Pioneer OFW now savors fruits of labor Stephen Norries A. Padilla Philippine Daily Inquirer
March 17, 2009
BAYANI Angad, a faithful husband and a dedicated father to seven children, was a factory employee before venturing out as a migrant worker.
He had worked in the country for more than two decades before taking his chances abroad. He was an employment clerk in Lirag Textile Mills in Batangas from 1957 to 1966. There, he met Julieta, a factory worker, who became his wife for almost 50 years now. He resigned after the company failed to award him his promotion, which was given instead to his subordinate who was a relative of the owner.
He transferred to Saranggaya Industries Inc. and stayed there for four months until he was pirated by GTE International and became its personnel and administrative supervisor for 12 years. His service in this company brought him a house in a small village in Baliuag, Bulacan.
In 1979, the company he served for more than a decade had a mass layoff due to a bidding loss in favor of Siemens. Fearing he would be one of those unlucky employees, and to save face, Bayani resigned from his job. With an unpaid mortgage for the lot of his house and a family to feed, he decided to look for work overseas.
1st batch of OFWs
His first offer came a few months after he resigned. The requirement at that time to work abroad was only a medical certificate and a passport.
“Ang recruiting agencies lang noon tatlo lang yata. Walang placement fee pa,” he narrated. He said he belonged to the first batches of Filipinos who migrated to work in another country, thus the earliest Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), or then called Overseas Contract Workers.
He flew to Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), in the same year. He could still remember his first flight and the stopover they made in Iran. Many OFWs then trapped in the Iran-Iraq war boarded their plane in an attempt to transfer and work in KSA.
Bayani’s first job in a foreign land was close to his profession in the Philippines. He worked as assistant support services manager for Saudi Telephone until the end of his contract in 1983. His salary then in local currency was P27, 000. This was a huge amount at that time.
“Seven pesos lang ang isang dolyar noon,” he said. Half of his income went to the Philippines.
Money isn’t the only thing he remits back home. Every year, he sends balikbayan boxes containing goods and his family’s orders, like toys, clothes, shoes, bottles of perfume and lotion, and chocolate bars and candies. Whenever he came home, usually during Christmas or summer, his family feast on more imported goods and out-of-town vacations.
Two years later, he transferred to the province of Yanbu and juggled two positions for the Royal Commission. He worked as assistant office manager and materials management manager at the same time.
Financial drought
Bayani did not like this setup. He thought this was abusive, so he complained to his employer about the situation. But the Royal Commission insisted he keep his two jobs. He resigned right away.
He was unemployed from 1985 to 1989. His first two daughters, Olivia and Norayda, both took up jobs to help support the family. They worked in a restaurant and in a famous drugstore respectively.
After years of financial drought, Bayani returned to work when an offer abroad opened up. He came back to Riyadh to work as secretary for the National Shipping Co. of Saudi Arabia. He used to make drafts for company letters, send and receive fax messages, and take care of all phone calls. “Pakadali nga nun (That was really easy),” he said with a smile.
He stayed there up to 1994 before shifting to its sister company, National Chemical Carriers Ltd. Co. There he served as communications supervisor until his forced retirement in 2004 at the age of 69.
Forced retirement
While Bayani did not really want to retire yet, he was forced to do so when his boss found out he was way over the retirement age of 60.
He says he still has obligations and more plans for his family, like putting up a computer shop business and buying a brand new car. Nevertheless, he is happy that his house and lot are fully paid now.
In all his years abroad, he never encountered problems in his relationship with other OFWs. “Kung ano problema ng isa, tinutulungan namin (If one of us has a problem, everybody helps out). United kami. (We were) very cooperative with each other,” he said.
They met at least once a week for recreational activities. Table tennis, bowling and swimming are their favorite pastimes. Aside from playing sports, they also held gatherings as a religious group: Bible studies, prayer meetings and Holy Mass even though these were prohibited in the Islam nation.
He even narrated how a couple was jailed and sentenced to beheading when they were caught spreading Christian paraphernalia. The Philippine government had to intervene to save the lives of the two.
They kept their meetings in secrecy by transferring locations every week, going from one apartment with Filipino tenants to another.
Membership was also limited. There were only eight to 10 Filipinos in a group. The logic behind this is that authorities do not severely punish small groups caught practicing religion other than Islam.
Discrimination in a foreign land did not come as a surprise, although Bayani could not recall any personal experience wherein he was discriminated against.
Some Filipinos who worked in small companies such as those in construction and enterprise were not so lucky. He recalled how his housemate, a resident of Marikina City, would not be paid for three to six months. This led to his friend’s early resignation from work.
Promotion was also elusive since it was always given to KSA citizens.
Working in a big and legal company overseas, where he received regular benefits, has saved him from the bane of bigotry.
His benefits included free medication and hospitalization, overtime pay, bonus pay, monthly allowance, and a one-month yearly vacation. He says these are given “para maging masipag lalo (ang mga employees).”
‘Katas ng Saudi’
His two decades of work in another country bailed him out of the mortgage for the lot of his house.
He was also able to buy home appliances and gadgets like TV, DVD, video camera and a treadmill. Part of his savings too was used to partially renovate the house for his growing family.
By affording his family with all their needs, Bayani can claim that all his assets today are indeed “katas ng Saudi.”
At 73, he is content taking care of his 17th grandchild and maintaining the house that he built with decades of work here and abroad. This year, he hopes to celebrate with his wife their golden wedding anniversary. He still attends prayer meetings and Bible studies but not in secrecy anymore.
