He went up, she went down: Two former OFWs share their stories
MANILA, Philippines - Working abroad is like a game of chance, some win, while many others lose.
Exclude 54-year-old Miguel “Mike" Bolos from the latter. He left for Saudi Arabia as a son of a lowly fish distributor and carpenter, and returned home a successful man after 25 years.
The P60-million three-story One Crown Plaza shopping mall in Guagua town in Pampanga province is Bolos’s trophy as a successful overseas Filipino worker (OFW). And it’s not only that. He also owns the Bay Spa at the Blue Wave complex along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City.
Bone-dry Saudi Arabia isn’t the quintessential vacation site. But Bolos was nevertheless enticed to go to the Kingdom with the thought of earning five to ten times more than what was being offered to him in the Philippines.
With that, he grabbed the opportunity to work as a travel agency accountant in Riyadh in 1980. About two years later, he transferred to a small health care management company where he eventually got promoted to several higher positions.
Bolos not only knew how to handle his money, he also knew how to make it grow. He invested his income in the US stock market, and sent the money he earned from it to his family in the Philippines.
“Savings will never be enough no matter how one looks at it. I now subscribe to the notion that our needs are few and it is our wants that are many," he said.
But like what other OFWs had gone through, Bolos’s absence became a struggle to him and his family. “I just accepted it as the price to pay for my going abroad," Bolos said.
He retired from his job as a corporate assistant comptroller after realizing that 25 years was already enough. He then returned home confident that he would reap in the Philippines what he had sowed in Saudi Arabia.
“I wanted to do something more meaningful in life that will rebound to the benefit of my fellow Filipinos who need it back home while I still can," said Bolos regarding his businesses in the Philippines
As for his fellow OFWs, Bolos advised them not to lose hope. “As the good book says, seek and ye shall find. There is always something for somebody who looks hard enough and is willing to toil for it."
The other face
Luck wasn’t on the side of 39-year-old Ana Reyes, who worked in the US territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for 13 years.
Though she earned in US dollars working in CNMI’s Saipan island, the high cost of living in the territory and her not so big income, which was much lower than the pay on US Mainland, did not allow her to save much.
She was first employed as an administrative assistant doing accounting and arranging of engineering and printing supplies. This work that earned her $2.15 per hour lasted for eight years.
Her second job that lasted for five years was with a publishing company where she was engaged in marketing. It was during this time that she was able to earn a bit more than the minimum wage so she was able to send some money home.
In May 2003, she decided to go back to the Philippines to arrange her papers to work in Europe. She was able to go to Germany and stayed with her sister there for three months. However, she failed to find work in Germany and was forced to go back to the Philippines.
“I got tired of working on Saipan. I was earning in dollars, but not that much to make me save a lot. The cost of living on the island was also high. I always had to pack lunch because it was expensive to eat outside," said Reyes.
“There was also no public transport. You have to have a car to buy a dollar of cooking oil at a nearby convenience store. I couldn’t walk to the store because dogs barked at me. They were not used to seeing people walking," she added.
In the Philippines, Reyes took different jobs, but she never succeeded in any one of them.
She first worked at a family friend’s company that produced IDs for schools and universities in Negros Oriental province. However, she ended working there after six months because the business failed to flourish.
In 2004, Reyes tried to put up an events-organizing business but she also failed. In 2005, she ventured into a dried foods business with friends but had problems with their supplier.
“I really tried very hard. But I didn’t gain anything despite my perseverance. I also found it hard to reintegrate myself with my own country after 13 years of living abroad," said Reyes.
Reyes wasn’t sure why she could not succeed in her own country, but she did not regret going back to the Philippines. “Hindi ako nanghinayang kasi parang first time ko nag-explore sa Pilipinas (I did not regret it because it’s like the first time that I’ve explored the Philippines)," she said.
“Ayoko mag-work sa Philippines, gusto ko lang tumira dito (I don’t want to work in the Philippines, I just want to live here)," Reyes added.
Reyes knows there are many jobs here in the Philippines, but she feels that there aren’t any that are for her. “I may go back to Germany and try to find work there again. If I get employed there, I will save and stay there for some years, then go back to the Philippines to enjoy my life."
Advice to OFWs
Francisco Colayco, financial advisor and venture developer, said that based on the Colayco Foundation for Education (CFE) team’s findings, only 10 to 20 percent of OFWs know how to manage their money.
“They want to live their chosen lifestyle immediately at the expense of too much borrowing," he said.
Colayco said that OFWs should have a personal financial goal even before they leave the country.
According to Colayco, OFWs can take care of their money by first knowing how much in assets they have in the Philippines. Second, they should agree with their families how much money they will remit. Third, they must learn what their options are for saving both here and abroad.
Colayco said OFWs should try their best in following the 80-20 rule, which means that they should save 20 percent of their income as capital for their future business or simply as savings.
Before settling back in the Philippines, OFWs should have a personal financial plan so that they would be able to know if they have enough resources to live in the country without working, according to Colayco.
“If they still need a job, they should be sure they have that job. Before they come back wanting a business, they should have organized that business, to be already operating and bringing in earnings even before they come home," he added.
Colayco said that if a returning OFW cannot adjust to living conditions in the Philippines, it could mean that he or she lacks the fund, so the OFW has to either drastically cut down on his or her expenses or find a job.
He said that because nine out of 10 fail in setting up new businesses, OFWs should “only put up businesses for which they have expertise, interest, and sufficient funding." - KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV
Exclude 54-year-old Miguel “Mike" Bolos from the latter. He left for Saudi Arabia as a son of a lowly fish distributor and carpenter, and returned home a successful man after 25 years.
The P60-million three-story One Crown Plaza shopping mall in Guagua town in Pampanga province is Bolos’s trophy as a successful overseas Filipino worker (OFW). And it’s not only that. He also owns the Bay Spa at the Blue Wave complex along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City.
Bone-dry Saudi Arabia isn’t the quintessential vacation site. But Bolos was nevertheless enticed to go to the Kingdom with the thought of earning five to ten times more than what was being offered to him in the Philippines.
With that, he grabbed the opportunity to work as a travel agency accountant in Riyadh in 1980. About two years later, he transferred to a small health care management company where he eventually got promoted to several higher positions.
Bolos not only knew how to handle his money, he also knew how to make it grow. He invested his income in the US stock market, and sent the money he earned from it to his family in the Philippines.
“Savings will never be enough no matter how one looks at it. I now subscribe to the notion that our needs are few and it is our wants that are many," he said.
But like what other OFWs had gone through, Bolos’s absence became a struggle to him and his family. “I just accepted it as the price to pay for my going abroad," Bolos said.
He retired from his job as a corporate assistant comptroller after realizing that 25 years was already enough. He then returned home confident that he would reap in the Philippines what he had sowed in Saudi Arabia.
“I wanted to do something more meaningful in life that will rebound to the benefit of my fellow Filipinos who need it back home while I still can," said Bolos regarding his businesses in the Philippines
As for his fellow OFWs, Bolos advised them not to lose hope. “As the good book says, seek and ye shall find. There is always something for somebody who looks hard enough and is willing to toil for it."
The other face
Luck wasn’t on the side of 39-year-old Ana Reyes, who worked in the US territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for 13 years.
Though she earned in US dollars working in CNMI’s Saipan island, the high cost of living in the territory and her not so big income, which was much lower than the pay on US Mainland, did not allow her to save much.
She was first employed as an administrative assistant doing accounting and arranging of engineering and printing supplies. This work that earned her $2.15 per hour lasted for eight years.
Her second job that lasted for five years was with a publishing company where she was engaged in marketing. It was during this time that she was able to earn a bit more than the minimum wage so she was able to send some money home.
In May 2003, she decided to go back to the Philippines to arrange her papers to work in Europe. She was able to go to Germany and stayed with her sister there for three months. However, she failed to find work in Germany and was forced to go back to the Philippines.
“I got tired of working on Saipan. I was earning in dollars, but not that much to make me save a lot. The cost of living on the island was also high. I always had to pack lunch because it was expensive to eat outside," said Reyes.
“There was also no public transport. You have to have a car to buy a dollar of cooking oil at a nearby convenience store. I couldn’t walk to the store because dogs barked at me. They were not used to seeing people walking," she added.
In the Philippines, Reyes took different jobs, but she never succeeded in any one of them.
She first worked at a family friend’s company that produced IDs for schools and universities in Negros Oriental province. However, she ended working there after six months because the business failed to flourish.
In 2004, Reyes tried to put up an events-organizing business but she also failed. In 2005, she ventured into a dried foods business with friends but had problems with their supplier.
“I really tried very hard. But I didn’t gain anything despite my perseverance. I also found it hard to reintegrate myself with my own country after 13 years of living abroad," said Reyes.
Reyes wasn’t sure why she could not succeed in her own country, but she did not regret going back to the Philippines. “Hindi ako nanghinayang kasi parang first time ko nag-explore sa Pilipinas (I did not regret it because it’s like the first time that I’ve explored the Philippines)," she said.
“Ayoko mag-work sa Philippines, gusto ko lang tumira dito (I don’t want to work in the Philippines, I just want to live here)," Reyes added.
Reyes knows there are many jobs here in the Philippines, but she feels that there aren’t any that are for her. “I may go back to Germany and try to find work there again. If I get employed there, I will save and stay there for some years, then go back to the Philippines to enjoy my life."
Advice to OFWs
Francisco Colayco, financial advisor and venture developer, said that based on the Colayco Foundation for Education (CFE) team’s findings, only 10 to 20 percent of OFWs know how to manage their money.
“They want to live their chosen lifestyle immediately at the expense of too much borrowing," he said.
Colayco said that OFWs should have a personal financial goal even before they leave the country.
According to Colayco, OFWs can take care of their money by first knowing how much in assets they have in the Philippines. Second, they should agree with their families how much money they will remit. Third, they must learn what their options are for saving both here and abroad.
Colayco said OFWs should try their best in following the 80-20 rule, which means that they should save 20 percent of their income as capital for their future business or simply as savings.
Before settling back in the Philippines, OFWs should have a personal financial plan so that they would be able to know if they have enough resources to live in the country without working, according to Colayco.
“If they still need a job, they should be sure they have that job. Before they come back wanting a business, they should have organized that business, to be already operating and bringing in earnings even before they come home," he added.
Colayco said that if a returning OFW cannot adjust to living conditions in the Philippines, it could mean that he or she lacks the fund, so the OFW has to either drastically cut down on his or her expenses or find a job.
He said that because nine out of 10 fail in setting up new businesses, OFWs should “only put up businesses for which they have expertise, interest, and sufficient funding." - KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV
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