The Great Migration

A Tale Behind the Expedition of Migratory Heroes

The journey of a thousand miles does not begin with a single step,
but with a single dream.

Soaring through the endless horizon of clouds and drifting away with
the crashing waves of the ocean. The great migration progresses as the
eager wanderers say goodbye to their old nesting grounds to pursue
another chapter of life on the other side of the globe.

The Philippines, a tropical haven to many, is in fact one of the most

highly unemployed Nations in the world, with the unemployment rate that
averaged at 8.38% from 1994 until 2018. With only a few opportunities to
grab, its citizens leech on neighboring countries for work openings and job
hirings.

The production of laboring workers in the country is rapid, but

employment takes a very long time to process. So in the pursuit to find
better job opportunities, Filipino workers tend to flock overseas to avail on a
higher job quality compared to what is being offered in their own country.

Overseas Filipino Workers started working outside the country as

early as the 1990s when the Republic Act 8042, also known as the Migrant
Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 was enacted.

Ever since then, flocks of Philippine migrants and immigrants have

been operating outside the archipelago. According to the results from the
2017 Survey on Overseas Filipinos, the OFWs who worked abroad at the
period of April to September 2017 was estimated at about 2.3 million.

With salary ranges abroad that exceeds the standard payments of

our country, a lot of workers have been enticed to work at different
countries to provide for their families. But it is not easy to live in a distant
land away from the people they love for a very long period of time. Some
overseas workers suffer from Home Sickness and sometimes, even
depression. But the worst case is that some of them are being mistreated
by their own employers whether at their workplace or at home.

Working to the bone both day and night seems like a never ending
path of exhaustion, but not for these workers. They set dreams to fulfill in
order to provide a better life not only for them, but for the people they love.
 Working overseas is more than just travel, it is a great migration that
requires sacrifice, passion, and dedication. OFWs are more than just
workers, they are migratory heroes destined to fulfill their goals outside the
nesting grounds they call home.

The flight of OFWs began with a single dream that sparked the
advancement of a great migration.

Jericho D. Mello
Davao del Norte
Kapalong National High School
Topic: The Flight of OFWs