OFWs LAUNCH GLOBAL SOCIAL MEDIA PROTEST TO STOP PHILHEALTH INCREASE

OFWs LAUNCH GLOBAL WEBWIDE PROTEST TO STOP PHILHEALTH PREMIUM INCREASE

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OFWs LAUNCH GLOBAL WEBWIDE PROTEST TO STOP PHILHEALTH PREMIUM INCREASE

JULY 20, 2012 – Overseas Filipino Workers will use Facebook and Twitter to protest the impending plan of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) to increase its premium. Dubbed as Global Webwide Protest to Stop Philhealth Increase which will run from July 20 – 25, 2012 in different social media platforms, the online protest was initiated by Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards founding president Kenji Solis who is based in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has now adherents from 67 countries majority are OFWs from the Middle East or Gulf countries, followed by Singapore and Hong Kong.

The Philhealth Board recently issued Circular No.022 imposing a 150% hike in health premium for OFW members from PhP 900 to become P2, 400; OFWs find this increase extremely exorbitant and inconsiderate because not many of OFWs were consulted. Through its Facebook page Global OFW Voices - the voices of more than 10,000 OFWs, is being mobilized to stage synchronize protest on the different social media platforms of Philhealth, government officials including the President PNOY and other government agencies to air a unified message against the increase.

OFWs globally plead to stop and immediately implement a moratorium on imposing the increase until a comprehensive and genuine consultation with most OFWs and other stakeholders have been conducted. The government has to consider the mobile or transient nature of OFWs, and recognize their unique circumstances where majorities do not directly benefit from the insurance since most of them are already provided with far better and superior health insurances by their companies. In particular, Philhealth should be more sympathetic on OFWs who are earning meager salary like domestic helpers, laborers, janitors, food servers, or those categorized as unskilled workers who find the increase as an added burden to pay before they leave abroad. The said increase is a direct violation of RA 10022, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995 that “prohibits increase in government fees for services rendered to OFWs and their dependents.”

It is unfair for OFWs to be treated as revenue mill or as OFWs consider themselves as government’s milking cow. With their dollar remittances that keep the Philippine economy afloat including the strengthening of peso against the dollar, it is unfortunate that the government continue to levy additional fees on this sector. Although OFWs do not oppose government’s plan to provide universal health insurance to the poor, it is immoral to use solidarity to burden the already suffering workers overseas.

The group calls for a comprehensive discussion with Philhealth and other government agencies to agree on an equitable premium among OFWs and stop the increase until a mutual agreement has been reached.

For more information on this protest, visit:
https://www.facebook.com/events/499223546758755/
https://www.facebook.com/PEBAWARDS
http://twitter.com/pebawards
https://www.facebook.com/OFWVOICE


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For more information, please contact the following Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards, Inc. regional coordinators:


Manila, Philippines:
Pete Erlano Rahon | Director Philippine Operations
peterahon@pinoyblogawards.com | +63917.733.7152

Europe, Middle East & Africa:
Kenji Solis | Founding Chairman
kenjebz@pinoyblogawards.com | +966.54648.1154

Australia, East Asia Pacific:
Brenda Pinosan | Asia Pacific Coordinator
brenda.pinosan@gmail.com | Tel. +6012.692.9710

North America & Canada:
F. Jigs Segre | Director Global Advocacy & Strategic Initiatives
jigsegre@pinoyblogawards.com | Tel. +1510.589.2950

©2012 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards

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Pres. Aquino's Cut in Legal Assistance and OFW Social Services Fund

SUPPORT THIS ONLINE PETITION NOT TO CUT OVERSEAS BUDGET FOR SOCIAL SERVICES OR THE DFA's LEGAL ASSISTANCE FUND or LAF. JUST CLICK 'LIKE'

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Don't Cut the Budget for Social Services for OFWs

Below is an excerpt from Susan Ople's blog, an OFW advocate explaining the impact of this budget cut to the OFWs

Deep cuts in DFA Budget dashes OFWs’ hopes for change | Susan "Toots" Ople

"So in cutting down (or chopping off!) more than half of the DFA’s budget including that to be used for legal and other forms of assistance to Filipinos overseas, the consequences may be the following:

1. The task of repatriating trafficked victims and other distressed OFWs shall now fall on: 1) individual politicians from senators to mayors; 2) OWWA which are made up of contributions of workers who left the country legally; 3) the very individuals and agencies that conspired to victimize these workers thus diminishing the crime and reducing the entire matter into a bargaining situation.

I would have added the NGOs except one can really count on one’s fingers the number of NGOs that could afford to repatriate workers even from neighboring countries like Malaysia and Singapore.

No. 1 weakens institutional governance because it would lead to the politicizing of welfare assistance to OFWs in distress; it will also cause enormous lag time in providing onsite assistance – time that could mean the death or survival of an OFW.

2. RA 10022 or the amendments to the Migrant Workers’ Act states that the DFA can now use its legal assistance fund to file cases against abusive and exploitative employers and agencies outside the country. The Ople Center and other NGOs were happy to know this because the filing of such cases would greatly boost our anti-trafficking efforts. But with only Php 27-M for an entire year, how can the DFA even hope to pursue such cases? And what about the 3,000 Filipinos in jail, some of who have been detained more than their penalty calls for? If the current legal assistance fund is insufficient in looking after the legal rights of our OFWs, what more just a quarter of that amount? For an entire year!

3. Our foreign posts serve as the refuge of trafficked and maltreated workers. In Dubai alone, the welfare center is overflowing with at least 200 stranded workers at a single given time. A video taken of appalling conditions in Saudi Arabia for workers awaiting repatriation stresses the need for more funds, not less particularly for posts with a high concentration of Filipino workers. If we cannot afford change, then how can we see it? In this case, the OFW sector is not asking even for more funds — though it has every right to do so. But at the very least – a status quo. For now. Especially for a sector that brings in billions in dollar remittances that makes for a positive credit rating from international credit rating agencies. Why cut social services for OFWs?

Unless — the unjustified cuts are but another symptom of internal conflicts driven by magnified, puffed-up bureaucratic and political hurts. Read:factionalism. This may be a valid observation because of how deep the cuts are. Too deep to be superficial; too ruthless to be developmental. The cuts were made to hurt, and hurt bad – except that the wounds are being inflicted several times over on the bodies of the innocents.

We do want to hope again. The yearning is there, it is unmistakable, and while we are watchful, it is a watchfulness for both the bad, and most especially for the good. Honestly, I would prefer the inconvenience of a noisy wang-wang to the heart-wrenching wail of an OFW unable to come home despite numerous beatings from her employer. NFA – no funds available. So what else is new?

This latest move of chopping off millions meant to protect the rights and welfare of our OFWs is simply unjustifiable. When a child leaves home, a parent does what is humanly possible, despite the distance, to make sure that he or she is alright. The Assistance to Nationals Fund and the Legal Assistance Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs is the budgetary equivalent of that.

With such drastic budgetary cuts, this administration might as well have cut lives short.

“Kayo ang boss ko!” Prove it to millions of OFWs and their families here at home, Mr. President. This is in your power to change. Do not cut the budget for the DFA’s assistance to nationals and legal assistance fund."

Read the rest of the entry here

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©2010 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards

The Filipino Today by Alex Lacson

The Filipino Today

By Alex Lacson

After the August 23 hostage drama, there is just too much negativity about and against the Filipino.

“It is difficult to be a Filipino these days”, says a friend who works in Hongkong. “Nakakahiya tayo”, “Only in the Philippines” were some of the comments lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles received in her Facebook. There is this email supposedly written by a Dutch married to a Filipina, with 2 kids, making a litany of the supposed stupidity or idiocy of Filipinos in general. There was also this statement by Fermi Wong, founder of Unison HongKong, where she said – “Filipino maids have a very low status in our city”. Then there is this article from a certain Daniel Wagner of Huffington Post, wherein he said he sees nothing good in our country’s future.

Clearly, the hostage crisis has spawned another crisis – a crisis of faith in the Filipino, one that exists in the minds of a significant number of Filipinos and some quarters in the world.

It is important for us Filipinos to take stock of ourselves as a people – of who we truly are as a people. It is important that we remind ourselves who the Filipino really is, before our young children believe all this negativity that they hear and read about the Filipino.

We have to protect and defend the Filipino in each one of us.

The August 23 hostage fiasco is now part of us as Filipinos, it being part now of our country’s and world’s history. But that is not all that there is to the Filipino. Yes, we accept it as a failure on our part, a disappointment to HongKong, China and to the whole world.

But there is so much more about the Filipino.

In 1945, at the end of World War II, Hitler and his Nazi had killed more than 6 million Jews in Europe. But in 1939, when the Jews and their families were fleeing Europe at a time when several countries refused to open their doors to them, our Philippines did the highly risky and the unlikely –thru President Manuel L Quezon, we opened our country’s doors and our nation’s heart to the fleeing and persecuted Jews. Eventually, some 1,200 Jews and their families made it to Manila. Last 21 June 2010, or 70 years later, the first ever monument honoring Quezon and the Filipino nation for this “open door policy” was inaugurated on Israeli soil, at the 65-hectare Holocaust Memorial Park in Rishon LeZion, Israel.

The Filipino heart is one of history’s biggest, one of the world’s rare jewels, and one of humanity’s greatest treasures.

In 2007, Baldomero M. Olivera, a Filipino, was chosen and awarded as the Scientist for the Year 2007 by Harvard University Foundation, for his work in neurotoxins which is produced by venomous cone snails commonly found in the tropical waters of Philippines. Olivera is a distinguished professor of biology at University of Utah, USA. The Scientist for the Year 2007 award was given to him in recognition to his outstanding contribution to science, particularly to molecular biology and groundbreaking work with conotoxins. The research conducted by Olivera’s group became the basis for the production of commercial drug called Prialt (generic name – Ziconotide), which is considered more effective than morphine and does not result in addiction.
The Filipino mind is one of the world’s best, one of humanity’s great assets.

The Filipino is capable of greatness, of making great sacrifices for the greater good of the least of our people. Josette Biyo is an example of this. Biyo has masteral and doctoral degress from one of the top universities in the Philippines – the De La Salle University (Taft, Manila) – where she used to teach rich college students and was paid well for it. But Dr Biyo left all that and all the glamour of Manila, and chose to teach in a far-away public school in a rural area in the province, receiving the salary of less than US$ 300 a month. When asked why she did that, she replied “but who will teach our children?” In recognition of the rarity of her kind, the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States honoured Dr Biyo a very rare honor – by naming a small and new-discovered planet in our galaxy as “Biyo”.

The Filipino is one of humanity’s best examples on the greatness of human spirit!

Efren Penaflorida was born to a father who worked as a tricycle driver and a mother who worked as laundrywoman. Through sheer determination and the help of other people, Penaflorida finished college. In 1997, Penaflorida and his friends formed a group that made pushcarts (kariton) and loaded them with books, pens, crayons, blackboard, clothes, jugs of water, and a Philippine flag. Then he and his group would go to the public cemetery, market and garbage dump sites in Cavite City – to teach street children with reading, math, basic literacy skills and values, to save them from illegal drugs and prevent them from joining gangs. Penaflorida and his group have been doing this for more than a decade. Last year, Penaflorida was chosen and awarded as CNN Hero for 2009.

Efren Penaflorida is one of the great human beings alive today. And he is a Filipino!

Nestor Suplico is yet another example of the Filipino’s nobility of spirit. Suplico was a taxi driver In New York. On 17 July 2004, Suplico drove 43 miles from New York City to Connecticut, USA to return the US$80,000 worth of jewelry (rare black pearls) to his passenger who forgot it at the back seat of his taxi. When his passenger offered to give him a reward, Suplico even refused the reward. He just asked to be reimbursed for his taxi fuel for his travel to Connecticut. At the time, Suplico was just earning $80 a day as a taxi driver. What do you call that? That’s honesty in its purest sense. That is decency most sublime. And it occurred in New York, the Big Apple City, where all kinds of snakes and sinners abound, and a place where – according to American novelist Sydney Sheldon – angels no longer descend. No wonder all New York newspapers called him “New York’s Most Honest Taxi Driver”. The New York City Government also held a ceremony to officially acknowledge his noble deed. The Philippine Senate passed a Resolution for giving honors to the Filipino people and our country.

In Singapore, Filipina Marites Perez-Galam, 33, a mother of four, found a wallet in a public toilet near the restaurant where she works as the head waitress found a wallet containing 16,000 Singaporean dollars (US $11,000). Maritess immediately handed the wallet to the restaurant manager of Imperial Herbal restaurant where she worked located in Vivo City Mall. The manager in turn reported the lost money to the mall’s management. It took the Indonesian woman less than two hours to claim her lost wallet intended for her son’s ear surgery that she and her husband saved for the medical treatment. Maritess refused the reward offered by the grateful owner and said it was the right thing to do.

The Filipina, in features and physical beauty, is one of the world’s most beautiful creatures! Look at this list – Gemma Cruz became the first Filipina to win Miss International in 1964; Gloria Diaz won as Miss Universe in 1969; Aurora Pijuan won Miss International in 1970; Margie Moran won Miss Universe in 1973; Evangeline Pascual was 1st runner up in Miss World 1974; Melanie Marquez was Miss International in 1979; Ruffa Gutierrez was 2nd runner up in Miss World 1993; Charlene Gonzalez was Miss Universe finalist in 1994; Mirriam Quiambao was Miss Universe 1st runner up in 1999; and last week, Venus Raj was 4th runner up in Miss Universe pageant.

I can cite more great Filipinos like Ramon Magsaysay, Ninoy Aquino, Leah Salonga, Manny Pacquaio, Paeng Nepomuceno, Tony Meloto, Joey Velasco, Juan Luna and Jose Rizal. For truly, there are many more great Filipinos who define who we are as a people and as a nation – each one of them is part of each one of us, for they are Filipinos like us, for they are part of our history as a people.

What we see and hear of the Filipino today is not all that there is about the Filipino. I believe that the Filipino is higher and greater than all these that we see and hear about the Filipino. God has a beautiful story for us as a people. And the story that we see today is but a fleeting portion of that beautiful story that is yet to fully unfold before the eyes of our world.

So let’s rise as one people. Let’s pick up the pieces. Let’s ask for understanding and forgiveness for our failure. Let us also ask for space and time to correct our mistakes, so we can improve our system.

To all of you my fellow Filipinos, let’s keep on building the Filipino great and respectable in the eyes of our world – one story, two stories, three stories at a time – by your story, by my story, by your child’s story, by your story of excellence at work, by another Filipino’s honesty in dealing with others, by another Pinoy’s example of extreme sacrifice, by the faith in God we Filipinos are known for.

Every Filipino, wherever he or she maybe in the world today, is part of the solution. Each one of us is part of the answer. Every one of us is part of the hope we seek for our country. The Filipino will not become a world-class citizen unless we are able to build a world-class homeland in our Philippines.

We are a beautiful people. Let no one in the world take that beauty away from you. Let no one in the world take away that beauty away from any of your children! We just have to learn – very soon – to build a beautiful country for ourselves, with an honest and competent government in our midst.

Mga kababayan, after reading this, I ask you to do two things.

First, defend and protect the Filipino whenever you can, especially among your children. Fight all this negativity about the Filipino that is circulating in many parts of the world. Let us not allow this single incident define who the Filipino is, and who we are as a people. And second, demand for good leadership and good government from our leaders. Question both their actions and inaction; expose the follies of their policies and decisions. The only way we can perfect our system is by engaging it. The only way we can solve our problem, is by facing it, head on.

We are all builders of the beauty and greatness of the Filipino. We are the architects of our nation’s success.

To all the people of HK and China, especially the relatives of the victims, my family and I deeply mourn with the loss of your loved ones. Every life is precious. My family and I humbly ask for your understanding and forgiveness.

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©2010 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards

KEEPING THE LOVE ALIVE AMONG OFWS

Posted with permission from the author, Nixon Canlapan and originally published in the Journal Online

Keeping the love alive among OFW's. by Nixon A. Canlapan

Thursday, 22 July 2010 18:11 Originally published in Journal Online

Keeping the love alive for couples living continents apart is one of the trials overseas Filipino workers and their families in the Philippines must have to hurdle. Stories of broken families and failed long distance relationships are no longer new among migrant Filipinos. The pain of the absence of a lovedone has become unbearable to some and has even caused broken hearts and homes to many. This is the common fear of those who, for the first time, would have to live without the comforting arms of their relatives and friends in a foreign soil where culture and traditions are vastly different from where they come from.Broken vow Erlinda (surname withheld upon request), 34, and mother of two, said she and her husband got separated when she found out that her husband had impregnated his housemate in Dubai. Erlinda only learned about her husband’s infidelity when her friend saw him in a province in the Philippines where his supposed “other woman” lives. Shock overtook her when she discovered that her husband went home in the Philippines because his lover would give birth to their first child. When she confronted him, he confessed that he and her lover got married in Dubai. The two separated with nothing left for Erlinda but the broken promises of a brighter future for her family.A need for strong relationship Manny Garcia, famous author of Kapeng Arabo, a book about life in the Middle East, said there could be truth to the saying that “distance makes the heart forget.” “If the relationship is not that strong, it is doomed to fail,” he said. He added that in his years of stay in Saudi, he has seen the collapse of many relationships because of extreme loneliness on the side of the migrant worker. This, he said, is one of the reasons why Filipino workers opt to look for companionship that often ends up in an illicit affair. “Maraming tukso kapag wala ka sa tabi ng minamahal mo,” he said. He said this is one of the sacrifices an OFW has to face. “Pero kahit naman ang mga naiiwan sa Pilipinas ganun din. Marami dito ang nagpapakamatay sa kakatrabaho, to the extent of sacrificing their own happiness para sa pamilya, nila pero ’yung mga iniiwan nila naman ang hindi makatiis at nagkakaroon din ng mga affairs,” he said. “Kapag nasa abroad ka, you have to spend the rest of the day killing time. Let’s say you work only for eight hours; you still have 16 hours to kill. Kapag nag-iisa ka sa apartment o kapag magkakasama kayo sa iisang apartment o compound, kayu-kayo na lang ang nagpapalitan ng sama ng loob na madalas na-dedevelop into something deeper than friendship,” he said. “But this is not always the case, meron naman tayong mga kababayan na talagang wala nang inisip kundi ang kapakanan ng pamilya nila. Hayun, madalas nasa harap ng internet at kausap ang pamilya,” he said. He said the advent of the internet has somehow lowered the number of broken Filipino families. He said the internet has huge advantage for both the OFWs and their loved ones. “Mas madali na ngayon ang communication between two parties,” he said. He said families of OFWs must invest in computers. “Letting your love ones know you care for them is just one click away,” he said. Derek & Cynthia: For the love of Cynrick Frederick Bonifacio, an artist and photographer, said when his wife Cynthia had decided to go to Italy to work, he prepared himself for the prospect of living alone and by playing a mom and a dad in raising their only daughter Cynrick, 8. He said it was hard at the beginning but now that the internet is available, he finds it easy to make her feel closer to home. He said he always makes sure that he would send message of love to his wife “to make her feel that she is important in my life.” “When we talk, I always assure her that everything is alright and that I and our daughter miss her and always pray for her,” he said. He said he always sends her photographs of their daughter and always makes sure that she would get the latest news about the progress of their child in school and that she is always in good health. “Masakit nang umalis siya, pero I know that she also needs to grow at alam ko rin naman na para sa pamilya namin ang ginagawa naming sakripisyo. Napag-usapan namin na one day, baka sumunod kaming mag-ama sa Italy para magkasama na kami doon,” he said. He said his wife will come home for a vacation. He expressed his and his daughter ‘s excitement over his wife’s homecoming.Nestor & Leila: Always the 1st time Nestor Faustino met her wife, Leila, a nurse at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, when they were both new in the Middle East. They eventually got married and are now celebrating their 25th anniversary. They were blessed with three beautiful daughters – Lanie, 23; Anna Coritha, 20; and Neslie, 17. Nestor said it was love at first sight in a land where you find happiness by meeting fellow Filipinos. “I was madly in love with my beautiful wife and until today, the light in our hearts continues to shine for each other,” he said. He said, they went back home for good in 1996, but Leila returned to the same company in Saudi Arabia in 1998. He said Leila comes home every six months “as if there are always special occasions in the house.” “We make sure that everytime she goes home for a vacation, she is always warmly welcomed. And for the two of us, it is always a honeymoon,” he said. And how does he keep the music playing? “We both have trust on each other. We love each other very much,” he said. Joseph & Marieta: Communication is key Marieta Prenda, whose husband has been working for seven years as a seaman, said they too had a hard time adjusting to living alone oceans apart. She said she too had a night of longing which always ended up in tears. However, she knows that her husband left to give their two children – Vince and Kyla – the best education they could have. She said: “Binubuhos ko sa mga anak ko ang pagmamahal ko sa husband ko.” She said before her husband decided to work on a foreign ship, they discussed the situation intensely. “We agreed to stick to our marriage vows; that everything we would do is for the future of our children. We know that we have a moral obligation to raise our children,” she said. While she, too, has her own work, she said it is not enough to sustain the family. Her husband’s sacrifices are now bearing fruit as they have already built their own dream house. After this, she said, “mag-iipon na kami ng pampuhunan kahit sa maliit na business lang muna. Kaya nga bago siya umalis alam na niya where the money should go. Gusto kong malaman niya na ang lahat ng pinaghihirapan niya ay may patutunguhan. Ayokong isipin niya na napupunta sa wala ang perang ipinapadala niya sa aming pamilya niya,” she said. She regrets that there are many families who suddenly feel they are rich just because they have relatives working abroad. “They spend unabashedly without thinking of their loved ones na nagpapakahirap sa abroad. this will never happen to me,” she said. She gives these tips to couples who are worlds apart to keep the good music playing. 1. Always open the line of communication – She said it is important that couples must find ways to communicate to each other. 2. Make her or him feel mportant -- When you talk to your loved one make sure that they are important. “When I talk to my husband, I always give him the best news as possible. Ayoko nang nag-aalala siya. I always make sure na puro magagandang balita ang natatanggap niya.” 3. Make everyday a brand new day – She said everyday must always be a new day. “Always look at the brighter side of life. 4. Pray to God – She said everytime she feels lonely, she talks to God and prays to Him for guidance.

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©2010 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards

Philippines Many Talent

KABLOGS and PEBA supports kahit sinong Filipino na may talent. We are so moved and so touched by a boy named Jovit Baldivino in his Pilipinas Got Talent audition performance and rendition of Ariel Pineda's song, Faithfully.

Read through the comments in Youtube, most of the OFW's abroad are also moved. You see, the boy is small, simple, and so humble but with a big heart and a big dreams in the name of his family.

We support any Filipino, the many millions of talented Filipino's around the world.

Below is the Youtube video of Arnel Pineda's voice and that of Jovit. We wish to see the boy sing or perform in some shows . Although, parang pandinig ko kaboses niya si Jon Bon Jovi.

Go Jovit. We, OFW's supports you!

©2010 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards

Dear PEBA 2009 Judges

Dear PEBA Judges,

Thank you so much for your support to the 2nd International Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards by PEBA, Inc. It is truly an honor to have someone of your caliber as judge and evaluator of our nominees for this year's contest.

In total, we have 37 nominees, both expats and OFW's of different backgrounds and professions, from 21 countries representing the more than 12 million OFW's and Filipino Expatriates around the world.

We recognize that our request for you to judge our nominees is not an easy task. Firstly, because the nominees and their nominated works are all exemplary and truly commendable. Walang itulak kabigin sa galing! Secondly, without monetary resource to pay our judges, we would request you to perform the task pro bono.

In lieu of your service, we will recognize your valuable efforts in our website and honor you during the formal culmination program on December 26th at the UP Diliman Bahay ng Alumni.

We promise you one thing though: That as you read each of the entries, you will positively feel the inherent spirit of Filipino kindness and inner heroism, and you will admire the talents these men and women heroes do offer in their blogs.

Again, on behalf of PEBA Inc., I profusely thank you for your efforts. Our gratitude of your services is truly beyond words. God bless you and your family!

________________________________________________

TO SEE THE LIST OF our HONORABLE JUDGES, CLICK HERE.

This is an excerpt from one of the nominees post, by the Pope over Palipasan

"As PEBA, Inc. concludes its nomination for its forthcoming 2nd International Pinoy Expats/Blog Awards (PEBA), 37 stories have officially gathered from 21 countries across the globe, converged and united in one vision and one voice in exhibiting their pioneering spirit in their passion for blogging in bringing inspirations to the 12 million Global Filipinos around the world."

"Despite our diversity and multiplicity, we have conquered the world and proudly brought into the foreign lands not only our talents and skills as Migrant workers but we have establsihed a community of Filipino people, made it known to the whole world that we exists because we came from a country where everyone is a hero."

"This is an affirmation of our courageous diasporic decision and the worthy causes fought for and of the right, albeit unpopular options taken of being separated from our family."

"And a challenge to do more, to better, and be the best for our family, for our community, for the Filipino people and for our country the Philippines."

"Let us not just dream, live our dream. Let us keep moving towards it."

"Congratulations to PEBA for this opportunity to let the OFW bloggers shine amidst the trials and pains of being away from Home and good luck to the 37 hopeful nominees, you already have won the hearts of your readers around the globe."

©2009 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards