The Path to Remittance : Tales of Pains and Gains of Overseas Filipino Workers

Philippines is the world's biggest exporter of labour - both male and female - and their remittances have helped to keep afloat the Philippines economy for the past three decades. In the first 11 months of 2009 remittances from 9 million Filipinos working abroad amounted to USD 15.8 billion, making it the biggest foreign exchange earner for the country. Successive Filipino leaders have praised the Overseas Filipino Workers - or the OFWs as they are popularly known - as modern day heroes of the nations. Yet exploitation of OFWs by unscrupulous employment agencies at home and abroad; and by ruthless employers abroad goes on unabated. Many of the stories in this book are a portrayal of such exploitation based on real stories. Some are harrowing stories ending in depressing and misery, others show the determination to succeed against heavy odds, while some also show the immense sacrifice some go through - especially women - so that their next generation will be saved from such indignity. The book includes 20 stories arranged into chapters, some are written in the 1st person to convey the emotions as these are based on personal interviews done by the author, many are written in feature style and one based on a radio documentary produced by the editor.