<blockquote rel="sheep">
..kaya tayong filipino whether we like it or not we have a moral obligation na tulungan ang bansa natin in a way that we can...tama na yung blame dito blame doon...i remember sa isang tv show sa pinas ang sabi doon,kung lahat ng may kaya sa pilipinas especially yung mga ofw ay mag sponsor ng isang batang pinoy para mkapag aral wala na cguro tayong makikitang pilipino bata na plaboy laboy sa kalye...
</blockquote>
i was answering this quote from your post sheep.
but what i was trying to say is that there should be a limit to how much generosity and kindness one can give to one's family and even countryman.
it is good to help and be generous pero may limit po.
kasi sa next post nga you have said na you yourself do not ask from your siblings and your nieces/nephews are taught the value of a dollar.
you said that i shouldn't generalize things.. and i didn't. but it also means you can not generalize your own experience as what is the experience of others also in which that statement i quoted above is.. a generalization that if every ofw helps a child then no child will become a street urchin.
actually my argument was correlated to a story by my friend and a series done by ANC about filipino ofws in the middle east. it is more of a norm that relatives / countrymen (neighbors) will ask and expect to be given than to not ask nor expect something.
based on research po yan na ang shelf life ng ofw is only 10-15 years and those that come from specially in saudi kasi their data used was from 90s- to early 2000s, some had to go back even when they taught na retiring time na kasi they have not saved enough and they felt morally obligated to help their relatives (which could include grandchildren).
also it tackled the problem why ofws didn't go back sa pinas.. depende po yan kung saan country umalis si ofw. the ones in the middle east go back and they start businesses pero the problem is it's only small scale businesses like taxis/ boarding house and etc.
whereas those that come from america, actually become citizens of america and invest their money in america instead of the philippines.. why is that?
(same po yan to those in australia..specially the ones na matagal na dito so di ba pa tayo included dyan😛)
it has shown that after living in the states, though they love going home sa pinas for vacations, once they are old enough to invest.. they don't see the point of investing in the philippines where no one can manage their investments as most of their immediate family will also be in the states.
(may issue din po that the relatives left behind mishandled their finances).
when they are old enough to retire, they go sa pinas for half a year and half in the states while others do not go home at all for several reasons like, they have no immediate family to look after them.
those who have enough money would have been able to get all their families to the states too and to those that go home later find out some of their friends have died or have moved out of their home towns thus it doesn't make sense anymore to grow old in the philippines when they do not have friends or family that they know.
im not sure how long you have been out of the country sheep.. but i have not been "home" for the last 4 years except for vacations. you will always meet those oldies that say they will go home and invest in the philippines etc but they never do.
they are not used to the weather anymore, not used to the traffic, they don't know where their friends are / some of their cousins/ siblings have died or have become old and moved.. these nephews and nieces looking after them..they have never met them before.
they always end up not going home and staying put in their new home country.
you said we are morally obligated to help the philippines... but after 10 years in australia or something.. your home country will become australia. your moral obligation will be shifted.
my cousins are all in the states...they love to go home sa pinas but do they feel morally obligated to help our countrymen or meddle in the politics?
(i have relatives who were mayors and ambassadors in the 70s but left during the marcos era).
they would have loved to have served again but after living in the states too long..they don't know anything about philippine politics anymore and are more invested morally and financially to their new home country which is america.
the philippines will be your home.. but if you don't live there long enough, you start to look at it through rose colored glass and you won't be able to relate what is the reality to what it is that you remember.
hence this is my answer to your statement about moral obligation.
so haba ng speech mo sa taas...let me ask you this, "do you have a concrete plan on how to help the philippines? "
kasi i have an answer to that..this is my personal answer only, i am helping the philippines by staying away from the philippines and working abroad. this way i can go home for vacations and spend money to go shopping, stay in hotels and see the beauty that is the philippines. this way i help the philippine economy by spending my hard earned dollar in my country.
would i invest in the philippines later on?
yes, i will build a house later on where i can stay on vacation.
would i build a business? no because i will not be familiar anymore about the laws and i would not be able to manage it.
why not let a relative manage it?
because the cousin i knew as a child/ young adult may not be the same person anymore.
would i send a child to school if i knew one? yes definitely.
would i meddle in government?
no.. as having stayed long enough away from the philippines i actually just know the president's name but i have no idea on his platforms to make informed decisions.
why do i not know enough? am i not morally obligated to know?
no, because i do not live there in the philippines..i am more interested in what policies julia gillard and the labor/ national party have that will affect me as a new migrant to this country..because i am invested in australia because it is my source of income and new home.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/270315/pinoyabroad/pinoyachievers/pinay-caregiver-in-canada-writes-book-about-lives-of-ofws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt1Hon5q1wk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4WIN3B7e_M&playnext=1&list=PL435AAA954CCD7C30&feature=results_video
marami pa po yan..pero i can't find all of them and post them here. very good resource po to watch on those days na walang magawa🙂