If we have learned one lesson from the Taiwan incident it is this: The OFW phenomenon is a big anomaly and the OFW is a misnomer. It is an anomaly in the sense that overseas Filipino workers, who have no residence or citizen status in the country where they work, are purely looked upon as visitors and, worse, as commodities. They can be disposed of any time. They are taken advantage of in so many ways.
The OFWs in Taiwan were harassed and attacked because of an incident that happened in the South China Sea. They are treated there as commodities to be disposed of at will and not as people who have rights and human dignity. They are innocent victims. Also, OFW applications for Taiwan were canceled, just like that. That is pure retaliation, and it is outrageous!
I would like to call on President Aquino to discourage Filipinos from going abroad for work. Instead, let them emigrate with their whole family in order to avoid broken families and other disorders. But as one of his first priorities the President should also create more job opportunities in the Philippines for Filipinos.
Calling the OFWs our modern heroes because of their dollar remittances to the Philippines is another anomaly.
—ARNOLD VAN VUGT,
nolvanvugt@gmail.com