two just wanting to kiss or hold hands at that particular moment instead of having contrived a display of their relationship.
PDA is quite normal even here in China, expecially among the younger ones. It's only our manangs back home who have issues with it. :D

DOLE eyes deployment of 15,000 workers to Guam


By Jerome Aning
Inquirer
Last updated 06:03pm (Mla time) 09/23/2006


THE Department of Labor and Employment is eyeing the deployment of about 15,000 Filipino workers to Guam to build the camp and houses of 8,000 US Marine Corps personnel who will be removed from Okinawa, Japan in 2008.

Undersecretary for Employment Danilo Cruz said the request for the deployment of Filipino skilled construction workers came from the Guam government and private sector.

"We're confident that we can supply their need for workers and I'm sure we'll have enough skilled workers to meet the demand," Cruz told reporters.

DOLE is also offering the deployment of Filipino workers to Palau, where more hotels are being constructed amid a booming tourism industry, Cruz said.

He said Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz and other government officials went to Guam and Palau the other week to discuss issues on the deployment.

In Guam, the delegation, which was accompanied by Philippine Consul Raquel Solano, met Guam Governor Felix Camacho, legislators, labor department officials, and the Guam Contractors Association (GCA).

One concern raised during the meeting was the existence of a US federal law that prohibits foreign nationals from working on American bases in Guam. Camacho, however, has been quoted by the media in Guam as saying that the law would be amended.

Baldoz's team also pushed for the lifting of the US national cap on labor visas for Guam. The island, which is bunched with the rest of the United States for immigration purposes, often loses out in the competition for visa slots.

The Filipino officials also spoke with the GCA about the recruitment and deployment procedures as well as the exact expertise and skills the Guam contractors will be looking for.

The CGA and the Filipino team agreed on the need for a certification method to assure that the carpenters, masons, plumbers, and welders going to Guam are qualified workers.

Military-related construction estimated at about US$15 billion is expected to take place during the next 10 years on the territory, requiring as many as 20,000 skilled workers.

The island has only about 5,000 construction workers, according the Guam labor department.

In Palau, Baldoz encouraged local tourism industry leaders to hire skilled Filipino workers through POEA.

Baldoz cited the new hotels being constructed in the archipelagic state and promoted the Philippines as a good source of employees to work in the hotel industry. She said the Philippines also has a pool of qualified and competent teachers and health care workers.

There are already over 4,000 Filipino workers employed in Palau.

http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=22667

Posted: Saturday, September 23, 2006

Dubai

A new Filipino magazine aimed to highlight the achievements of Filipino expatriates worldwide was launched at the Shangri-la Hotel in Dubai.

The magazine titled Illustrado has been conceived to contrast the perceived stereotype image of overseas Filipinos as domestic help, visit visa-job seekers, and illegal recruitment victims and to project the brighter side of the so-called International Filipino, said a report in the Khaleej Times.

'The number of Filipinos is increasing everyday in the Gulf region. Our community is growing and it is up to us to harness our potential and explore the global market. Illustrado was borne out of a critical need to inspire our fellow Filipinos and to show them the brighter side of living and working abroad,' the magazine's publisher and editor Lalaine Chu-Benitez is quoted to have said.

Illustrado, which is the Spanish word for 'enlightened', was actually inspired by the legacy of Philippines' national hero Dr Jose Rizal, the report added.

'We want to help the Filipino flourish by featuring their life and times in vivid accounts and images while at the same time nurturing their native soul,' Chu-Benitez added.

The glossy magazine's maiden issue, which was released during the launch, presents a number of articles and photographs depicting the essence of being Filipino away from the Philippines.

Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Libran Cabactulan said the Filipinos have a lot to offer to the world. 'We want the world to respect us indeed, but we must first properly introduce ourselves to the global arena. This magazine will serve as a vehicle to convey that message,' he said.

Spanning various parts of the world, the list of Illustrado's regular contributing Filipino writers, graphic designers, artists, and photographers will come from Dubai, Manila, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney and Auckland, according to the report.

The magazine will be published monthly in Dubai and will be distributed across the Middle East region and beyond.

http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/newsdetails_snMEDIA_article111707_cnt.html

Pinoys 'in hiding' abroad a million less after 7 years
By Jeremaiah M. Opiniano Saturday, October 14, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO, USA -- Are more Filipinos here coming out to explore the belly of the beast legally?

In view of American officials' moves to squeeze out illegal migrants in the name of homeland security, Philippine government data swing to the affirmative node. The figures show the number of Filipinos "in hiding" -Tago ng tago (TNT) in local parlance- have dropped sharply.

This is what the multiple-year stock estimates of overseas Filipinos from 1997 to 2005, from Philippine government agency Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) revealed: there was a high of 1,913,941 undocumented migrants in 1998, and a "record-low" of 881,123 last year.

Looking at regional data that the CFO gave to the OFW Journalism Consortium, North, South American and Trust Territory countries -including the US - had the most drop of irregular migrants.

The countries have a total of 357,923 irregulars, down by 589,047 from the 1997 figure of 946,970, the CFO estimates.

The US had the most reductions of irregular migrants in the stock estimates data: from a high of 844,046 in 1998, undocumented Filipino migrants went down to 157,998.

Striking in the US figure was that the estimates were 510,000 in 2003, and 350,000 in 2004, the CFO record says.

The reduction of the figures in the US comes before the heated debate among American legislators on the immigration question, which began in the first quarter of the year. Several bills seen to slash benefits to non-American workers in the US Senate and House of Representatives did not meet Congress' October 1 deadline, thus these bills go back to zero when Congress resumes sessions after the November 7 US elections.

Thus, a "good news" perspective could mean there're more Filipinos here working or living temporarily or permanently with all documents certified legal and have been registered as so in over-90 Philippine diplomatic posts.

However, the figures themselves remain debatable: how could a government agency document the number of people it says are "undocumented"?

Likewise, some analysts say the reduction in the number of illegal migrants could mean an increase in the number of them deported back to the Philippines.

Go figure

The sharp reduction in the number of Filipinos migrating here sans legal documents reflects global trends, based on the CFO data.

For example, in Malaysia, where Sabah island is believed the common route for irregular migration, the CFO cited a drop in the number of undocumented Filipinos to 125,000 last year from half a million six years ago. The drop came after the Malaysian government cracked down on irregular migrants in 2002.

If the year-on-year reduction figure for the US is 192,000, the CFO registered a reduction in Malaysia of 175,000 based on an estimated 300,000 undocumented Filipinos in that country in 2004.

The CFO listed other countries with large numbers of undocumented migrants as of last year include France (40,105), Singapore (37,600), Japan (30,619), Israel (23,000), Italy (20,000), and the United Arab Emirates (20,000).

East and South Asian countries - including Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, and Korea - is another regional hub of irregular migration that got a significant drop: the 2005 figure of 238,238 is 496,109 less than the year 2000 estimates of 734,347.

Lawyer Golda Roma of the CFO's Planning and Policy Research division says estimates of both undocumented and documented temporary contract workers and immigrants come from Philippine diplomatic posts abroad, and records from homeland-based agencies involved in managing migration outflow.

What CFO does, Roma says, is "cross-check these data from the posts".

Countries like the US have figures coming from host countries' census offices, while the other data come from passport registrants in diplomatic posts, records for assistance to nationals program, travel documents, and even meetings with members of Filipino communities in host countries.

Roma said there is no precise figure in coming up with those estimates of undocumented Filipino migration, yet she says it should be "at least 20 percent of the total number of overseas Filipinos".

The 2005 stock estimates show there are 7,924,188 overseas Filipinos -3,651,727 temporary contract workers, 3,391,338 permanent residents, and the 881,123 who are undocumented.

Numbers game

There is one skeptic in these numbers and she's in Manila.

Maruja Asis of the Scalabrini Migration Center in Quezon City said the drop in the number of who are called undocumented, illegal or irregular Filipino migrants - from 1,913,941 in 1998 to 881,123 last year - should "not reflect changes in between-years".

It (the numbers drop) should note efforts related to curbing such migration flows in host countries, Asis said in a phone interview.

That is the danger of citing numbers, she added.

"Once it is pronounced, this figure is cited over and over again and says it is reduced."

Still, San Francisco Consul-General Rowena Sanchez thinks the return of undocumented migrants is still "good news, because these individuals can then be able to get their jobs back home, to save, and go on with their regular lives".

Sanchez is one of six heads of diplomatic posts in the US, home to an estimated 10.5 million undocumented migrants (including 210,000 Filipinos) in 2005 according to an August report by the Department of Homeland Security.

Sanchez said the deportations from here last May are "usual" as the US sends home Filipinos jailed for crimes.

"Some were caught during immigration raids," Sanchez says, toeing the official US law enforcement line on these cases.

In recent months and after protests against US immigration reform bills, the raids have died down, especially here in San Francisco or the whole of Northern California.

Even if Asis thinks that arriving at estimates about the number of migrants in general is difficult, officials of government-run offices handling migrant outflow say the drop of illegal migration is "good news" on their part and for undocumented migrants as well.

Good then, says Asis -- and for now, "the temporary postures are 'there seems to be a reduction to the number of irregular migrants' or 'there could be some reduction'".

But Asis said those making "multiple-year comparisons" over stock estimates of the global Filipino presence are ignoring one factor: "These data do not reflect the changes in between."

Data load

Roma and Asis think the reduction of undocumented migrants is a function of laws in host countries, deportations or repatriation drives, regularization and migrant amnesty programs, and other immigration-related occurrences.

An exception is the strife in Lebanon where government officials said some two-thirds of those coming home are undocumented domestic workers.

Malaysia's periodic deportations of Filipinos from Sabah to Zamboanga peninsula (southern Philippines) have resulted into some 326 deportations last April, and over-30,000 in total since August 2002, reports Sun.Star Zamboanga last April 11.

This continuous deportation is "seen in the reports of the post in the last few years," says Roma.

But providing amnesty to undocumented migrants, Asis said, "is not for a long time" -and its shelf life is two years.

She noted that the reduction of the number of undocumented migrants in the US could be traced to Washington's employment permit system.

Apart from Malaysia's repatriation drives, Korea and Japan had their own drives from 2002 to 2003, says Asis, citing her center's periodic monitoring of undocumented migration news and data.

Asis, a migration scholar who also edited a book about unauthorized migration in Southeast Asia, said Thailand had instigated a registration system for illegal workers (including Filipinos) to regularize their stay.

It is East Asian countries Malaysia, Thailand and Korea where the problem of unauthorized migration is serious, Asis wrote in a December 2005 article for the Asia-Pacific Population Journal this regularization trend is also seen in Italy.

"You can stay and work there for a certain period of time, but the legal workers' status is subject to renewal," Asis explains.

Regularizing irregular immigrants is also a recent phenomenon in Spain and Greece, but these incentives "are very specific and do not come often", says Asis.

But what worries Asis is that as countries tighten their immigration laws and borders, there is increasing demand to continually send migrants through unauthorized means, including trafficking and smuggling women and children.

"Something's got to give here."

Breaking Out of the Invisible Mode
Momar G. Visata Asianjournal.com October 14th, 2006

"The Filipino-American market is a very important market, it should never be brushed aside."

So said Julia Huang, founder and CEO of interTrend, one of the most innovative and fastest-growing advertising and marketing agencies focusing on the diverse and ever-expanding Asian communities in the United States today.

Huang was reacting to the almost continuing invisibility (of the Asian Americans in general and Filipino-Americans in particular) in the mainstream market.

For the longest time, the Fil-Am community has been ignored and included in the mainstream by many in corporate America, since the community speaks the English language fluently. Most of these marketers have the assumption that Filipinos have fully assimilated into the American culture.

“When is speaking English ever a bad thing? Use your English language advertising in these markets,” Huang said, addressing advertisers and marketers who continue to clump Filipino-Americans along with the majority of the English-speaking mainstream.

Huang advised the Fil-Am community to “create infrastructure and synchronize activities” to come up with a concerted effort to show the marketing world the potential of marketing to the community.

“The sheer number of Filipinos in America today makes your community a force to reckon with,” she added.

Common Ground

Compared with the African-American and the Hispanic-American communities. Asian-Americans in general continue to languish almost unrecognized to this day.

“I believe that somewhere along the way, we will find a common ground where we can all work together. We can do it. Let us do the right thing for our market. Let’s not waver!,” Huang exclaimed.

Both the African- and the Hispanic- markets have found their common ground, and that is the reason why national marketers have been active in their communities, according to Huang.

The Asian-American market, however, continues to become segregated simply because the countries in Asia are not bound by one culture or one language.

“The segregation is definitely working against us but we must work our way around that and use it not as a weakness but as a strength. We have been so polite for the longest time and it is about time that we spoke our mind. It’s time for us to get what’s due us. It is alright to have some sense of entitlement. We live here, we pay our taxes,” Huang explained.

Asian Americans continue to be the most diverse ethnic group in the United States today, with the influence of more than fifteen different cultures.

Disinterest

“There’s a disinterest in the Asian American community. If only they could give us the attention that they are giving our native countries,” Huang, who is also the current president of the Asian American Advertising Federation (3AF) said.

This “disinterest” is a small notch higher than the “total ignorance” of the market about 10 or 15 years ago, according to her.

Overall, the Asian-American population grew 48% from 1990 to 2000 and currently makes up about 5% of the entire United States population, according to the Census.

Since 2000, the Asian-American population has increased 9%, the highest growth rate of any ethnic group. The Asian-American population, which currently exceeds 11 million, is expected to more than triple to 34 million in the next 50 years.

Buying Power of Asian Americans

Asian buying power will grow 434 percent between 1990 and 2011 (versus the 457 percent gain for Hispanics).

Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business noted that "Asian buying power is attaining critical mass in a growing number of states."

In 2000, only six states had more than $10 billion in Asian buying power. As of 2006, 11 states have reached that benchmark, on its way to 14 states by 2011.

Projections from the Selig Center indicate that Asian-American spending power will reach $528 billion by 2009, an increase of nearly 347% since 1990, when the community’s spending power was $118 billion.

According to the latest data released by the Selig Center released last month, “Asian consumer annual buying power in the United States has reached $427 billion, representing a 59% increase since the beginning of the decade.”

“Let’s go beyond uproar. What are we leveraging out of the $427 billion? We must use that in order for them to hear our voice,” Huang said.

While a small amount of national advertisers and marketers have realized the importance of the Asian-American market, a bigger number of them have not.

“We are now in a position to be much bigger and we should be able to seize this opportunity. It is very achievable,” added Huang.

The state of California still accounts for 33 percent of the nation's Asian consumer market. Asian buying power in California stands out as the only racial minority market at the state level to exceed $100 billion (totaling $140.5 billion).

Through the years, Huang and interTrend have gone beyond their call of duty to inform marketers and advertisers about the importance of the Asian-American market, advising them of the unique characteristics of the different sub-groups in the Asian-American diaspora.

In fact, the agency, established in 1991, is a pioneer in educating and guiding Fortune 500 companies in the intricacies and sensitivities of marketing products and services to the Asian American market. Among interTrend’s clients are Toyota Motors, Northwest Airlines, JC Penney, Verizon, Sempra Energy, The Gas Company, San Diego Gas and Electric and Pala Casino Group. InterTrend also represents the #1 provider of auto insurance and a leading US personal lines property/casualty insurance company and the #2 media conglomerate which owns a major television network, produces films and represents the most popular resorts/theme parks in North America.

PINAY WHOSE LABOR PAINS FORCED LANDING OF PLANE COMES HOME
By Rainier Allan Ronda

http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/pictures/00002762.jpg
Flight attendants of KLM huddle around Betchel Banal, a Filipina working student in Denmark, and her baby Karl Laurence Martin, who was born on a KLM flight over Europe last Oct. 25. Mother and son returned to Manila yesterday after staying at a hospital in Kazakhstan.

MANILA, NOVEMBER 3, 2006 (STAR) - A 22-year-old Filipina who forced a Manila-bound Royal Dutch Airlines flight from Amsterdam to make an emergency landing at the airport of Alamaty, Kazakhstan last Oct. 25 due to labor pains finally came home to Manila with her two-week-old son.

Cagayan de Oro City native Betchell Bana said that she wanted to secure Filipino citizenship for her son, Karl Lorenz Martin, despite his having been born in Kazakhstan.

"I want him to be a Filipino. Because I’m a Filipino — his father and I are Filipinos," Banal told airport reporters.

Banal arrived in Manila via a Royal Dutch Airlines KLM Fight KL 803 that landed at the NAIA at 11:10 a.m. She was assisted off the flight in a wheelchair and she carried her sleeping infant in her arms.

The seven-months pregnant Banal was on her way home to Manila en route to Cagayan de Oro for a brief vacation on Oct. 25 and was on a Manila-bound KLM flight from Copenhagen, Denmark via Amsterdam when she suffered labor pains half an hour into the flight.

A fellow Filipino and passenger on the flight, Dr. Anthony Golez of the Department of Defense’s Office of Civil Defense, who examined Banal after she began labor, told the flight crew they needed to land the plane so Banal could give birth.

Banal said she was not due to give birth until Dec. 2.

Minutes after being carried off the plane, Banal gave birth to her son at the Alamaty airport.

She was taken to Mother and Child Hospital in Alamaty, where she and her son received medical care. Banal, a commerce student in the University of Cebu before she was accepted by the Danish government for a one-and-a-half year cultural study program, said that she was given full financial support by the Royal Dutch Airlines throughout her stay in Kazakhstan until she came home yesterday.

"They were very supportive of me," she said.

It was learned that Banal left for Denmark in March not knowing that she was pregnant by her boyfriend, who is also a student in Cagayan de Oro.

Gabriel "Bingo" Braganza, KLM regional marketing manager for the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, said that it was the first time in KLM’s history that they had to make an emergency landing due to childbirth.

KLM will be celebrating its 55th anniversary this Dec. 5.

Braganza said that KLM is making arrangements for Banal and her son during their stay in Manila and for their air travel to Cagayan de Oro.

^That is an amazing story!

Wow, she forced herself to take that plane back to Manila just to secure her child's citizenship as a Filipino. She's a rare of a kind.

Taiwan shuts out Filipinos of 2007 labor quota
By Jerome Aning 11/08/2006

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion flew to Taiwan on Wednesday to clarify with the Taiwanese government its decision to exclude Filipinos from its new quota of 80,000 foreign workers for 2007.

The 2007 labor quota for foreigners, from which Filipinos were shut out, was announced by Taiwan’s Council of Labor Affairs last week.

Jackson Gan, president of the Pilipino Manpower Agencies Accredited to Taiwan (Pilmat), blamed Wednesday the Philippine government’s forging of closer ties with the People’s Republic of China for this development.

"We are now feeling the brunt of Taiwan's apparent retaliation for the Arroyo government's forging of closer ties with the Chinese government and this is not good for our OFW [overseas Filpino worker] deployment," Gan said in a phone interview.

The jobs in the quota, categorized as "3-D" (which stands for "difficult, dangerous and dirty"), are for textile and other factories, domestic help, and construction work, which are big markets for OFWs, according to Gan.

The Pilmat president said the new quota, which was posted at Taiwan’s CLA website, showed the distribution of work visas allocated for various countries and bore the annotation, "Filipinos not qualified."

"The Taiwanese are sort of saying to us, 'So, you wanted closer ties with the Chinese, then why don't you get jobs (for OFWs) from them,'" Gan said.

The Philippines observes the "One-China" policy and does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. However, to facilitate communication between the two countries, Taiwan has a cultural office in Manila and the Philippines has a cultural office in Taiwan.

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and seeks to isolate it internationally.

Brion was accompanied by Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz in the effort to salvage what the labor department could for Filipino workers.

Aside from discussing the 2007 quota, Brion will also ask the Taiwanese government to review its policy of slowing down the hiring of Filipinos under the old quota of 300,000 foreign workers.

The slowdown stemmed from findings made by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Manila on the rampant falsification of papers of Taiwan-bound Filipino workers.

However, Gan believed that the documentation issue was "a mere smokescreen" used by the Taiwanese. He added that Taiwan's labor officials had always been understanding of difficulties in documenting Filipino workers as the Philippines, unlike other countries, does not have a national identification system.

"We are clueless about the falsified documents [issue]" Gan said. He recalled that TECO, which acts as Taiwan's de facto embassy in Manila, even went to the extent of demanding that POEA suspend recruitment agencies found by TECO to have deployed workers with falsified papers.

The slowdown, which began in September, prolonged the processing of workers' papers from a mere two weeks to up to two months.

The Philippines deploys an average of 35,000 OFWs to the island annually. Gan said for September and October, the deployment shrunk by 40 percent because of the slower processing, citing reports from Pilmat members.

Gan said the 90,000 OFWs and 45,000 Filipino expatriates in Taiwan remits over US$1 billion to the Philippines, money now in danger because of the shutout.

"We won't be sending such a high-level delegation, led by the labor secretary himself, to fix things with the Taiwanese if the crisis is not this serious," Gan said.

Gan said Taiwan was turned off when the Philippines refused to allow a plane carrying Taiwanese President Chen Shui-Bien to refuel at a Philippine airport on his way to Palau a few months ago. "It was an overreaction. The plane was only refueling and President Chen wouldn’t even be getting out," Gan recalled.

Against the backdrop of the growing diplomatic and trade relations between Philippines and China, played up by the local and international media, Taiwan felt alienated and left out, observed Gan. The recruiter noted the Philippines was overreacting and even misinterpreting the "One-China Policy."

He urged Philippine officials to be sensitive and careful in balancing official relations with China and unofficial relations with Taiwan.

Gan said that while the Chinese have entered into multi-billion-peso investments in mining, the North Rail transit system, malls and other large-scale ventures, most of the profits would eventually go to Chinese capitalists.

In contrast, Taiwan, aside from opening its country to Filipino workers, had invested in hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Philippines, which generated jobs for more than 100,000 workers, he said.

my dad have been working abroad fro almost 24 yrs. he goes home every year... and all i can say that, "idol ko sya!!" napagtapos nya kame with his hard work, (except for me who will be graduating 2008) and take note, my mom don't work, he don't want my mom to work. and some of my uncles who are here (phil.) don't appreciate my dad working abroad, "bat wala pa daw kaming naiipon na pera" "hello, ang hirap kaya magpa aral..." sanang kung di lng basta basta na course and school diba??" lalo na ko which is architecture and my tuition per sem is twice the tuition of my bro and sis when they are still studying.

the moment i graduated, he'll resign and stay here, look for a job here... problem is his salary will be back to basic, good news, malaki laki ang makukuha nya pag nag retire na sya :D... he's planning on working back to NAIA where he works before he went abroad or in DMIA...

Bump! :colgate:

==========================================================

Winning essay highlights discrimination in school
(Source: http://english.www.gov.tw/TaiwanHeadlines/index.jsp?categid=10&recordid=101589)

An essay entered in a composition contest held by the Sanchong City government revealed serious discrimination suffered by a junior high school student who was born to a Taiwanese father and a Filipino mother. The mayor of the city said the essay revealed a prevalent social problem.

"I am a child of mixed blood, my father is Taiwanese and my mother Filipino. I was often laughed at or looked down upon, and when I had a fight with my friends, they would call me 'a damned Filipino'...every time I hear that phrase, I feel so pained that I feel as if I was stabbed by a sharp knife, it's so heartbreaking," wrote Chang Yao-ting (張耀庭), a junior high school student, in his composition entitled "I am a mixed-blood child."

Chang's composition was awarded as "a fine piece of writing" by the organizer of the contest, the Sanchong City Government. The judges of the contest gave Chang's composition such an honor because they felt the writing, despite some grammatical irregularities, touched people's hearts and conveyed the author's true feelings about his profound suffering caused by the discrimination toward persons of mixed blood. The judges also thought that Chang's writing contains a fresh theme that exposes a social phenomenon.

"During division of work teams, some classmates wouldn't want to be in the same team with me because I am a child of mixed blood. Some people think all Filipinos are dirty and have body odor, but like anyone else, I make myself pretty clean when I wash myself everyday. How could they judge me based on their wrong perception," he wrote.

In his writing Chang mentioned that he has a sister and that his mother is also a mixed-blood. "Therefore, my body contains blood of many countries, " he wrote. He also mentioned that perhaps because he is of multiple racial backgrounds, he has many multi-racial friends. Referring to his friends, "We communicate with each other often, so now I am going to do better, and let those who ever discriminated against me have a big surprise and look up to me!"

In spite of the experience of being discriminated against because of his multi-racial status, Chang doesn't hold hard feelings about his mother's hometown. He made an interesting comparison between his hometown in Taiwan and his mother's in the Philippines.

He wrote, "I have a home both in Taiwan and in the Philippines. My home at Sanchong City is not bad, because we lead a somewhat good life. My home in the Philippines is not so good, because most of my family members are not rich. Life there is simpler although harder; therefore, they are healthier than those who live in a bustling city."

The mayor said that there are more than 10,000 mixed households, and the children of these households are likely to face the same problems. He said the city government has been trying to help resolve the problem, but schools also need to help these children by preventing them from being hurt by discrimination against them during their schooling.

In response to the discrimination, Director of Counseling Department of Chang's school said that Chang seems to act normally at school but the school is communicating with him to try to resolve the issue. The school principal, Chen Ching-lun (鄭經綸), said Chang's family is economically sound and he is pretty active and has participated in two school clubs.

Although proud of his son's good writing ability, Chang's father kept a low profile about the matter and insisted that his son not be interviewed at school by any media.

...............................dooooobol...pooooost

^^ I have some ugly experiences in Taiwan --- hehehe,

Anyways, discrimination is everywhere but not as much as before.
And for me, being a half-breed also, I expect to be ridiculed in the Chinese culture.

In early times, Chinese used to be also ridiculed in the Philippines. The term "Intsik Bejo" was a derogatory term that also alluded to lack of hygiene.

So yes, discrimination is everywhere.

^^ Wow, 24 years working abroad and only going home once a year. Such a sacrifice. That is tough. Hats off to your father, and your mother, yourself and siblings. Hats off to all OFWs and OCWs.

I don't think I can manage that -- being separated from spouse and children. I had actually advised a friend before not to become a TNT here in the US and leave her spouse and family in Pinas for the supposedly "greener pastures" here. I told her, it would be hard on her spouse and family, especially since she has a special child and I also warned her that her husband might be tempted to go astray if she is not there with him. Plus, she has a good job as a Food Tech. manager in the Jollibee Corporation, a house, an SUV, househelp -- the works. I was wondering why she was willing to leave all that with the illusion of "milk and honey" in America. It's a good thing I knocked some sense into her. (I just hope so, I don't want her to blame me for dissuading her.) She was stating an excuse that if she is in America, she might be able to bring her family and have better education for her special need child. But then, remember, she will be a TNT. So that legal immigration dream to bring her family in the US might be a pipedream, or if not, will take years and by then her children will be grown up (too late for Special Ed. in US) and the husband might have had his fling.

i can't cope with separation from family too. i had a taste of that for three months in 2001 when i "went ahead" to Manila, leaving my wife and daughter behind in Negros and shuttling back and forth on weekends.

finally, they followed here in Manila. kudos talaga sa mga dakilang ama tulad sa tatay ni ishtefh :bow:

In early times, Chinese used to be also ridiculed in the Philippines. The term "Intsik Bejo" was a derogatory term that also alluded to lack of hygiene.

So yes, discrimination is everywhere.

I was told that "Intsik bejo" came from the words "Intsak Viejo" - which is "Old uncle".

But that's ok, some Chinese classmate tease each other that way when I was still studying Chinese in the afternoon. Even in college, my Chinese friends don't mind being called beho, sometimes I called them tsekwa, but just between my friends.

About bad hygiene, yes it is true, some old Chinese men and women just spit anywhere, even when I was in HK and China. But it is getting better and people are being educated on proper sanitary procedures.
But luma sila sa Pinoy, me dahak pa! Trust me, I saw that happened outside some Pinoy restos here in the US while they are smoking.

^^ Yes, I read that before. It came from Old Chinese Uncle -- "Intsek Viejo". I read that at that time those old uncles sell coals or "uling"/ or are engaged in junk collection (e.g. old bottles, old newspapers). So, by the very nature of the work, these old uncles were always covered with soot.

they once decide to just live there in abroad with my dad but my dad doesn't like it. he wants us to grow up here in the phil.

i'm still glad that it is only my dad who is away. what if my bro and my sis decided to work abroad too... it will be just me and my mom here... one time my brother got a job from KSA in a big construction company, salary is very high compare to what he is earning here. Papers are ready, with passport, then suddenly he decided not to go... :lol: masaya na sya dito, lalo na ung project nila eh patapos na.

One thing about Filipinos is the strong presence of American culture especially within daily life.

Filipinos have long been fascinated with almost everything American especially food, sports, music, fashion, etc. And The United States is still the prefered choice for Philippine emigration.

What do you think? Is there an advantage for Filipinos being Americanized? How about disadvantages as well?

nasan yung poll?

One disadvantage I could think of is the transition of Philippines' dialect.

Tagalog--->Pilipino--->Filipino---English?

And now some are thinking of putting English as the Philippines' major language...

It has its pros and cons which will be endlessly debated from generation to generation.

they once decide to just live there in abroad with my dad but my dad doesn't like it. he wants us to grow up here in the phil.

i'm still glad that it is only my dad who is away. what if my bro and my sis decided to work abroad too... it will be just me and my mom here... one time my brother got a job from KSA in a big construction company, salary is very high compare to what he is earning here. Papers are ready, with passport, then suddenly he decided not to go... :lol: masaya na sya dito, lalo na ung project nila eh patapos na.

So, where does your father work at?

but exactly what are we referring to? isn't this all just progress? everything evolves, even culture.
what is "americanized"? do you have anything specific in mind? not a lot of food, sports, music, fashion, etc. are purely american. even the ancient aztecs had their version of basketball centuries before dr naismith was born.
i'd rather be wearing underwear, pants, shirts, and shoes. parang di ko kaya yung naka bahag lang :)
i'd rather have indoor plumbing. would you rather dig a hole in your backyard than have a toilet?
what are your alternatives for toothbrush, TV, elevators, escalators?
and what about modern medicine? or would you rather consult a quack doctor?

American culture that the Filipinos or the world knows and share is Hollywood culture or Pop culture. This is shared all over the world and not specifically to Filipinos. The United States does not have a unified culture. The West and East differs from each other and compare it with Middle America and its another story.

I am curious to why Filipinos presume that the baño, cepillo, vestida, pantalones, medias, camisa, pañuelo o panyo, calzones, zapatos, orinola, blusa, mesa, lámpara, toalla, cama, lavabo, etc. were brought by the Americans. The medicina were avaible to the Filipinos and were considered at par with Western medicine. That is why I have a problem with selective history and yes it has its one pros and cons if we try to keep on mimicking American culture.

American culture is not a monolithic culture. It borrows from several influences all over the world. So, I don't think there is a term anymore as being "Americanized". Perhaps, Westernized, because I still see some distinct differences between Western and Eastern influences.

erald™;10460036']One disadvantage I could think of is the transition of Philippines' dialect.

Tagalog--->Pilipino--->Filipino---English?

And now some are thinking of putting English as the Philippines' major language...

Tagalog A.K.A. Filipino is not a neutral language. English is and is also being used as a national language by many different countries including Singapore, which is just next door to us. English definitely is a big advantage.

^ What I'm thinking is that, are we also adapting it? Tagalog A.K.A Filipino may not be neutral, so could that be a reason why we're slowly replacing it?

But yeah, it has really a big advantage. It may open new and bigger doors for businesses in the country.

for realiness, its an advantage otherwise we would be just like the Mexicans who has live in US for generation and generation but doesnt have the capacity to speak fluent english

i agree with tigs. and thats for realiness