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Alvarez Challenges
OFWs to
Catch Entrepreneurial Spirit
April 10, 2003, Arab
News, page 7
By: Raffy Osumo & K.S. Ramkumar
JEDDAH - Overseas Filipino Workers should
strive to catch the entrepreneurial spirit and
try to become employers instead of staying perpetually
as employees.
This was the gist of the message of Secretary
Heherson Alvarez yesterday in a dialogue at the
Philippine Consulate General with community representatives
in Jeddah.
While not everyone could become a businessman,
he said, it also could not be that so few OFWs
end up becoming entrepreneurs considering, that
they are not lacking in talent and many are able
to build up capital. He said OFWs could learn
from the example of Chinese migrants to the Philippines,
many of whom have become tycoons from scratch.
He cited, among others, the case of Lucio Tan,
whom former first lady Imelda Marcos once called
a magbobote (empty bottle collector) but who is
now one of the richest people in the world and
employer of tens of thousands of Filipinos.
Another example worth looking into, he said, are
the Irish people whose forebears fled their land
by the hundreds of thousands during the potato
famine of the 19th century. "These immigrants
would later bring back their earnings abroad to
rebuild Ireland into a viable economy," he
said.
"Many of these Chinese and Irish immigrants
were unskilled workers but they have the entrepreneurial
restlessness. In our overseas Filipino population,
there's more than restlessness; there's talent.
That's why I don't see any reason why we can do
what the Chinese and Irish have done," he
said.
Community leaders noted that various groups have
been in the forefront of the Philippine government's
reintegration program, which is meant to give
OFWs the necessary skills or training in preparation
for their eventual retirement.
Seminars on livelihood, entrepreneurship and computer
literacy have been particularly strong among community
groups in the Kingdom, as OFWs know that their
stay here is temporary, unlike those who are working
in Europe or North America.
Questions were also raised on what the administration
of President Gloria Arroyo could further do for
the benefit of OFWs and their dependents. Alvarez
is Arroyo's adviser for Overseas Filipino Communities.
He arrived in the Kingdom on Friday for a weeklong
visit that will also take him to Jordan and the
United Arab Emirates.
Without going into specifics, Alvarez said it
was true that the government's programs for OFWs
and their dependents have plenty of shortcomings
and that much has to be done to improve them.
But he added that there are "gaps that the
government could not really fill in."
"I believe that we could fill these gaps
through stronger community action," he said.
Alvarez said that once he gets home, his office
would draw up a comprehensive recommendation on
the concerns of OFWs for the president to act
on.
He said the instruction of the president was for
him to check the condition of OFWs, to listen
and find out what can be done.
He said while the government is working on ways
to absorb the country's skilled workers, it also
wants to wants to safeguard the employment of
OFWs "to keep the Philippine economy going
and growing."
The 7-million strong overseas Filipino community
has become a pillar of the Philippine economy,
he said, and if it collapses, the country would
be in deep trouble.
After the dialogue, he was accompanied by Ambassador
Bahnarim Guinomla and Consul General Kadatuan
Usop for a visit to the King Fahd and Dr. Fakeeh
Hospitals in Jeddah, one of the biggest employers
of Filipino workers.
Alvarez and Assistant Secretary Stefani Saņo
are to fly to Amman in Jordan today. On Saturday,
they fly to Dubai also to meet the Filipino community
there before departing for Manila.
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