NATION BUILDING THROUGH WORLD-CLASS FILIPINOS

NATION BUILDING THROUGH WORLD-CLASS FILIPINOS

“As soon as I graduate, I’m going to work abroad.”

This has been uttered by countless Filipinos, with the full support of their families, since the first wave of OFWs found greener pastures in Western and more affluent Asian countries. The long lines of hopefuls at the POEA and foreign embassies are proof of the unwavering determination of Filipinos to “make it big” in another country. But what about those equally skilled Filipinos left here who may not have the means or the connections to leave the country? Is their situation necessarily hopeless? Let’s consider some facts about Filipinos.

Filipinos are naturally talented.

In the Business Process Outsourcing industry, Filipinos lead in terms of communication skills. From an October 2006 article on callcentersindia.com, Indians themselves profess their acknowledgement of Filipino excellence:

“When it comes to training a Filipino agent, you have to invest less. Very few call centres spend time on voice and accent neutralisation. So automatically the duration of training period gets reduced. While an Indian BPO guy takes 24 days to get trained, his Filipino friend spends only 19 days as a trainee.“

“When it comes to multi-lingual skills, Filipinos are much verbose. 64 per cent of Filipino agents can speak more than two languages as compared to India where only 40 per cent multi lingual skills.”

“So, do Filipinos make better BPO agents than our Desi BPO guys? The answer that emerges from the facts and figures from the survey by ACA Research and Kelly Services is yes.”

Filipinos are well motivated.

An October 2006 article from Soundclick talks about Asia's songbird Regine Velasquez:

"Regine was born in Manila, Philippines on April 22, 1970. She came from a poor family. The family was so poor that her mother would not eat so she can give it to her children. They didn't have any TV so they would go to their neighbor to watch - the neigbor was very rude to them, they also didn't have water so they would shower under the rain with soap!"

The rest is history. She, with the help of her father/trainer Gerry Velsaquez, joined contest after contest. She got noticed and was a successful international recording artist before she even turned 30.

Another success story is that of Jhet Van Ruyven, the owner of DigiPrint Graphics, a digital printing and graphic design company in South Surrey, British Columbia. She was hailed “1996 Business Woman of the Year” in Surrey, B.C.,. An article from The Canadian Immigrant talks of Jhet’s humble beginnings:

“Born the second of twelve children, Jhet lived in extreme poverty in Barrio Pader, Lian, Batangas, without electricity and stuffed inside a cramped nipa hut. Forced at a young age to help her parents raise and feed her brothers and sisters, she took to vending on the beaches of Matabunkay; selling mangoes, pan de sal, ice drop – anything to earn very little money and ensure survival.”

What’s common about these two Filipinos? They used the challenges of the environment to dream and reify their dreams of a better life through hard work.

However, success is not found only on foreign soil. These Filipinos became successful not just through opportunities but more importantly through hard work to improve themselves. They learned their craft to the hilt. They were ready.

Others have led the way.

From a May 2006 article by Peachy Forbes about a series of Gawad Kalinga concerts in Canada, we have this account of a 19 year-old Filipino:

“Calvin, student of Georgetown University grew up in California. Calvin returned to the Philippines to work with the poor…he encouraged ex-patriots to become heroes to their country. ’It is not about charity but nation-building,’ he says.”

The challenge to us Filipinos here the country is the same: Let us ready ourselves. These days we usually go to other countries to look for opportunities. What if opportunities come to us? Are we in top form right now? Will we be chosen?

This is a good time for self-assessment. Let us make an inventory of our skills. If there’s a dearth, then let us accumulate skills. So many government and private organizations provide specialized trainings. There is a preponderance of rags-to-riches stories of successful Filipinos. You are a Flipino. You can be great. You have in you what it takes to be world-class.

They say that the art of life is a constant adjustment to our surroundings. Like soldiers preparing for war, let us fight for recognition as Filipinos not only abroad but now more than ever, here in our own country.

“If you have a product, and it comes from the heart and a higher purpose, then the universe will conspire to make this happen for you.”-- Jhet Torcelino-van Ruyven

Advanced Speech & Academic Professionals / www.advancedspeech.net