Admin
4th July 2005, 08:46
Taken from www.philnews.com , the UK goverment swear that we are using Philippine excess, and the taking of their eductaed nurses has no effect;
For Lily and Delfin Cuevas, it was the end of their American Dream. They had spent close to two decades in the United States, sending their children to private schools, owning a home in the high-priced Bay Area, and for the longest time, actually living the American Dream.
At issue however is not whether they should have or could have found ways to legalize their status in the US and thereby avoid deportation. At issue is the fact that for most Filipinos, the only way to provide a better life for themselves and their families is to leave the Philippines…even if they have to live illegally in other countries.
This is truly a sad indictment of Philippine leaders past and present. We may blame the Spaniards and the Americans and whoever else, but in the final analysis, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We dropped the ball! From a position of preeminence in Southeast Asia during the first half of the 20th century, the Philippines has, by some estimates, now fallen behind Vietnam, a country ravaged by war and civil strife.
And to this day, the Philippines continues to lose its best and brightest individuals. The unwritten compact of a society—to train and educate its youth so that they in turn can make a positive contribution to the society as adults—has been broken. College and university graduates get their training and education in the Philippines but use their skills and talents to benefit the societies of other countries.
Thus, the Philippines is on a gradual downward spiral. And the only way to stop it might lie in the hands of those Filipinos who have left the country. Maybe its time they made an effort to pay back a debt they owe the country of their birth.
For Lily and Delfin Cuevas, it was the end of their American Dream. They had spent close to two decades in the United States, sending their children to private schools, owning a home in the high-priced Bay Area, and for the longest time, actually living the American Dream.
At issue however is not whether they should have or could have found ways to legalize their status in the US and thereby avoid deportation. At issue is the fact that for most Filipinos, the only way to provide a better life for themselves and their families is to leave the Philippines…even if they have to live illegally in other countries.
This is truly a sad indictment of Philippine leaders past and present. We may blame the Spaniards and the Americans and whoever else, but in the final analysis, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We dropped the ball! From a position of preeminence in Southeast Asia during the first half of the 20th century, the Philippines has, by some estimates, now fallen behind Vietnam, a country ravaged by war and civil strife.
And to this day, the Philippines continues to lose its best and brightest individuals. The unwritten compact of a society—to train and educate its youth so that they in turn can make a positive contribution to the society as adults—has been broken. College and university graduates get their training and education in the Philippines but use their skills and talents to benefit the societies of other countries.
Thus, the Philippines is on a gradual downward spiral. And the only way to stop it might lie in the hands of those Filipinos who have left the country. Maybe its time they made an effort to pay back a debt they owe the country of their birth.