OFWs as the Philippines' "Light and salt"  

Amidst much-heralded economic growth supposedly exceeding expectations, the Philippine is counting billions of OFWs remittances, while ignoring that Filipino women are being raped, murdered, maltreated, maligned, and subjected to all forms of horrendous cruelty. In today's gospel of Matthew 5:13-16, the poor Filipino migrants can be called the salt of the Philippine earth, providing flavor to our hard life, albeit being trampled upon by inhuman masters. The OFWs are our light providing a beacon of hope in a world of gloom and doom.

The Philippines, a nation of 111 million people and 7,107 islands, have about 11 million Filipinos working and living in 200 other countries, remitting about 32 billion dollars in dollar remittances every year. The government claims an impressive 7.6% economic growth in 2022, forgetting that one-third of the population is wallowing below poverty line and many of its OFWs are working as virtual slaves abroad working in dirty, difficult, dangerous, degrading, and deceptive jobs, like being a house servant in the Middle East. The government prides itself on the expanding economy and rise in GDP, purposely avoiding mentioning that while gross domestic product increases, the per-capita income is going down. Thus, many are relying on their OFWs who work as virtual slaves in foreign lands. Their OFWs are the light of the family.

The wealth of the nation is in the monopolistic hands of the taipans, tycoons, and elite capitalists who expand their net worth by the use of cheap labor, many of whom are homeless and living below the poverty line. For this reason, millions of Filipinos are lining up daily in the DFA to get passports and hope to leave this country, mostly for good. They have no hope if they stay in the Philippines. The economy of the country is controlled by less than 10% of the population. Politics and decision-making is monopolized by a few family dynasties. Elections are farcical because votes are purchased like cheap commodities and elections are rigged. Millions are homeless, jobless, and hopeless.

The endless diaspora of human capital is indicative of the mismanagement of the whole country over many decades of graft, corruption, neglect, and ineptitude of its leaders who lack vision and love of country. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, in a study written by Undersecretary Dennis Mapa, released end of 2022, reference number 2022-421, most of the OFWs are working in the Middle East and Asia, constitution 78.3% of the total, followed by a distant 9.3% in Europe, 8.9% in North and South America, 2.2% in Oceania including Australia and New Zealand and only 1.3% in Africa. The countries with largest concentration of OFWs are Saudi Arabia, 21.4%; followed by UAE, 14.4%; Hong Kong, 6.7%; Kuwait (where three maids were murdered in two years) with 5.9%; Singapore, 5.8%; and Qatar, 4.8%.

These are where OFWs are working hard to bring home the bacon, comparable to the salt of the earth in today's gospel, albeit many of them, particularly domestic servants, are being trampled upon by cruel masters. Based on the regional segregation from where these OFWs come 15.9% come from the Calabarzon, 15.5% from Central Luzon, 9.8% from Western Visayas, 8.9% from Ilocos, 8.3% from the National Capital Region, 7.1% from the Cagayan Valley, 5.9% from Central Visayas (Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor), 5.7% from Socksargen or Central Mindanao, 4.7% from Bicol, 3.7% from the five Davao provinces (Norte, Sur, Oriental, Occidental, and de Oro), and 3.6% from Northern Mindanao.

In today's gospel, the OFWs are considered as light because they are our showcase of talents, hard work, perseverance, and creativity. They are our city built on the hill for the whole world to see. They are also the salt to add flavor to the world of work, with their passion, commitment, and dedication, their dollar remittances acting as preservatives of our economy's need for continuing viability, in a very competitive global arena, dominated by superpowers and economic giants like China, Russia, and the US. Indeed, we hail our migrant workers as the modern heroes, many of whom come home inside wooden coffins, others maimed, disabled, and mentally deranged. The government sent them away as the nation's light and salt because in this country there is no hope for them. Sad.