May 26. Two years ago I left Cebu and came to Singapore for my new work assignment. I was torn because I loved (and I still love) my work so much in the newspaper, but somehow I was just led to pack and go. It was an adventure to the unknown for me. But well, it didn’t take me a long time to see that it was a good decision. :-)

Everyday still feels like an adventure. A discovery. It keeps me goin’. :-)

I thank God and everyone who made my move possible. And enjoyable. Indeed, I’m in the land of opportunities.

p.s. After two years of being in a noodle country, I still don’t know how to use chopsticks! Haha. Learning photography and video production are much easier and more fun! Haha. Forget about chopsticks!

Philippine President Gloria M.  Arroyo came to Singapore last June for the World Economic Forum, a state visit, and an afternoon spent with the Filipino communities in Singapore. I was so thrilled to be among my kababayans in an event like this. Regardless of PGMA’s political issues in the country, I think her presence and the good news she shared brought hope and joy for OFWs like me.

“Overseas Filipino Workers are honored by the government and the people for your sacrifice and dedication to your work, your family, and your nation,” she said. In 2006, OFWs around the world poured in about US$12.8 billion remittances.

I am not a pro-GMA citizen, but I am one who believes in giving people chances to make things right. I guess it’s time to just let our hair down and see the good side of GMA and give her the support that she and our country desperately need. She reported:

“We are proud to say that the economic gains we are seeing now are paving the way when Filipinos no longer need to go abroad for a job and the day when overseas work is just another option and not the only choice you have to earn a living. We have created six million new jobs in the last six years. By continuing down this path, we will increasingly be keeping our best and brightest right in the Philippines, closer to friends and families, helping to build our communities and provide the next generation of leadership. 

Our stock market has reached historic heights. Our poverty rate is the lowest in a generation. Investments are pouring in…Texas Instruments to invest $1 billion to build a chip plant in the Philippines. Hanjin of Korea is also investing $1.65 billion to build the world’s fourth largest shipyard in the Philippines. Marubeni and Tokyo Electric bought $3.4 billion worth of power plants in the Philippines and announced a further expansion of half a billion dollars. 

Our unemployment rate is the lowest in a long time…In 2001, 4 million people were unemployed.  Now it is down to 2.8 million…We are proud of the fact that we are prepaying our external debt. We are optimistic that we will balance the budget in 2008. We are making sure to use the gains to invest in vital social and economic needs. We will not sacrifice long term gains for short term political expediency. 

We have turned the corner on our economy…But much more can and will be done…”

Pinoys in Singapore

There are about 8 million OFWs around the world; more or less 120,000 are in Singapore. I’m one.:-) Years ago, most Filipinos who work here are housemaids. But not anymore today. It is no longer safe to assume that the Filipino you saw in the streets of Singapore was a helper. He/she could be one of our I.T. professionals, nurses, health care givers, engineers, architects, and  yes – writers, photographers, magazine editors, graphic artists and entrepreneurs, too! Pinoys in various establishments here recently got awards for their services and hospitality.

I feel proud and happy to be a Filipino!!!

P.S. I didn’t intend to have a photo with the President. I only wanted to take photos of her and the Pinoys who were cheering and greeting her. But it happened that when she walked right in front of me, she turned towards me and gave me a hug, and posed for a photo! Haha! So, that’s it.

An excerpt from the article written by INTEL General Manager Robin Martin

Filipinos tend to dwell too much on the negative side, and this affects the perception of foreigners, even the ones who have lived here for a while. The negative perception of the Philippines is way disproportionate to reality when compared to countries like Columbia , Egypt , Middle East, Africa , etc.

Let us all help our country by balancing the negative with the positive especially when we talk to foreigners, whether based here or abroad. Looking back and comparing the Philippines today and 1995 (the year I came back), I was struck by how much our country has progressed physically.

Consider the following:

1. The great telecom infrastructure that we have now did not exist in 1995. From a fixed line capacity of about 900,000 in 1995 we now have over 7 million. Cellular phones practically did not exist in 1995; now we have over 11 million line capacity.

2. The MRT, many of the EDSA flyovers (including the Ayala Avenue flyover), the SKYWAY, Rockwell and Glorietta 4, the Fort, NAIA terminal 2 and most of the new skyscrapers were not yet built in 1995.

3. If you drive to the provinces, you will notice that national roads are now of good quality (international quality asphalt roads).

4. Philippine exports have increased by 600% over the past eight years.

Additional tidbits to make our people prouder:

1. INTEL has been in the Philippines for 28 years. The Philippines plant is where Intel’s most advanced products are launched, including the Pentium IV. By the end of 2002, Philippine operations became Intel’s biggest assembly and testing operations worldwide.

2. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS has been operating in Baguio for over 20 years. The Baguio plant is the largest producer of DSP chips in the world. DSP chips are the brains behind cellphones. TI’s Baguio plant produces the chip that powers 100% of all NOKIA cellphones and 80% of Erickson cellphones in the world.

3. TOSHIBA laptops are produced in Santa Rosa , Laguna.

4. If you drive a BENZ, BMW, or a VOLVO, there is a good chance that the ABS system in your car was made in the Philippines.

5. TREND-MICRO, makers of one of the top anti virus software PC-Cillin (I may have mispelled this) develops its “cures” for viruses right here in Eastwood Libis, Quezon City . When a virus breaks in any computer system in the world, they try to find a solution within 45 minutes of finding the virus.

6 . Today a majority of the top ten U.S. Call Center firms in the U.S. have set up operations in the Philippines . This is one area in which I believe we are the best in the world in terms of value for money.

7. America Online (AOL) has 1,000 people in Clark answering 90% of AOL’s global e-mail inquiries.

8. PROCTOR & GAMBLE has over 400 people right here in Makati (average age 23 years) doing back-up office work to their Asian operations including finance, accounting, Human Resources and payments processing.

9. Among many other things it does for its regional operations network in the Asia-Pacific region here in Manila , CITIBANK also does its global ATM programming locally.

Next time you travel abroad and meet business associates tell them the good news. A big part of our problem is perception and one of the biggest battles can be won simply by believing and by making others believe. This message is shared by good citizens of the Philippines who persevere to hope and work for our country. 56,000,000 Filipinos speak, read and write in English even if we have our own national language. Speaking a second language takes a certain kind of unique intelligence.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO OTHER FILIPINOS!!!