Migration Brings Good Filipino Traits Overseas --- Manila Archbishop Gaudencio RosalesMarch 23, 2011

MIGRATION is a two-way traffic: Filipinos working overseas do not just earn money, but they also bring with them the good traits of Filipinos.

Thus said Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales as he addressed thousands of parish representatives and families of overseas Filipino workers who gathered at the Cuneta Astrodome recently to mark the 25th anniversary of the National Migrants Sunday.

Rosales said that the Catholic Church is paying attention to migration as a global phenomenon and that there is a theology of "people on the move." "Marami sa ating mga kababayan ang nakikipagsapalaran, over 350,000 seamen and women. Probably the biggest number of seafarers in the world, past China and India, are Filipinos, dala ang sipag at kabutihan ng Pilipino," he said.

Rosales cited Filipino traits that make foreign employers appreciate the OFW. "Kasipagan sa trabaho, tapat, marunong makipag-kapwa tao, at may pananampalataya," the Archbishop said, and stressed that "ang Pilipino ay mabuting tao at ito ay dapat nating itanyag."

The concelebrated Mass was part of the whole-day activity organized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)'s Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, hosted by the Archdiocese of Manila and co-hosted by the dioceses of Novaliches, Pasig, Paranaque, Kalookan and Cubao.

Information desks, including that of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), were also set up at the entrance to the Astrodome. Most common concerns raised by visitors were on membership registration and reactivation, payment, member data updating, benefits and benefits availment procedures.

Vice President Jejomar Binay also graced the event as guest speaker. He related his recent discussions with OFWs in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, saying that "most of them are okey and happy at work, malaki ang kontribusyon sa economy, but malaki din ang kontribusyon nila sa kumpanyang kanilang pinapasukan. Lubos ang paghanga ng mga dayuhan sa manggagawang Pinoy."

He and Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz also received the manifesto for OFWs from the CBCP-ECMI, containing the results of a series of workshops to address the plight of migrant workers. (Moppet B. Varlez, PAD)