To flee poverty, Filipinas marry foreigners

[Darnell 8,478]

from what I read back in post #1, some gov office wanted to take a percentage of each remittance, and use that bit to 'better the life' for all PI folk.

Since it's been 3 years since that first post, I'm a wondering IF that was actually done, ie, gotten 'past' the 'thinking' stage into the 'implementation' stage.

What a wonderful tax, aye? All handled by the remittance companies in the PI.

Among the recommendations of the ADB was to tap remittances from

overseas Filipinos for productive investment and sustainable livelihood

opportunities for women so that migration becomes a choice rather than a

necessity. from post #1.

[Kang 22]

^^ if i am not mistaken other than revenue for the gov, part of the remittances go to foreign reserves... Not really hard to figure out what the action (inaction rather) the govt will take....

Besides i the last one is a suggestion of the adb than govt measures

On a personal note, i think the govt should concern more on the ''end result" than reason. Say that girl marries up but eventually the marriage is working... Nothing wrong

The concern should be towards using marriage as human trafficking front. It is becoming prevalent in pan asian marriages and many do not end good. I'd say much higher than fil-western failed marriages.

South korea seems to have a problem with "legal" human trafficking of women. They come through entertainment or marriage visa only to end up being pimped. Many who fall into these have their passports held by the korean employer or korean husband.

[Kang 22]

Filipinos themselves are partly to blame for the countries condition. Many(not all) stop working once they get help from a relative...not a good appreciation of help.

One just has to look into the rise of the ethnic chinese. Many started dirt poor and discriminated. But overtime, they persevered and saved and look at them. They are now better off than many natives despite the discrimination in the pre-marcos era

Filipinos need to learn how to save than catching up with the joneses...

[Darnell 8,478]

Kang, I am trying to focus on that one bit, this 'tapping'.

I understand the rest of the things you're writing about, but I'm not focused on them.

[Kang 22]

^^ the philippine economy is very drpendent in remittances that a flux in the amount remitted does affect the value of the peso...

In part, of it goes to the foreign reserves, too.

Remove the remittances, the economy will falter. Not sure if it can really be 'tapped' since the remittanes serves as the "oxygen tank". The philippines has low tax collection, not many fdi and domestic investment

[rlogan 2,036]

Some links on how marriage visas in asia are front for human trafficking and circumventing laws

Another great example of using a definition of "human trafficking" that has no meaning. We are led to believe it means buying and selling people as chattel property.

Let's take them one at a time:

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/13377/3-filipina-‘wives’-bound-for-korea-held

Sham marriages so the Koreans could stay in the Philippines longer. Then the girls were leaving for work in Korea. Korea generally has far, far better work conditions and pay than Philippines. There is not one iota of information on them being abused. They are being held captive by the Philippine government.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/11/07/11/exploring-realities-korean-filipino-marriages

Here is some of the horrible things that can happen marrying a Korean, the top of the list in this article:

One of the most common problems between Filipina wives and Korean husbands is the language

Wow. Definitely slavery. And who would think that moving to Korea would imply needing to learn Korean? Thank God for an article like this to point out such a mystery.

They mentioned that some MIGHT experience domestic abuse. With Zero data. Wives in Philippines and every other country experience abuse too. Does this article show more abuse in immigrants? No.

Are these authors actually that STUPID? No, they are hoping that WE are that stupid. Look how you cited these articles without actually analyzing them.

http://www.mindanews.com/special-reports/2012/02/23/domestic-abuse-fueled-suspicions-of-foul-play/

ONE person commits suicide in 8,000 immigrants. Apparently the first one ever reported. Wow - what an epidemic. It is unclear whether she had mental problems or what. The Korean suicide rate is 30 per 100,000. So this is a lower rate than the domestic Korean suicide rate.

This is EXACTLY the kind of B.S. unscrupulous "rescue industry" pirates do to justify restrictions on the rights of women to choose where they live, work, and marry. Pick one example, hype it as if it were a big problem, and hope nobody is paying attention.

No, I am not going to be a stupid cow and believe propaganda that has no basis in reality. We do occasionally see the highly sensationalized stories of people who actually do have their passports taken and are treated like slave labor - but this is not a MARRIAGE visa issue.

Visajourney members should stand as representatives of the truth. These rescue industry pirates want to make immigration more difficult for us and impose fees for bureaucrats like the CFO. They aren't rescuing Filipinos from abuse. They are taking their money, wasting their time, and lording their power over them. It is idiotic articles just like these that form the basis for that kind of plunder.

[Darnell 8,478]

Remove the remittances, the economy will falter. Not sure if it can really be 'tapped' since the remittanes serves as the "oxygen tank". The philippines has low tax collection, not many fdi and domestic investment

i know the economy is dependent on it, with OFW and those married folk who resemble OFW with their remittance patterns.

The remittances are NOT tapped by ADB or any other gov office. Monies made in the remittance process (fees, currency conversion loss) are NOT going into the coffers of the PI government directly for this 'tapping' into helping single PI women better themselves in the PI.

Perhaps we have a different understanding of what 'tapped' means?

Edited November 11, 2012 by Darnell

[rlogan 2,036]

The concern should be towards using marriage as human trafficking front. It is becoming prevalent in pan asian marriages and many do not end good.

Show us the data instead of just saying its true. Do you understand what data is? It isn't citing one example. It is showing how many out of the total are "human trafficking", and what definition you are using.

There is a lot of stupid propaganda terms used like "marriage broker". So what if a person operates and introduction service. So what if he charges a fee for a successful introduction?

Using the deceptive term "broker" makes it sound like the wife is PURCHASED from someone who OWNS her, and treated as CHATTEL PROPERTY. We had such a system and it was called slavery. Brokers did act as intermediaries between people buying humans and people selling them. But in this arena the term is used deceptively to pretend the same thing is going on.

The rescue industry is absolutely dependent on that deceptive propaganda, in order to insinuate this is a huge problem of human slavery. But look at the "solutions" they propose to see what it is they are really after - and it comes down to MONEY.

[Kang 22]

^^ but remittances go to the purchasing power which in effect affects the gdp and how business survive....

Remove the remittances, it will affect a significant portion that drives the gdp -- consumption. In effect, it affects the business climate which affects the employment/unemployment and tax collection.

No hard to see why the government encourage people to go abroad than invite investors, domestic or foreign

And from what i understand, certain amount of remittances goes to the foreign reserves (largely untapped by the phil govt)

[Darnell 8,478]

kang - ok - so you not have any comment on this concept of tapping into remittances to help out women in the PI to better themselves IN the PI.

Right?

[elyhim 41]

I had joined a international website and was interested in the Philippines, I tried to respond to every person who messaged me. I gave up in the second month, it was taking all of my time.

I did have a number of great conversations with a lot of different people but Susan was the one who really hit it off with me and when we met it was like realizing I had a right arm for the first time.

I don't like the article but there are some facts behind it. I'm certainly not 40 years older (she is older), I have no plans to keep her isolated and she knows I'm not rich but we both know we found someone we can't live without. We know love takes work and when we decided to do whatever it takes to be together we made that commitment to work hard not just in careers for us and family but emotionally as part of our relationship. Love just isn't enough to sustain a relationship, it takes work, love and commitment.

[macadamias 1]

im not sure i approve of this necro..

anyway i believe everybody needs to be loved. that's all i can see whenever i see a

really old guy and some girl from here.

Edited November 12, 2012 by macadamias

[A and T 82]

Sorry but i don't buy this story, women all over the world want a partner that has money or is well off. This is not unique to the philippines in fact you can find it all over America! haha, of course people want to better their economic situation.

I'm near poorer areas and i don't have women throwing themselves at me here in the philippines. Its just not fact

[ca_babe 129]

The inability of the Philippine economy to produce

high-paying jobs especially for women has pushed Filipinos to marry

foreigners as a way to provide for their families

If' you're single, then I believe that the only person you need to provide for is yourself. I had a high-paying job right after I graduated and passed my Engineering board exam. I didn't marry a foreigner to escape poverty. I met my husband through work. I was working for a Philippine-based US company while I was in Philippines and he was working in Los Angeles. I didn't seek out a foreign husband especially since I just graduated from college. I wasn't even thinking about getting married.

In the absence of employment prospects and with

families to care for, many women view marrying a foreigner as an easy

ticket to an overseas life with steady remittances.

I knew that competition was high for job seekers so I prepared myself by going to a top Engineering school, getting good grades, and sending out 200 resumes within a month of passing the board exam. I got job offers in less than a month and accepted a job that I liked within 2 months.

I don't send remittances to Philippines either. The best way to kill the motivation to strive success is to give person free money. Why work when you can just be lazy and get money from someone else still? Even the bible says in 2 Thessalonians 3, if you don't work then you don't eat. Philippines is poor not because of lack of opportunities, but because of the "strong family culture". Those who work hard are pressured into redistributing money to those who doesn't work. If you don't give in to the family pressure of giving money, then you get shunned by your relatives. Even distant relatives feel entitled to the money you earn even if you hardly know them.

"Many of the men live in remote areas and are unsuccessful with women

from their own culture, who they feel are spoiled and have too many

freedoms. Instead, they want women with 'traditional' family values who,

once in the country, have nowhere to turn and are completely at their

mercy,"

My husband lives in Los Angeles and it is true that he is unsuccessful with women born here. He's interested in women who are into Engineering due to common interest but sadly, there's not much women in the STEM field over here. Before I got married, I've read about foreigners wanting women with "traditional" family values so I told him that I wasn't a traditional woman. I didn't want to give him false hope. I told him, I didn't know how to cook, I detest household chores. He laughed because he said he didn't expect me to do those either and he didn't know that Filipinas were viewed as such. He just thought that Philippines surprisingly have lots of women Engineers.

When he proposed to me, he told me that I'll be happier with him than marrying somebody from my own culture who expects me to cook, clean the home and bring him his slippers. After getting married, my husband has been making me breakfast everyday until now. He washes the clothes, I put them away. I wash the dishes, he put them away. He cooks, I clean up after. We both hate cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming so we just outsource that. He changes our daughter's diapers, gives her a bath, feeds her, plays with her as much as I do.

Women are also not the only people who marries for money. My husband and I discussed finances before getting married and he told me one of the reasons he likes me is because he thinks I can support myself. He said he wants a partner not somebody who would solely rely on him. He thought my skills in Philippines could be easily transferred to a high paying job over here. He isn't a deadbeat either. He makes over 50% more than I do, but he said it'll be easier if both of us are able to support ourselves without totally relying on one person only.

I don't feel like I've nowhere to turn even after my first year over here. I got a job using my EAD by filing AOS, but the company I was working for could get me a H1-B had my marriage fallen apart prior to removal of conditions. I make $86,000 which is more than the median household income for Los Angeles which is $55,476. I wouldn't be able to live in luxury but I can at least support myself and my daughter should my husband leave us.

My husband is a caucasian hottie who a little bit older than me (5 years). He's certainly not undesirable by US standards, some of my former co-workers were flirting with him. They just send the message to me in error because instant messager IDs in my company are in the "LastNameFirstNameInitial". I used my husband's surname after getting married so the only difference is a single letter. I just laughed when I realized that they thought it was my husband that they were talking to and I'd show it to my husband and scold me for not correcting them that it was me that they're talking to and not him.

I think this is one of the reason why I'm happy with my marriage. I am married to him not because I have to, but because I want to. I don't need to get married in order to live comfortably. I am easily contented, I do not lots of material things in order to be happy.

Among the recommendations of the ADB was to tap remittances from

overseas Filipinos for productive investment and sustainable livelihood

opportunities for women so that migration becomes a choice rather than a

necessity.

I think the best way to combat poverty is being educated and by working hard and not relying on other people to support you. Marriage is not the only way to immigrate. When I was younger, I've heard about nurses, physical therapist, engineers, and other professionals migrating without getting married. I told myself that I'd like to go to Japan to be an Engineer. If I hadn't gotten married to my caucasian hottie, I would most likely be in Japan or Europe by now just like my peers from college.

[Kang 22]

^^ i agree with the family culture thing.

I would understand if the other members are disabled or senior citizens but many abled people are lazy because of the cultural perception that those who earn more "must" feed the lazier ones.

I think another contributor is the shortcut mentality. Many want immediate money rather than working their way up. Notice that a lot of filipinos do not save for the future. They spend all the money they have on hand

The philippines has a very large untapped human resources