By Kristy Anne Topacio-Manalaysay
\nOFW Journalism Consortium<\/p>\n
[B]IMUS, Cavite[\/B]\u2013Former seafarer Rolando Sarno is riding on a new wave: that of the daily realities of managing a business.<\/p>\n
Using a scoop from galvanized iron, Sarno pours rice into a plastic bag, his fingers deftly tying a knot to seal the top and keep the grains from falling.<\/p>\n
Another happy customer leaves his wholesale and retail business here which he put up after leaving a job tying sheep-shank and other types of knots on a ship in 1989.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had some money saved. It grew after five years so I had to choose between staying on a ship or running my own ship,\u201d Sarno, now 53, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided to stay in the country and start our business.\u201d<\/p>\n
The elderly Sarno is just one of the many overseas Filipino workers \u2013called modern-day heroes because of their remittances\u2013 who now live lives they call \u201cordinary\u201d in this province of heroes.<\/p>\n
This province would be dashed into the center of commemoration rituals for the national heroes\u2019 day next week, November 30, but most of its denizens wouldn\u2019t be aware of the international day of migrants in the week before Christmas or on December 18.<\/p>\n
The municipal government even has no program \u201cspecifically intended for OFWs,\u201d according to Mayor Homer Saquilayan, himself a former migrant worker.<\/p>\n
But former OFWs like Valentine Vele\u00f1a doesn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not aware of [what] the [local] government [does]; I\u2019m not that concerned [anyway],\u201d Vele\u00f1a, a seaman for two decades, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I care about the most is myself and my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
That, for him, is being \u201cheroic\u201d: performing a daily duty to his loved ones.<\/p>\n
Thus reveals the heritage of this municipality in the southern province of Cavite that is traced to its people\u2019s defeat of Spanish colonial army and the unfurling of the Philippine flag. The latter signaled the birth of this Republic whose eight million citizens a century later are in 190 other countries. <\/p>\n
[B]Moderns[\/B]<\/p>\n
Today, Filipinos like Vele\u00f1a, who captained a ship before retiring six years ago, provide the bridge to that heritage amidst the boom propelled by money sent by their modern counterparts.<\/p>\n
The municipality hosts shopping centers, banks, an industrial zone, and other icons of commerce side by side the property sector\u2019s rush to sell themed-houses and real estate projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings are different now, especially with the present situation in the Philippines,\u201d Vele\u00f1a said. \u201cBefore, we could live off even a small amount of money. Now, that\u2019s not possible. Our standard of living is unbelievably higher, but I think OFWs like me have learned to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Vele\u00f1as live in a subdivision in Imus, where they had their three-door apartment constructed. They also own a grocery store, which Vele\u00f1a said is for \u201csomething to get us through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Vele\u00f1a, Judy Constantino is also captain of a business born out of saving her husband\u2019s income as a seaman since 1976.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has been thinking of setting up a business for years now,\u201d Constantino said adding that she agreed saying having a business instead of letting her husband continue working abroad has its advantages.<\/p>\n
However, with today\u2019s ballooning unemployment rate and stiff market competition, Constantino could not help but think of the risks involved, especially now that they are paying their daughter\u2019s way through college. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf he continues with his job as a seaman, we would be assured financially, but he would be away for at least eight months a year,\u201d Constantino told the [I]OFW Journalism Consortium[\/I] in a separate interview.<\/p>\n
Should her husband decide to venture into business, they could stay together as a family, but with no sense of security that the business with prosper.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite risky to venture into business with today\u2019s political and economic situation,\u201d she said echoing Vele\u00f1a\u2019s concerns. <\/p>\n
[B]Sanctuary[\/B]<\/p>\n
According to Saquilayan, Imus\u2019s proximity to Manila is the main attraction for the municipality\u2019s business environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people, including OFWs, have chosen to start their businesses here mainly because of [that] and the booming population, not to mention that a lot of Imuse\u00f1os are highly qualified, prospective employees,\u201d Saquilayan said.<\/p>\n
He added that the municipality \u2013one of the province\u2019s twenty\u2013 is \u201cthe breeding ground for political, economic and business leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked why there\u2019s no specific program to attract more OFWs to return, Saquilayan said the local government is \u201copen to help or assist them, just like what we are doing to other sectors of the society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saquilayan said he is no stranger to the plight of OFWs, having left the country and his job as government employee in 1985 to work in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
He said he returned after a two-year contract and worked as the municipal engineer for a decade.<\/p>\n
In the 2001 local elections, he gained the votes needed for the mayoral post.<\/p>\n
I never missed overseas work, Saquilayan said adding he didn\u2019t go into business since, he said, he\u2019s \u201cnot a business-inclined person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other former OFWs who went into politics include Rodolfo del Rosario, who worked as a mess man aboard international ships, and Napolen Monzon, who worked in construction projects in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
Both gained the votes needed to lead their respective barangay or village.<\/p>\n
\u201cNaliitan ako sa sweldo [I deigned the meager salary as a construction worker in Saudi Arabia],\u201d Monzon told the [I]OFW Journalism Consortium[\/I].<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought that it would be better for me to stay. Pareho lang naman [It\u2019s just the same],\u201d Monzon said of his decision to return in 1986.<\/p>\n
All three consider Imus, once a battlefield for the country\u2019s heroes in the 1896 Philippine Revolution, is now the sanctuary for \u201cmodern-day heroes\u201d deeming reintegration, return, or retirement.<\/p>\n
According to researcher Roberto de Vera, they are members of an estimated 93,620 OFW households in this province.<\/p>\n
Government agency Philippine Overseas Employment Administration cited number constitutes some 9.5 percent of the overall deployment of 981,677 last year.<\/p>\n
However, government has no data available either for those who returned more than two years or OFWs who went into business or sought political positions like Saquilayan, Del Rosario or Monzon. <\/p>\n
[B]Nature[\/B]<\/p>\n
Returning OFWs\u2019 option to go into business rather than politics is seen as a natural path, surmised Antonio Valeriano.<\/p>\n
Antonio Valeriano is the 68-year-old proprietor of a small restaurant that has been operating for 24 years now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess that business is becoming a path for OFWs,\u201d Valeriano said adding: \u201cIt\u2019s like a form of retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valeriano came home in 1982 and put up the restaurant after working as a secretary in Becthel Co. in Jubail.<\/p>\n
He told the [I]OFW Journalism Consortium[\/I] he was able to establish a business with the money he earned abroad.<\/p>\n
Valeriano\u2019s restaurant first became famous when it was still situated at the Imus public market, which, through the years, has undergone renovations under different municipal mayors.<\/p>\n
Near Valeriano\u2019s business is Sarno\u2019s stall.<\/p>\n
Sarno believes that he made the right decision and thinks that his present \u201cjob\u201d is more rewarding than his work abroad, in more ways than one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI earn more and, at the same time, I am with my family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Both credit their success in reintegration to themselves rather than to the absence or presence of an OFW-focused local government project.<\/p>\n
Vele\u00f1a added: \u201cShould they [the local government] create programs for us, then that would be very welcome, especially if it concerns medical assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Vele\u00f1a said OFWs should consider the timing whether they want to go into business or enter the highly-charged politics of Imus, Cavite.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, save first. That\u2019s the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, according to them, saving is the most heroic thing they have done in their daily lives as migrant workers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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