Why every ofw should have a Facebook Account

by Susan V. Ople
There should be a law mandating the inclusion of Facebook as part of the compulsory
pre-departure seminar for OFW’s. Having Facebook account would be easier to stay
connected in one’s family, and have a digital bridge to groups and individuals able to help
an OFW in distress. Best of all, it’s free.

Myra Grafil, a household service worker in Singapore, was able to get in touch with this
writer through Facebook at one of the lowest points in her life. She was overwhelmed
with personal problems and was contemplating suicide when a more positive force
prodded her to send an SOS message to a complete stranger—me!

After reading her angst-ridden private message, I immediately replied and was able to get
her mobile number, I called up my Singapore-based friend and former co-worker, Donna
Garcia, to get in touch with Myra, which she did. Donna and Myra met and my friend
patiently listened as the troubled OFW shared her story. Through e-mail, the Ople Center
was also able to alert the Philippine Embassy about her plight and to her credit, the Office
of the Labor Attache was quick to help Myra out.
Today, Myra has completed a three month course at the Asian school of Hospitality arts as one of
the scholars of skills-up. A joint vocational technical training of senator Manny Villar’s sagip-
OFW Program and the Blas Ople Center. Facebook saved Myra’s life, and continues to be a
lifeline for many other OFW’s as well.

Facebook is also a gathering place for true-blue OFW advocates. Patnubay Riyadh is a Facebook
page that deals with problems of migrant workers in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Patnubay
Riyadhis really Joseph Espiritu, himself a empowered OFW in Saudi Arabia with expert
knowledge about the kingdom’s law, culture and political system. Rashid Fabricante, Annie Geron,
Jun Aguilar, are people well-versed about labor and migration issues and concerns.

On facebook, an overseas worker can easily set an appointment with family members for chatting.
For those without facebook account (a virtual minority), “chatting” is done through a window at
the bottom of the facebook page where you can type your thoughts and questions, and wait for the
reply of a friend or a relative in real time. It takes great deal of control for someone whose works
revolves around the computer to keep from opening one’s facebook account simply to check who
among one’s friends are online.
For an OFW, however, having someone to chat with on a lonely and tiring evening as an instant
relief for home sickness.

Thankfully, mobile phones have found ways of incorporating social networking sites such as
facebook as part of its features. Inmates on death row and in various detention as well as
immigration facilities int the middle east and elsewhere are able to borrow such mobile phones
from fellow detainees. Though this practice is not allowed, some leniency is exercised particularly
for those living on borrowed time. And so yes, thanks to mobile phones. Facebook has become a
vital coping mechanism even for overseas workers under detention in some parts of the worls.

Having facebook page makes it easier for a mother or father physically separated from their
children to watch them grow up, make new friends, and even develop relationship from afar.
Unlike e-mails that can be hurriedly written or even tactlessly put together, a facebook page has
photos, videos, and notes that can draw a parent closer to his or her kids, despite the distance
between their countries. Facebook has the feature and speed of life, and every status feed pulsates
with time spent, with whom, and where.
I believe that learning how to open and run a facebook page should be part of compulsory
pre-departure orientation seminars for OFW’s. facebook is user friendly so one doesn’t
need to be a computer graduate to know how it works. Part of the course should be on the
ethical use of Facebook; no spamming, and married OFWs
For the sake of children, friends, relatives, and especially spouses who may find such
pictures as hurtful and scandalous.

We now live in the facebook era where privacy is set by one’s own hand. Unfortunately,
the power connect also bears an inherit power to destroy and so we must not conclude that
one else is interested in our online status, profilreges, and chats. Still, social networking
sites like facebook are a powerful tool against loneliness and isolation. It build networks,
connects friends, creates groups that believe in common causes, and gives family members
the chance to catch up. Since it’s free and already servicing more than 19 million
Filipinos, why not encourage, if not make it mandatory, for every first-time OFW to have
one?

(Source: Philippine Panorama dated May 22, 2011, pp 25-26)