Tita, My OFW Inspiration

Yesterday I asked a friend when she plans to go back home. She said she hopes her contract gets renewed because what she earns here she can never earn in her province. Her daughter also works here. She convinced her to come here also to earn enough for her children. She said she had to be smart about making a living to pull them out of poverty. 

I met Tita eight years ago. She was hired for a short time to be my caregiver. She's one of those typical OFWs who went abroad for her family. In the many years I've known her I saw how she's really worked hard for her family. She's really smart about it though because she told me yesterday she just bought a farm! 

I kidded her and told her that Sweetie and me can just build a small nipa hut and live with her. She actually said "Pwede naman!". Of course we won't impose on her, but I'd want to visit her someday when she goes back home. Tita is a true fighter, she calls me anak and I can't help but admire her spirit. I also learned through the years that she was widowed early and was one of the reasons why she left the country. 

Tita's story is probably common across many Filipinos who left our country to earn a living. I had a similar reason, but it was more because the opportunity presented itself to me. I think though the experience of being far away from family is a similar pain I share with all OFWs. I know that OFWs contribute a lot back to our economy, but why do we allow Filipinos to leave and be away from their families? 

I had this thought because of what Tita told me yesterday, "I can never earn the same in my province." It's really a sad, sad thought. I took a look at some stats this morning to take a look at how the different regions in the Philippines are doing. The 2020 report of the Philippine Statistics Authority said there was negative growth across the country, so I took a look at the 2019 report. In 2019, "All economies of 17 regions grew in 2019 with Bicol Region as the fastest growing region at 7.4 percent." (Source: PSA). It was interesting to see the list of regions that grew a lot for services and industry. 

Whenever the elections come up I think we always naturally look at how leaders respond to crisis, the easy things like cleaning up your city, road repairs, building new infrastructures, but we never really assess them on economic gain. In my travels I've seen how strong leaders are able to change their cities/provinces, but I'll reserve that for another post. My point today is just to think about how our current leaders have improved our economy, both national and local. It would be interesting to see what kind of programs they've done that improved the lives of citizens. 

P.S. I'm happy for Tita's future plan to settle in her farm. That's a solid financial freedom strategy!

CB////*Yr2/184 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/205 #NewG263 #Home22 #Xmas74 #StayHome #BeKind

Finding Our New Leaders

I still feel really sad about the passing of PNoy. I had to stop myself from watching more videos after the burial. I thought it was just me, but I have other HS classmates who are feeling the same. We're all grieving for what was lost. I guess PNoy's wish to be the most missed president has come true. You only look for something when it's gone. 

So I was thinking more about my post the other day - Wanted: Change Makers. I've been trying to make sense on why we devolved into padrino politics and nepotism. When the party system was initiated in the Philippines we only had the Nacionalista Party and the Liberal Party. Now due to factions there are five political parties in the Philippines. 

Politics after all is about power. 

I think along the way our public servants forgot that they are elected into power to serve the people (I'm sure there are still good ones out there). Not the other way around. If you think about it we should have a lot of promising leaders. We all had a chance to elect leaders in school and usually only the best would come forward to run for office. On the other hand, there are also natural leaders that are just waiting to be tapped and discovered. I experienced this while building communities across the region. 

One question I have in mind is, "How do political parties select their candidates?" How do they find new talent? Do they run programs to develop new leaders? What about the SK? Do any of the young leaders eventually move up to higher positions? How do we find good servant leaders? 

CB///*Yr2/78 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/105 #StayHome #BeKind  

Leadership

"Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily, even if you had no title or position." -- Brian Tracy

I am having a hard time put my thoughts into words tonight. Sometimes a dark, ugly cloud passes by to rain on your parade. It's sad especially when someone wields their power over you to take something precious. It's even sadder when they don't really understand the value of the thing.


#CB/65 #WFH50 #StuckAtHomeDay95 #StayHome #BeKind