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a one-page paper i submitted for geography 1 class that tries to comment on the issue of filipinos having to go abroad for work. I tried to point out things beyond my own perspective. Personally, i would like to join the diaspora but i know that this has its own consequences.

According to the Dept. of Labor and Employment, the deployment of ofw’s abroad reached 871,700 on 2004, with an increase of 3,731 in number from the previous year. With these numbers, remittances from ofw’s also increased by 9.5% reaching to amounts slightly to $7 billion. There is no question that sending filipinos abroad really is a big help to our economy, with fewer enough-paying jobs here in the country, people resolve to look for jobs overseas.

I just browsed over the classified ads today and found many of the hiring jobs are projected to other countries like our neighbors Taiwan and Singapore, to the middle east, all the way to the west, in the U.S. and Canada. I was amazed to see that they pay as much as P10, 000 to ticketsellers in Saudi. Many families benefit from members that work abroad. Money sent here are used for education, business and other necessities. Many of the latenight documentaries have shown success stories of ofw’s having to have invested so much to have built great houses and own deluxe cars. Their houses are even more beautiful than ours even though they only work as domestic helpers abroad. This is the cause of the ongoing boost in institutions offering trainings and courses that they say as “in demand and to fully equip trainees to work abroad “. Who doesn’t hope for a better future and a financial stability, even now that the Philippines is in a debated crisis. With the prices of commercial products except raw water are rising. But even water price would rise due to the recent plea of the NWRB to imply charges on water coming from reservoirs and dams. We can’t remove working abroad as one of the clear solutions to resolving our people’s major problems.

Sending Filipinos to work abroad increse the country’s profits by way up but all coins has two faces. There are success stories and the there are failures. Many of the ofws working overseas are not in a good living condition, with falsified documents or not documented at all. Before, we watched illegal recruiters prostitute girls from the province to urban areas and cities, now we watch as they widen their services, even sending their white slavery to other countries. We also watch as more and more are caught of fooling people loads of money by promising them of a great job abroad but later will find out that it was just a fraud. Helpless families’ hope of rising to better lifestyle had turned a full turn. We could also not turn our backs to what goes on to families with one or both parents working overseas. Children grow up with their grandparents or relatives as parent replacements, but no one could ever replace a real parent. The lack of love and communication in the family relationship could ruin its members. Teenagers would rebel, spouses would adulterate, because they won’t realise the reasons that accompany the absence of the parent. That it is for their own good, that they are also well-loved. This is what makes a good Maala-ala Mo Kaya story. But not all stories end up with a happy ending. Families broke-up, children grow up with discontent and hatred in their hearts which is not even a close bargain for a percent increase in the GNP. The risks are great and the responsibilities are multiplied.

Nalaman ko na ang grado ko sa calculus, isang naghihingalong 2.75. Kamuntik na akong maging tres na konti na lang kwatro na, na parang singko na rin. Mababa, hehe.

Bagsak nga ata ako sa finals eh.

Kabaligtaran naman ito ng programming class ko. Mataas. Uno nga ata ako eh. Hindi ko pa kasi nakukuha yung classcard kaya hindi pa ako magsasalita ng tapos. Baka mamya may nabawas pala akong puntos. sana wala.

Nakuha nina anamae at ramona yung mga grado nila sa upcat, ayus. sana makita ko rin yung akin. Magbabayad daw ng bente sa cashier sa quezon hall tapos punta sa may office of admissions para ipaprint yung results. quezon tapos ofad, parang ang layo. pero ok lang yun, at least mababawasan ang isa sa mga tanong ko sa buhay.

Kasama na kung ano ang grade ko sa NEAT o kaya nasaan na yung results ko sa USTET, tsaka kung bakit bakit ba talaga namatay ang mga dinosaurs noong sinaunang panahon?