It’s a sad but good reflection on the wrong priorities and focus of millions of Filipinos going abroad. While we look for TRINKETS and TOYS (or goods for pasalubong and beautify our image), the Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and the Koreans would go to the West and gather TOOLS to equip themselves by getting the best education in the great learning institutes so they could invent a new mobile phone, design a new car, or create their own business at home.
The Institute for International Education released their 2007 report on the ranking of the different countries with foreign origin in the college schools/universities in the West:
Rank Place of Origin 1 India 83,833 2 China 67,723 3 Korea 62,392 4 Japan 35,282 5 Taiwan 29,094 6 Canada 7 Mexico 8 Turkey 9 Thailand 8,886 10 Germany 11 United Kingdom 12 Saudi Arabia 7,886 13 Nepal 7,754 14 Hong Kong 7,722 15 Indonesia 7,338 16 Brazil 17 Colombia 18 France 19 Kenya 20 Vietnam 6,036 21 Malaysia 22 Nigeria 23 Pakistan 24 Russia 25 Venezuela
Notice that the leading countries are from Asia with almost 50% from the list being Asian countries. Where is the Philippines on this list?
Nepal is a very small country and yet would make sure they have at least 7,000 citizens in the best schools in the West. And so would Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and even African countries such as Kenya and Nigeria.
On the other hand, we probably have millions living, or coming in and out of the West but how many dreams of having a doctorate in Harvard? Or a Masters degree in MIT? We do have dreams yet our AMERICAN DREAM is somehow disorientated and has no large impact.
Sad but true, the perception of a Filipino today is a striking contrast during the time of Rizal when Filipinos in Europe were referred to as “the glory of the universities”Continue...
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As global economic and financial turmoil mounts, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has launched a "good news" offensive. Government spin won't, however, alleviate the impact of the global downturn on the local economy, where rising unemployment could thrust millions of Filipinos back under the poverty line.
Arroyo's government this month placed advertisements in local newspapers promoting the results of a recent public opinion survey that showed that 52% of Filipinos considered themselves poor. That marked a 7% improvement on the previous year's survey result, but the wealth effect will likely be shortlived, economists say.
Senator Edgardo Angara recently delivered his own gloomy assessment, when he said in a speech during budget deliberations that the two pillars of the economy - exports and remittances - were both "shaking". He estimated that by next year some 590,000 Filipinos would be at risk of losing their jobs, including 130,000 workers now employed on temporary visas in the United States. Another 50,000 overseas workers have already lost their jobs, including in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Taiwan, where massive layoffs are underway.
More than 9 million Filipinos are working abroad. Nearly 1 million Filipinos left the country for work overseas last year, while another million ventured out during the first nine months this year. Last year remittances from abroad accounted for 11.6% of GDP. And while remittances have so far held up, a number of foreign workers are believed to be dipping into their savings to keep money flowing to their families back home.
The country's unemployment rate is already a stubbornly high 7.4% - the second highest in the Asia-Pacific region after Indonesia. In a poll conducted by the Makati Business Club last month, 60% of local businesses said they expected their workforce to contract next year. As of July, more than 10 million Filipinos were unemployed or underemployed, according to government statistics.
Despite the government's good news spin, the average Filipino faces harder economic times.
What’s the real meaning of good news?
"That night, some shepherds were in the fields nearby watching their sheep. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord was shining around them, and they became very frightened. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord." (Luke 2:10-12)
What can I give him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; If I were a wise man, I would do my part; Yet what I can I give him— Give my heart.
Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830–1894)
Christmas began in the heart of God. It is complete only when it reaches the heart of man. That's what good news is!
Divers scouring the capsized wreck of the MV Princess of the Stars recovered 199 bodies during their two-week retrieval operation that ended Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.
“The [salvor firm Harbor Star] has informed our officer that they are done,” said PCG commandant Vice Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo in a phone interview. “They recovered 199 bodies after they scoured decks C, B and A.”
Jorge Ponce, diving supervisor of Harbor Star, said the company accomplished its target of getting the bodies out of the decks. The Princess of the Stars, owned by Sulpicio Lines Inc., sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province on June 21 when it sailed into Typhoon “Frank” (international codename: Fengshen).
While investigators sift through the wreckage which, of the 864 passengers aboard, only 57 survived. In the days following the tragedy, 350 bodies were recovered. One overlooked culprit for the national tragedy is the mounting brain drain of the country's best scientific minds.
That's in part because PAGASA has seen at least five weather forecasters, two weather observers and a hydrologist all leave the agency in the past year to take higher-paying jobs abroad. When the ferry disaster hit, all of their positions at PAGASA were still vacant. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) failed to issue proper storm warnings before the Princess of the Stars left port in Manila and into the path of an incoming typhoon. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said it recently invested US$40 million in new equipment at PAGASA, but that the agency lacked the qualified meteorologists and climatologists to put the advanced technology to proper use.
Other specialized science- and technology-oriented agencies, including the Mines and GeoSciences Bureau, are also fast losing science and technology experts to overseas recruiters and failing to fill their vacated posts. The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development has lost some 75 English-speaking staff over the past two years, most of whom have migrated for higher-paying posts in other countries.
The Philippines has the third-largest population of outward migrants in the world, according to the United Nations. It is no longer just Filipino laborers who are heading overseas for better job. In recent years, doctors, nurses, teachers and pilots have all left in their professional droves for overseas opportunities.
Now, a growing number of the country's best and brightest scientists are being lured abroad by higher-paying salaries and better-funded research prospects.
The Philippine government already estimates it needs an additional 4,100 agriculture researchers, 2,000 fishery and marine science experts, 1,300 biotechnology staff and nearly 1,000 energy and environmental scientists just to meet rising challenges from higher energy and food costs.
Regional laggard The number of scientists and engineers currently engaged in research and development (R&D) activities across the Philippines is about 8,800, representing a 20% decline from the figure recorded in 1996, according to DOST. That figure pales in regional comparison. Singapore, which has a population less than half of Metro Manila, employs 19,377 scientists and engineers involved in R&D activities, according to DOST's 2007 Compendium on Science and Technology Statistics. Regional competitor Thailand boasts more than 30,900 R&D-related staff, while Indonesia has 92,800, and even Vietnam employs 41,100.
That has resulted in lower scientific output. The Philippines recently ranked 29th out of 30 countries surveyed for their respective science and technology abilities, in a survey conducted by the Switzerland-based International Institute of Management Development (IIMD). The IIMD survey of world competitiveness from 2006, which compared various measures across 61 countries, ranked the Philippines 58th in scientific infrastructure.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recommends that developing countries allocate at least 1% of their gross domestic product (GDP) towards science and technology to maintain competitiveness and sustain economic growth. Philippine politicians have failed to make those budgetary earmarks. Despite recent increases in funding for science-related activities, including budgetary earmarks worth 3.7 billion pesos (US$81 million) in 2007, the allocation is still lower than the 3.8 billion pesos made in 1998.
The current budget's allocation for science and technology related activities comes to a paltry 0.14% of GDP, or half the amount of Thailand's 0.26% and about a mere fifth of Malaysia's 0.69%. The figures are even more miserly when measured in per capita terms, with the Philippines spending only $6.20 per head, while Thailand commits $19.70 and Malaysia spends $61.90, according to the World Economic Forum's most recent Global Competitiveness Report.
Apart from meager budgets, Filipino scientists and researchers complain that there are no concrete policies to channel and facilitate research outputs into marketable products or uses. Philippine research grants seldom if ever include monetary provisions for spinning-off research results for commercial applications, including the high costs of acquiring intellectual property rights for new innovations.
The government recently launched its new "Balik Scientist" program, which aims to reverse the brain drain by encouraging overseas Filipino scientists to return home and share their knowledge and experiences with up and coming local scientists.
The government has provisionally targeted alternative energy, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and information and communication technology as areas of priority for what it has referred to as a "brain gain" program. But without financial incentives to lure scientists home, the program has over its first five months received only five applications - considerably fewer than the estimated number of scientists who have left the Philippines over the same period.
The main reason for the so called, “Diaspora of Filipino professionals” is better pay abroad and lack of opportunity at home.
The BBC recently expressed its apologies for airing a comedy sketch that many Filipinos have found distasteful.
“Firstly, we're sorry if you were in any way offended by the program as this wasn't our intention,” the BBC’s Complaints Division stated.
The division described 'Harry & Paul' as a “post-watershed comedy sketch show well-known for its exaggerated humour and absurd characters.”
“It in no way represents real people and was never intended to offend or demean any viewer,” it added.
“We recognize that you were personally offended by the sketch and would like to assure you that your complaint has been registered on our audience log,” the complaints division stated.
The skit was part of a series known as “Northern Monkey,” and that the maid’s nationality was not relevant to the comedy.
“The fact that the maid is from the Philippines isn't relevant to the comedy,” it stated.
The said skit was first brought into the general public’s attention when Filipino groups complained that a portion of the “Harry & Paul” comedy show portrayed a Filipina in a very demeaning manner.
Philippine representative for party-list AKBAYAN Risa Hontiveros condemned the network for the “racist and humiliating” portrayal of a Filipina domestic worker.
"By making a horrible scene of exploitation an object of ridicule, the show trivializes an act of abuse commonly experienced by Filipina workers abroad…, an issue that merit global indignation,” she added.
Hontiveros also said that showing Filipinas as submissive sex objects reinforces the idea of people from other nationalities that they can just hire a petite and sexy Filipina domestic helper and turn her into a sexual object.
Philippine Ambassador to the UK Edgardo Espiritu criticized the skit as "gutter humor." He said the show counters the advocacy of the British government to observe equality for all and respect for human rights.
The Philippine embassy in London had already written to the United Kingdom's media regulatory agency as well as to the mayor of London, the secretary of state for women, and the television network to complain about the said show.
Filipinos in the UK also condemned the show and mapped out protest actions including an online petition called “Dignity and Respect for the Filipino Worker Campaign”.
Female lawmakers and other organizations followed suit in asking BBC to issue a public apology for presenting a racist, humiliating and disgusting depiction of a Filipina domestic worker.
Many groups have already urged the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to lodge a complaint before the British government and to demand apology from BBC.
An official complaint was emailed to the network. The show outraged many Filipinos, women’s groups and even lawmakers prompting the Philippine government to direct the foreign affairs department to act on the issue.
Philippine Government wants BBC apology for wrong reason.
A national alliance of women criticized the government’s hypocrisy for seeking a public apology over the racial slur aired in a British comedy show in the guise of defending the Filipino dignity.
“The Philippine government is seeking public apology from the show’s producers and the British Broadcasting Corporation not in defense of the Filipino dignity but in defense of its labor-export policy especially on the eve of the Philippine hosting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development,” said Gabriela Secretary General Emmi de Jesus.
“The Philippine government is flustered the 'anti-Pinay' portrayal in 'Harry and Paul' mirrors the current state of many Filipina overseas workers, which thus puts into question it’s claim that the Philippines is the showcase of how migration leads to development,” De Jesus said.
The group added that the portrayal of a Filipina maid in the skit “speaks not of development, but of degradation.”
It was revolting. It was a disgusting and an insensitive statement from our government!
It’s a sad but good reflection on the wrong priorities and focus of millions of Filipinos going abroad. While we look for TRINKETS and TOYS (or goods for pasalubong and beautify our image), the Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and the Koreans would go to the West and gather TOOLS to equip themselves by getting the best education in the great learning institutes so they could invent a new mobile phone, design a new car, or create their own business at home. 
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