(From ARAB NEWS)
Muhammad Al – Maghrabi became handicpped and shut down his flower and gift shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home to the Philippines. He said, “When they left, I felt as if I lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.”
Muhammad Al-Maghrabi, then, flew to Manila to look for replacements for the two workers who had left.
Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities, but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between the Filipinos and the others,” he said. “Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.”
Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers – 1,019,577 – outside the Philippines. For 2006 only, the Kingdom recruited 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Nobody in this Kingdom can think of a life without Filipinos.
Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in several countries across the world, including sailors. Filipinos make up around 20% of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors.
So, if one day, Filipinos decide to stop working or go on strike for a reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can easily imagine what would happen.
What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education in their home country. There are several specialized training institutes, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in vital areas of work/jobs.
When speaking of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW’s), the Filipino nurses must not be forgotten. They comprise 23% of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to approximately 190 accredited nursing colleges and universities from which some 9,000 nurses more or less graduate yearly. Many of them work in foreign countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.
The Philippines, which you can barely see on the world map, is a very important country, thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.
The Saudi Arabians must pay respect to the Filipino workers, not only by employing them, but also by learning from their valuable experiences, as per the ARAB NEWS.
They should learn and educate their children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing, and how to achieve perfection in their work. This is a must so that they will not experience what Muhammad Al-Maghrabi felt, who lost his interest and appetite when the Filipino workers left his employ.
”We must bring to mind always that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if the Filipinos leave us,” according to the news report.
About the Contributor:
Arch. Ronel K. Pabico (photo above left) is an interior designer and a 3D visualizer as well, who is based in Riyadh. He came across the above article in a leading English newspaper, the ARAB NEWS, and found it worth sharing with his fellow Cavintinians and other Filipinos.
