Filipinos are competent in any trade or profession, in any country and against any nationality as most of us are currently occupying job positions which could have been easily occupied by another race had we not been capable.
Most foreign employers prefer Filipinos… they site Filipino qualities such as the following: honest, loyal, friendly, fun-loving, honors commitments, good communicator, hardworking, creative and among others. If you just happen to have the privilege of hearing these adjectives from people other than your “kababayan”… you would probably ask yourself why these people believe in us and why can't we? Why other nationalities are appreciating us while we ourselves, at times, are still downgrading our capacities?
As Filipinos working abroad, we believe we are representatives of our country. Our performances today will have a direct effect on others who will choose to follow this route and to the image of Filipinos in general. That's why we are always asking God for guidance at work and in everything we do. That we may continue to do His will for His greater glory and thereby preserve the legacy of the Filipinos who came before us. In relation to this, please allow us to use this space to salute them.They made lasting impressions internationally which practically paved the way and have opened up windows of opportunities to millions of Filipinos.
Leaving the country to study, to work or to reside abroad doesn't necessarily mean we lose our nationalism. Maybe to some… but not to millions of others and definitely not to us. If we re-read our history, a good part of Dr. Jose Rizal's life was spent outside the Philippines. He had even mastered several other languages. Did it make him less patriotic than those who remained in the Philippines? Absolutely not. Fact is, he is our national hero. You know it, the world knows it. Therefore, being patriotic is not dependent on location… it's a matter of heart.
On the other hand, you don't need to work or compete internationally to be considered a World-Class Filipino. You may be living in a rural place but still be “world-class”. We happen to know a mother from a province who didn't experience the comfort of having a supply of water and electricity. There were times her house didn't even have a roof whenever a typhoon run into their region. But she has two things some mothers, regardless of nationality, don't have… she has two engineers. She managed to raise engineers against adversities. Is she "world-class"? I believe so. Same thing goes with her children and her entire family. Like patriotism, being '‘world-class” is not about location. It's not even about stature… it's a way of life.
We also believe that Filipino skills and talents are infinite and that we should share these not only with Filipinos but to the world. Our God-given skills and talents should transcend across all nationalities. We may not be related by blood… but we are, in God. With the advancement of technology, the world had already gone small, so why chop it further? Let us not be wary of our professionals leaving the country. It is tantamount to saying that we have a shallow pool of talents and that no one could step up in their absence, to which we strongly disagree. We have an ocean of skills and talents out there just waiting to be given the chance to prove themselves. By filling up opportunities outside, we are opening up opportunities within.
And lastly, we believe that everything we have, were just given. Our strength, beauty, intelligence… everything. We should therefore not be boastful and proud. Instead, we should be thankful to the one who made you and me and share these gifts to everyone. We may be small as people, we may be under-developed as a country and we are not perfect. But we are perfectly us… just the way God had designed us to be.
