Solitude?

Hello. How are you? Me? A bit sad this day. Is this what they call separation anxiety? Maybe. Our young novice Br. Jay Jay went back to the novitiate as he now finished his apostolic exposure here in Cotabato community after three months of staying here. Br. Ador is in Bangkok until next week. Now, we’re only two brothers here in the convent as of the moment. Br. Oca also said that it feels sad now that we’re just two in the house. Absence of presence here now. The house is big but the occupants are few. That’s like a paraphrase of the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few. At least we have the Real Presence in the chapel. Let’s pay a visit to Him later.

Life as a brother can be lonely sometimes. No girlfriend, no wife, no family, no children. This is the life I have chosen. Sometimes the road can be lonesome. I hope what I feel is in solidarity with what my mother and sister in Japan feels like being isolated with their loved ones. To all widows, brokenhearted, single, overseas Filipino workers, I feel you. I pray for all of you. I don’t like this feeling but, yeah, I will savor this moment too. There’s a time to be sad and a time to rejoice. I will feel it and pray for it. And now I wrote it. 

Cheers to life!

St. Francis of Assisi, who lead a life of solitude to follow our Lord, pray for us.

Brain Drain and poverty

It’s sad to think that in our country, the people who are rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. This March, there would be an estimated 0.7 million tertiary graduates in the country. Is there enough job openings for them considering that the unemployment rate in the country remains a problem?

I know there’s a lot of quality graduates produced every year as well as quality professionals who are currently serving the country. But it’s sad to think that a lot of these people choose to go abroad to improve their current economic situation as the salary in other countries offers more than what we have here in the country. You cannot blame them for choosing to seek greener pasture in other countries. This brain drain is slowly affecting country.

Speaking of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers), I have another question to raise—if you take away all the OFW remittances, what would happen in our Third World status economy?

Personally, I experienced underemployment for a year before I entered the Marist Brothers. I have experienced the competitive job market against people with good connections and people with better qualifications than me. To get a job, I think it often falls down with the people whom you know.

Going back, I still believe that there is still hope and I really want to believe that there is still hope in the country. We need to do something against poverty. No one should be left behind. It’s not just the government that needs to act. We, the Filipino people are the ones that should start the solution. Thanks to the Non-Government Officials (NGO) and missionary workers, as they are finding ways to ease the problem. Let’s not wait for foreign countries to help us. We need to help ourselves first. Yes, there is still hope.