In the face of the many challenges of our countrymen abroad, a number of Filipinos still make their mark and become models and inspirations for their fellow Filipinos and the people in their adopted homeland. Philippine Foreign Service posts have send reports from the local media in their jurisdictions detailing the inspiring success stories of Filipinos abroad.

Furthermore, efforts of some Philippine Embassies in other countries to improve the living and working conditions of the Filipino workers also see print in their host country’s media. Such efforts, coupled with the Filipino’s own enterprising character give us Filipinos back home heartwarming success stories.

Filipino-American Doctor Honored in New York

The Philippine Consulate General in New York in the United States recently reported that a Filipino-American doctor has been named the first ever “Employee of the Year” by the New York State Department of Health. Citing a report from a locally circulated Filipino newspaper, the Filipino Reporter, the Philippine Consulate General in New York informed that Dr. Lutgarda Abad Vasquez, who was chosen for the award from among 6,100 Department employees, has been the lead clinical coordinator and surveyor in the State Health Department’s Bureau of Hospital Services for 16 years now. Dr. Lutgarda was born in Manila and obtained her degree in medicine from the University of the Philippines.

State Health Commissioner Antonia C. Novelto personally handed Dr. Vasquez the award at the State Health Department’s 2004 Employees Recognition Awards ceremony. On giving the award, Commissioner Novelto said that Dr. Vasquez, who “has engendered the overwhelming respect and support of her peers,” leads by example and by doing the best job she, her character and compassion shines through everyday of her life. The award was given to Dr. Vasquez in recognition of her leadership, dedication and commitment to patient safety and quality assurance.

On receiving the award, Dr. Vasquez told local reporters in New York that she wishes her award to would inspire Filipinos and Filipino-Americans to show everyone that “we could do it.” Dr. Vasquez’s award comes after a string of Filipino success stories that have made the Filipino-American community and the entire Filipino nation proud.

Among these success stories are Mr. Nestor Sulpico, the honest Filipino New York cab driver who returned thousands of dollars worth of jewelry left by his passenger in his cab and there is Natalie Coughlin, the Filipino-American Olympic swimmer from the San Francisco Bay Area, who bagged the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke in the recently concluded Athens Summer Olympics. Adding to these success stories is Kiwi Alejandro Danao Camara who made history by becoming the youngest ever graduate of Harvard law school; he finished with honors. Finally, there is the news of Nina F. Elgo, the first Asian-American to be appointed judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut and Ma. Therese Lizardo, a Filipino-American who was crowned Ms. Washington, D.C. and will represent the American capital at the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City this September.

Improving the Lives of Filipino Domestic Workers in Malaysia

The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia reported that the local media in Malaysia have recently featured Filipino domestic workers and their success stories in rising above their difficult situation through hard work and assistance from the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian newspaper The Star: the People’s Paper, in an article entitled “Mercado is no ordinary maid” featured OFW Esther Mercado who completed a course on Microsoft Office 2000 from a private institution run by a Filipino married to a Malaysian. According to the article, Ms. Mercado used her twice a month rest day to learn how to use a computer, a course that took two years to complete. Ms. Mercado, 40 years old, has been working in Malaysia for the past ten years and has three sons in the Philippines who are now all degree holders, one even finishing computer engineering.

Ms. Mercado plans to get an administrative job when she comes home to the Philippines. She says her real dream is to write fiction stories. It is this dream that convinced her to take on the challenge to learn how to use a computer and do word processing.

Ms. Mercado’s Malaysian employer, Margaret Ooi, considers her part of the family and Ms. Mercado regards Margaret’s son, Victor as her son in Malaysia. With her new computer skills, Ms. Mercado helps Victor around Microsoft applications. Mrs. Ooi says that she is very proud of Ms. Mercado and that although she helped Ms. Mercado with the tuition for the course, it was Ms. Mercado herself who paid for most of it.

The feature article informs that Ms. Mercado is one of the ten Filipino domestic workers who are pilot graduates of the JARJAS Computer Enterprise, a computer learning center owned and operated by Ruby Seamol, a Filipino married to a Malaysian. Ms. Seamol is an IT graduate and she began teaching Filipino domestic workers Microsoft Office fundamentals in 2001.

Another article highlighted by the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur entitled “Improving the lot of foreign domestic helpers” was published in the New Straits Times. It featured the activities of the Philippine Embassy in Malaysia to improve the working conditions and livelihood of Filipino workers in Malaysia, particularly domestic workers.

The article detailed how the Philippine Embassy closely monitors the employment contracts of each documented Filipino domestic worker who passes through the Embassy to ensure that the terms of these contracts are not disadvantageous to the Filipino worker. The Embassy also coordinate with local Malaysian immigration authorities to protect the welfare of the OFWs. The Embassy also has a Filipino Worker Resource Center (FWRC), which functions both as a shelter home for abused workers awaiting repatriation, as well as training center for skills and capacity building.

According to Embassy Labor Attaché Brenda Villafuerte, the long-term goals of the Philippine Embassy is to teach Filipino workers new skills that they could use for better livelihood when go home to the Philippines.

One OFW, Estrella Penticostes, who has been working in Malaysia for 14 years, took a course at the FWRC and has been able to start a one-hectare tilapia fish pond in her hometown here in the Philippines. She also learned tailoring skills at the FWRC and she also plans to start a dress shop one day when she finally comes home. Another OFW, Marilyn Delarama learned accounting, bookkeeping and management skills from the FWRC. These helped her and her husband operate an ice cream factory and raise livestocks in her hometown.