The Filipino Diaspora

The Filipino Diaspora is in part a factual situation that is constantly set in motion by our fellow citizens seeking success mainly in terms of financial stability. However, the term Diaspora should not be the accepted term to be used. Such term is too strong if not totally erred. This is due o the fact that the total dispersion of the whole Filipino population never occurred. The words rational journeys or principled voyages better fit the said events.
Rational journeys or principled journeys reflect the very essences of our receptive culture, a behavior of adaptive survivalism prevalent in Filipinos. Reasons vary but the common core is financial gain followed by a sense of security, a feeling that is constantly threatened by negative if not downright hostile peace and order state of affairs in the Philippines. The Marcos years may have triggered the mass temporary or permanent relocations of Filipinos abroad, but the subconscious tendency of colonial mentality is a key element of these trends. As one says, the grass is greener on the other side, or living the American Dream, or whatever dreams other nationalities would love to have.
It is fair to say It is a sorry state that the Philippine government failed to acknowledge or turned a blind eye on the cultural erosion as well as mass brain drains that follow with the Diaspora. The same disappointment applies to the affected Filipino citizens, who lack better choice of finding success and fulfillment due to poverty and negativisms that is turning malignant in the Filipino psyche.
There is still hope. Such dispersion may be a stepping stone or part of a cycle that will eventually lead to the country’s economic stability and to the Filipino family’s ideal of contentment. After all, the Jews themselves achieved such feats.