Why are many OFWs financially hard up?

This writer had been a labor attache to three Filipino labor intensive countries, namely Malaysia, Kuwait and Taiwan. I realize that OFWs earn well but spend too much on things that do not matter most. They do not save, nor invest nor know how to spend money wisely. This is where the government could help them and assure for them and for their respective families a better future.

Many of our Filipino migrant workers are earning good salaries in some countries that pay better, especially in Europe and in North America, in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. Even in the countries where I was assigned, there were many engineers, nurses, accountants, and other professionals who were well-paid. But most of the time, many of them found themselves in tight financial conditions. A lot of OFWs work for 20, even 30 years abroad and then come home old and sickly with no savings for medical care. They do not save, much less invest. OFWs send home all their money. Their families splurge on luxury items and have no sense of financial literacy, much less financial wisdom. I have not seen any coherent, sustained and serious efforts of the government to address this malady.

When I was in Kuala Lumpur for three years, I put up a Sunday school under the auspices of the Embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the OWWA a training center with no less than 53 short courses offered for free to the OFWs, with free food and free tuition. Using the meager budget of the government and augmented by donations from foreign and Filipino community donors, I was able to sustain the training center for the entire duration of my tour of duty. I convinced the engineers, the nurses and the other professionals to offer free services to the OFWs. They taught Financial Literacy, Family Budgeting, Basic Accounting and other related subjects. We also offered courses that could enhance their skills and competencies, like cooking, bartending, basic nursing, handicraft, hair science, beauty culture, communication skills, social graces. I taught Blawsfil or Basic Laws For Filipinos. They were educated on their rights and obligations as migrant workers.

We gave focus on the subject of Basic Financial Literacy which focused on Income Budgeting and Savings, Advanced Financial Literacy focused on Investments and Livelihood. The programs that we started were so successful that it was copied by other groups and other embassies. But the Philippine government at the Head Office totally ignored it. They not only refused to support the programs with funding, they also discouraged us from continuing with them. But I persisted and it became the rallying point for OFWs in Kuala Lumpur and nearby cities and localities to duplicate our initiatives. Soon, there were similar programs in Penang, in Pahang, in Johore and in Kota Kinabalu and Labuan Island.

Many OFWs find themselves financially hard up because while they know how to earn money, they lack the proper attitude, the needed knowledge and required skills to save and invest. They usually spoil their wives, husbands and children with material things to make up for their physical absence. They do not save for the rainy days. They do not invest in real estate, in small businesses and in livelihood enterprises. They work and work and their families spend and spend with no preparation for the future. It is high time for the government to focus on this very important area that can help almost all of our OFWs. I say all most all because a few Filipino migrant workers are already doing well because they practice their knowledge and wisdom on the art and science of managing one's financial resources.

It is not enough that the government should give the OFWs fish to eat for one day. The migrant workers should be taught by the government on how to catch fish, how to preserve them, how to transform them with added values into sumptuous foods so that they can eat for a lifetime.