It’s clear OFWs can’t depend on gov’t

March 31, 2007 by reyna09
Filed under: OFW Life & Issues

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I wrote about this earlier: http://reynaelena.com/?p=393 and I really did not understand why the nurses walked out nor did I understand what must be in their mind for doing so. Here’s an email I picked up on the Inquirer to offer us some insights. Whether these are true, who knows. But what we know is the title above. Correct?

HERE:

Inquirer
Last updated 01:42am (Mla time) 03/31/2007

I am a Filipino living in the United States. I was disheartened when I saw on New York TV that the Filipino nurses who made headlines by courageously fighting back against their abusive recruiter/employer (Sentosa Health Care) are now the ones being haled to court on charges of abandoning and endangering patients under their care.

What made the newscast disgusting was that it was one-sided. It reported that the patients were chronically ill children, and that the nurses quit because they wanted more money. The prosecutor who was interviewed portrayed the nurses as irresponsible and greedy. Nothing was mentioned about the subhuman living and working conditions these nurses suffered because of their employer’s insensitivity. These nurses are fighting a losing cause since their employer knows influential people in New York, among them an influential senator.

I would love to see our politicians in the Philippines helping them and doing something to prevent a similar situation happening to other Filipinos. I would love to see the candidates in the May elections to include OFW welfare in their campaign platforms. I know this is wishful thinking.

I guess we overseas Filipino workers should accept the reality that, while our government depends so much on our remittances, we cannot depend on our government.

DENNIS DY (via e-mail)

Tags: Nurses