Are OFs the Modern Rip Van Winkles

It is true the Overseas Filipinos while a potent force has remained asleep. It reminds me of the story of Rip Van Winkle.

I am sure some of you still remember the story of this adventurous fellow who left his family in the midst of a storm promising his daughter that he will come back with plenty of wonderful stories. But as it happened Rip Van Winkle slept for twenty years, as a punishment for accepting a gold coin from the Spirit that was guarding the gold chest of the Hudson pirates. When he finally woke up and went back home, he found that so much has happened; his wife was already dead, and her daughter already a grown up lady. His country has a new name and a new president – George Washington.

What our teachers did not tell us, maybe because we will not understand the implications anyway, was that during the twenty years Rip Van Winkle was asleep his country was undergoing a tremendous change, a revolution. Yes, Rip Van Winkle slept through the social revolution that transformed his country, the United States of America, to what it is now.

Martin Luther King, Jr. once pointed out that: “One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of the status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. But today our survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenges of change.”

Are we, overseas Filipinos, the Rip Van Winkles of our time or are we the modern day heroes we are fondly called, by our presidents of the past and present?

Most of us have left our families ten to twenty years ago, some maybe more, in search of better opportunities. When we go back home what will be our answers to our grown up sons and daughters when they ask, “Dad, what have you been doing all those twenty years that you were away?”

Like Rip Van Winkle I know we will delight our children with stories of the happy and sad experiences we had in the country were we worked; of the loneliness of being away from them especially during the first couple of years. I am sure we will proudly tell them that our remittances contributed to keeping the economy of our country from going down the drain.

Our children will probably say, “That’s true, we heard those stories over and over in the radio, tv, and even read them in the papers.”

I believe it will make a difference if, unlike Rip Van Winkle, we are able to tell them that through all those years that we were away, we kept track of what are happening back home; that we stayed vigilant, and initiated direction actions whenever the need arise; that we took active role in the founding of an OFW led political party that has been responsible for introducing reforms in government; the Party that was responsible for gradually bringing down the level of greed in government offices until it was totally eradicated; the Party that was responsible for introducing more benefits to the working class including their very own parents. If we are able tell them of those accomplishments, our children will surely be proud of us. Not only did we provide them with food, clothing, shelter, and education; we also provided them a better Philippines to live in.

So how do we move on towards making those dreams a reality?

Stay awake, remain vigilant, learn from new ideas, and take courage to face the challenges of change. But that will be subject of another date.