The OFW Menace

Who says being an OFW is a blessing? On a glimpse, yes, it is, but every OFW understands that it carries with it a very heavy curse because of the many sacrifices and trials every OFW must have to overcome.

Any success one gain from working abroad, cannot compensate for the years missed being with the family, especially with the children whom you left when they were a few months old, or can barely walk when you left.

The warmth of love of being together as family was completely sacrificed.

What material things can replace the smiles, and hugs of children? What material things can replace the hugs and soothing rub of parents to their children when they’re afraid of lightning and thunders, or hurt from exploring new things? Nothing!

I know this from experience.

While it is true that you will be off better financially, you do not know how much love and affection your children lost from you as their father, from you as their mother or both from you as their parents when you were away. In addition, they lost the opportunity to learn from parents how to travel this life when their time comes to leave and live at their own. And vice-versa. How much smiles from kids each parents missed while being away? If their smiles in the internet cam makes a parent’s heart jumps with joy, then how much more if one is cradling the child?

How much opportunity you missed to teach them wisdom they need to learn to make them mature and responsible person while they grow up? You can’t reprimand them when you only have once in a while opportunity to speak on facebook, skype, or google+, or Ymessenger if their mother said about their mischiefs.

Because of this abroad syndrome, the strong sense of family closeness is now fading. Many children are now living like orphans of live parents. When these kids marry, they have no sense of how to become parents because they didn’t have “parents” during their kiddy times they could emulate. (I experienced this with my parents who grew up without parents – they were kind of learning how to handle us as when we were growing up)

I see people whose wife or husband is working abroad. They were young a decade ago or two ago, but now they have aged and I cannot imagine, where is the happiness of being married when they have been living separately most of their lives – if one call that a married life. These people are lying to their face if they say they’re living happily away from each other.

Okay, they built big houses, bought cars, lands, and complete material things as the number one investments of many OFWs, but what’s the use of having all those things when you cannot enjoy them because you’re still busy working to earn more money because there’s not enough saved for the future. One of my employers used to say, “Most people are working so hard as if they’re going to live forever!”

Many times, it’s already too late when they come home. I have seen many of these OFWs had arrived home very sick, disabled, and cold dead. What hurts the most is when one did not enjoy the warmth of love, parents and children were longing for when they were away from each other.



You may also like to read My Experiences as an OFW

When you ask OFWs why they are going abroad or staying away for so long, the foremost reason given is they are working for the future of their children. Yes, they’re sacrificing because of their love to their children. Love - or the ambition to get all the material things every human being desired to have in this world? Because if it is true that the ultimate reason is “Love for the children,” how come many if not most OFW families are broken? Why can’t the husband and wife stay together as one family for the sake of their children? Why can’t they forgive each other’s shortcomings – for the sake of the children? Poor children – they’re being used by their parents as escape goats for their selfishness. How many OFW parents applied for annulment of their marriage for the sake of themselves but did not think about the sake of their children?

Many children are wandering for they have no goals in life because they have no parents to guide and show them examples how to live life even without wealth. Then at the end when they failed on their studies and became menace to the society, they end up taking all the blames because they did not value the sacrifices of their parents - and did not listen to the teachings of their teachers!

When the kids are lucky enough to finish their college and got a degree, most of them end up working as OFWs because there were not enough jobs in their own country or the degree they finished is a low paying job. How many of those kids I saw were helped by their parents to go abroad after spending so much money in school? I said they’re the next generation or cycle of OFWs. When they get old and lucky enough to have family and children, the children will replace them, too, in after more than two decades, and the cycle continues – until nothing is done to stop the cycle.
My ten years of being an OFW made me understood, that OFW as a means to improve one’s financial status is a big blunder. It’s a menace to the family as a foundation of strong society.

A menace that must be addressed now to avoid the inevitable collapsed of a nation.

You may also like to read Cheapear Places to Remit In the Philippines

Cheaper Places to Remit in the Philippines

My work is sending remittances to different people to all four corners of the Philippines. And from doing it, I learned different things about those establishments, foremost of course is their charges, and how customers are served. 

These include some of the banks, and the different popular remittance shop we found around.

Banks 
Sending your remittance to a receiver through the bank, I say is the best, and is much cheaper compared to the remittance shop outside, like, Western Union, Cebuana, MLhuillier, and Palawan.

However, within the banks we want to find out which one has the cheapest, so I will enumerate those banks I only had transactions and not those banks I never made remittance transaction.

 In banks, it is required that the receiver must have a bank account on the particular bank you’re depositing the money.

Take note:  The information I have given below are all based on my own experiences and I am sharing it here for customers who want to have an idea of transferring money, locally. Thus, what's discuss here does not include remittances coming from overseas or sending remittance abroad.

Thus, it is advised that customers must ask for more information about bank policies regarding their charges, like, when the branch is located only on the other city, or if it’s located somewhere in Mindanao, or further places.

1. BPI (Bank of the Philippines Island)

Charges = it's no longer free

It used to be free. But beginning this year 2019, they started to charge Fifty-pesos(Php50)anywhere you sent in the Philippines. I just don't know if they have a bracket to base their charges. Because when I went to deposit money into the account of a friend located in Manila, they charged Php50 pesos even for the amount of Php1,850 pesos.

One thing I like about this bank is you feel comfortable waiting with their soft seats distributed around and you can cool-off if you've been stressed outside due to traffic and heat.

2. BDO (Banco De Oro)

Charges = P50 for the amount until P50, 000 pesos and there is additional charges above it. However, the bank has a program of Kabayan account, where in the deposit will not be charge. Ask the teller about it when you open your BDO account.

Areas covered = the whole Philippines

The service is good, however, if you want to avoid varicose veins try to send somebody to do the depositing for you or find out the best days wherein no line of people waiting. Standing an hour is a lot of work lost, lot of cholesterol used-up, and lot of additional age-lines if you have no patience. Just glad sometimes looking at their beautiful tellers can ease the pains on the neck.


3. PNB (Philippines National Bank)

Charges = Php100 pesos 

Areas Covered = Whole Philippines

I am glad PNB have those chairs to sit on while waiting. However, there are times bed is needed and just ask the guard to, please, wake you up when your number is called. But, if you have patience find the other smaller PNB branches where lines are short. And is it correct PNB is merging with Allied Bank? If they do, I hope that will improve their service

The main branch of PNB found at Session road, Baguio city is a large building, but can you believe it does not have comfort room for customers? Waiting an hour when people, are like having an agreement to meet at PNB on the same day and hour, can make one to feel the urge to visit that special room. So, if it happened you're troubled by call of nature get out and relief yourself somewhere - just don't forget to ask the guard to memorize your face so that when your number was passed by, you can go straight to the teller when you come back.

And they don't have utility worker/janitor, so if robbers attacked and able to get inside that's because some of the guards are busy wiping the floors when someone happened to wet it and others are guiding and helping the customers fill in the blank test questions. I believe guards are guards not utility men and assistants to tell customers how to fill up deposit slips.

4. DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines)

Charges = Php100 pesos 

Area Covered = Whole Philippines

So, far the only thing I encountered here is the teller will let you change what have you written because they don't include charges on the amount of deposit. I got used with PNB who includes charges to the amount of deposit. 5. Metro Bank

Charges = Php50 pesos

Areas covered = Whole Philippines

They work fast and systematically to avoid crowding the chairs, so if you've waited for ten minutes you can start to complain.

6. Land Bank

Charges = free to areas covered by the place they’re doing business. Ex. Enter branch deposits within Cordillera region are all free of charges. However, areas outside cordillera will be charge Php50 pesos and above, I believe depending on the amount of money.

The only time you at least scratch your head here is during paying taxes. Other than that, it seems they mastered how to dispatch customers fast like Metro Bank. However, you can't make transactions outside while you're inside the building - it's forbidden to use cellphones. Seems like their security needs upgrading, together with the other banks' security companies. They think cellphones can be an instrument to call your partners outside and rob the bank, but you never see an improvement on how they detect bad people by just looking at them.


7. RCBC (Rizal Commercial Bank of Corporation)

Charges = Free, however, I am not sure for further places because I have been depositing it to branches within the area.

The last time I used this bank was awful! I waited more than an hour. You know why? Some smart real Filipino-blooded people found ways to sneak in the line because the guard was not looking - because the guard was, again, busy helping customers to fill in the blank test papers. If we did not find out about it and complained, we could have waited ‘til closing time.

Remittance Shops

Remittance shops varies on their charges and one is cheaper and one is very expensive. Customers must be keen to see the brackets because that is where many consumers are confused. I snapped images of charges by these shops and I am giving you the work of comparing them.

Palawan Express Pera Padala
  I just saw for the first time that PEPP has branches located at Kayang Street, Baguio City.  So, I snapped an image of their updated rates as one can see below.

*NOTE:  Palawan Express updated and lowered it's charges.  Below is the new rates.

MLhuillier or ML Kwarta Padala This is the remittance place I used the most because it has the lowest rate compared to Cebuana, and Western Union. That's before I found Palawan Express Pera Padala. Another thing is MLhuillier has a shop open 24 hrs a day - just hope their internet connection is okay - and is spread all over the place 15 minutes away from each other.

NOTE:  MLhuillier  Updated and lowered remittance rates:  Below is their new rates.

Cebuana Lhuillier Money Remittance Service 

The good things about this shop is you don't have to answer a lot of questions you feel like you're taking examination on a subject you did not review. In addition to that, they have card where you can earn points and be able to use it to pay your next remittance or use it to buy load. And they have shops spread around you don't need a map to locate one.

The only thing that makes me dread using this for remittance is it has a very high rate compared to MLhuillier. Look at their rate to the amount of Php28,000 pesos. Cebuana charges Php720 pesos while MLhuillier charges Php300 pesos. You can eat with the best food in a restaurant with that amount.

Figure C1:   Old Rates (Before September 01, 2013)

Cebuana updated its charges a month after I posted this one, and I haven't used the company for a long time.  Well, I found out that they lowered their charges somewhat, though it's still high, it's no longer as sky high like the old one.  Figure C2 shows the updated charges.

Figure C2:   Updated Charges(September 01, 2013)

Western Union I used this twice to send and thrice to received, but if I have the choice, I will never use it. Their charges are ridiculous, compared to the other remittance places. Another thing is when you receive money from abroad you are charged for a service fee masked by another name. The only good thing about this shop is spread almost anywhere.