Philippine Envoy Expresses Concern Over Failed OFW Marriages

• Posted by admin on November 16th, 2007 filed in OFW Asia

Rodolfo C. Estimo Jr., Arab News

RIYADH, 16 November 2007 — The Philippine Embassy has expressed concern about the increasing number of separation among Filipino couples in the Kingdom, reportedly as a result of infidelity on the part of one or both parties.Lately, the embassy has been receiving numerous letters from the Philippines complaining that OFW relatives in the Kingdom had not been remitting money for the upkeep of their families.

“If this trend continues, the image of Filipinos as closely-knit, caring and God-fearing will be endangered,” Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor told Arab News recently.

While the embassy apparently does not keep figures of failed marriages, such breakups are nothing new to members of the Filipino community.

“It’s a common knowledge that many Filipino couples have separated, with one of them, or sometimes both of them, having their own extra-marital affairs. This seems to have become common and just ignored by the Filipino community,” said Dan Velasco, who is with the administrative staff of the housing services of a premier hospital.

Explaining why separation between husband and wife takes place, Villamor said, ”Most of the time, a married couple are together and it’s inevitable that a strain in the relationship takes place. Now, if there are many amenities or social events here, a couple could enjoy or preoccupy themselves with these instead of venting their emotions by expressing their displeasure with each other. The problem is that there are not so much such amenities or social events.”

He noted that in the Philippines, there are not only many amenities for relaxation such as theaters and activities to preoccupy themselves with, such as part-time jobs or social events like activities organized by fraternities, civic organizations or the Lion’s and Rotary clubs. He said that the situation in the Kingdom now is totally different compared with the 1980s when he was assigned in Jeddah as a junior foreign service officer.

Villamor also noted that at present, many Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are working as professionals and holding responsible positions in different companies in trade and industry. In the late 70s or early 80s, it was the time of the construction boom, he said. OFWs then were working mostly in construction companies and were living in construction sites. Their families — wives and children — were living in the Philippines. That means that getting tired of, or irritation with, each other brought about by the hassles of everyday life was a remote possibility because the couple were far from each other. Ironically, such separation defuses tension.

“Today, OFWs can bring their families to

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