A Filipino mother has described the anguish she went through before reluctantly deciding that her daughter should work as a domestic worker in Hong Kong to help support her family.
Illustrating the difficult choices that Filipinos often face before heading abroad to find work, Milagrosena Tebia, 56, said she initially didn’t want her daughter Sheila Bonifacio, to work in Hong Kong. She eventually relented because there simply weren’t enough well-paid job opportunities back home in the Philippines.
Tebia had herself worked in Hong Kong for eight years before returning to the Philippines for good in 2007, so she knew the challenges that her daughter would face. But she needed some way of paying for her now- deceased husband’s medical bills, ABS-CBN News reported.
Bonifacio, 34, was a professional teacher in Manila for three years before she went to Hong Kong. She decided to follow her mother’s footsteps because her monthly salary of PHP15,000 (US$293) was not enough to support her family.
She said it was common for people in the Philippines to seek work overseas to avoid poverty and hunger. “We are forced to leave our country to find better opportunities.” .
After working for six different employers, Bonifacio now earns HK$5,000 (US$640) a month, which is twice her monthly salary as a teacher in the Philippines. She is able to pay her father’s medical bills and support her siblings’ education.
Tebia said she is proud of her daughter, but feels sad because they are not together. “In the Philippines, even if you graduate with a degree, you still cannot get a job with liveable pay,” she said.
why she not become prostitute instead? she can earn more money than teacher or maid!
You are not alone kabayan,being a professional in carrieer,you must professional too in dealings with your living,it is not because you are a degree holder,you can’t do any other jobs which are related to ur profession. As long as it is legal,clean and a job that we can be proud of,grab it and make the best of it.
You are not alone madam, i am a degree holder as well but opted to come here in HK as DH for the same reason, financial stability. Since we practice an extended family responsibility, salary way back home is not sufficient to support the added burden. Despite it all, what matters most is that we do our best to put food on the table and also make our family happy.
Sacrificing ourself is better for the sake and welfare of our family rather than seeing them suffered because of poverty. I’m one of them..and I’m proud of myself.
Kasama mo po ako mam……..you are not alone…..i am proud to be an Ofw….khit mlungkot tayo tinitiis mpligaya lng mga anak ntin….
Hindi ka nag iisa mam isa din akong katulad mo ang natapos pero dito din ako para sa hinahangad na future. Nagtrabaho ako dati sa isang sikat na motorcycle dealer sa pilipinas pero nagresign ako kasi hindi sapat ang kita para sa pamilya.
We are lucky indeed for we have given the chance, It’s really true that being DH may be the lowest type way of earning, but more helpful in our real life. I wish My fellow OFW, more strenght and faith to God.
True
Poverty is a complicated issue, not just only of not having money or don’t have the means to provide. It is a structural problem in society not individuals.And their are many factors that can cause poverty like lack of available jobs,
low wages and insecure employment in many jobs, not equal distribution of income in society,and changing benefit levels or lack of education.Therefore, we cannot blame it on overpopulation of the country nor the number of children a household had.
of course she’s not the only one, there are many here in simillar sitiuations and myself too am here in HK, supporting my family in the Philippines and I’m not even a Filipino.Sometimes we have no choice if we wanna do what’s best for our loved ones.