30/12/2025
๐ญ๐ฌ๐จ๐ป๐ผ๐น๐ฌ | ๐ช๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ
Christmas paints a joyous scene with a colorful room illuminated by hundreds of Christmas lights, gifts of various shapes and colors sitting under the flashy Christmas Tree, a table flocked with food and treats we all craved throughout the year, families and loved ones gathered as each face shares a beaming smile on the long-awaited get-together. A scene radiating utter warmth and hope as Christmas lives within Filipino families as a tradition where every seat in the household is occupied, and where these very seats are warmed by the presence of those we love the most.
However, this scene remains a longing dream for many Filipinos working abroad during the holidays. The whispers of the December gloom slightly increase its volume as we witness in the very corner of the typical Christmas scene, an empty seat. There waits, solemnly by the dinner table, a space supposedly for our loved ones working in foreign lands, our Migrant Filipino Workersโ an empty seat yearning for the warmth of those we miss, where Christmas feels colder than it should be.
โ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ช๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข. ๐๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ช๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ.โ Gina, an accounting clerk working in Dubai, UAE, shares with us.
The Philippines has been known to have the longest Christmas season, spanning almost four months. As soon as the calendar falls in September, the Christmas spirit breathes itself into life. Filipinos continue to carry the festive spirits until the last few weeks of January, and until then, Christmas trees still stand bright and alive, lights and parols still illuminate corners of neighborhoods, and gifts and angpaos still find their way into soft receiving hands.
For Migrant Filipino Workers who celebrate this long season in their respective workplaces, Christmas goes as fast as a breath. It fleets before their very eyes, giving them little to no time to give Christmas even its transient moment. Our loved ones abroad could only settle for a short phone call as they could only bear witness from the other side of the screen to their families and loved ones basking in each otherโs warm presence. It was as if Christmas was just a mere thought for them before they head back to reality.
For Arianne Ondevilla, a hospitality worker currently in Macau, โ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฃ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐บ ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ด.โ Similarly, Danieca, a chef also working in Macau, shares, โ๐๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ-๐ช๐ฃ๐ข. ๐๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฌ. ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช ๐ฏ๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐บ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ-๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐บ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐บ.โ
While some Migrant Filipino Workers may have celebrated Christmas, though far away, the grandiose and vibrance barely comes close to how itโs usually done back home. Our feast of a table, clashing voices over the karaoke, the added singing of children caroling by the gate, soft mumbles of a mature conversation in one room, and the loud cackle of a shared joke in the other are condensed into small casseroles of Pinoy cuisines and the sheer comfort of co-Filipino Migrant Workers present in the near environment. It may seem simple and trivial, but it supplements what they cannot have for the moment.
Arianne adds, โ๐๐ข๐บ ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ-๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฑ๐ธ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐บ... ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐บ ๐ด๐ข ๐ช๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข, ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ข ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ข ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ด๐ข๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ.โ The found family of Pinoys overseas may not be the family we are accustomed to, but it is the kind of people that makes Christmas the cordial holiday it is. Christmas symbolizes love, hope, and salvation, evolving into a widespread cultural festivity for Filipinos primarily focused on family and the act of giving and sharing. Hence, it gave birth to comforting traditions that endure today. In essence, being in the presence of a community and sharing oneโs resourcesโdespite the absence of the holidayโs vibrance and grandnessโas long as it is rooted in love, is what it truly means to celebrate the festivity.
In spite of that, the sacrifice of Migrant Filipino Workers spending their Christmas abroad conceals something more complex than just hard work and livelihood.
โ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ณ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ด. ๐๐ข๐ด๐บ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ. ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ข๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข," Gina shares with us when asked the reason why she chose to work in another country. On the other hand, Arianne says,โ๐๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ-๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ข ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ด, ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ-๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ด๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ.โ
Beyond the blues of a missed Christmas lies the urgency of paid work. The disparity between the cost of living and the living wage remains a persistent challenge among workers in the Philippines. Compensation for an entire dayโs labor often falls short in providing ample resources. Aside from this imbalance, Filipino workers are further challenged to establish economic security due to inflation surpassing the pace of employeesโ wage increases. The price hike in food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and other needs outpaces the very little wage adjustments. Other challenges include employer wage limitations due to varying factors leading to layoffs, business shutdownsโ basically, unemployment. Additionally, the Philippines displays a high underemployment rate which encourages workers to accept below-minimum pay and settle for the governmentโs lack of initiative in enforcing living-wage policies. Eventually, we are faced with the typical yet anxiety-inducing conundrum: how can we make ends meet?
Moreover, with the ever-thriving corruption within our government, as well as the lack of assistance and support for our Filipino Migrant Workers, poses an even greater challenge. Our culture and resourcesโboth on land and on waterโidentified as rich, and the very people dubbed as resilient, holds so much potential yet stands on a poorly built system, perhaps the lack thereof, is injustice masked as slow progress.
Brought by all these varying factors, many seek livelihood outside of the Philippines, even if it means leaving behind the only home they have known and have always belonged to. It may not be the country itself, but it definitely is the people who make living here worth it against all odds.
โ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ๐ข,โ Arianne says about her biggest trouble as an OFW. Danieca shares a similar sentiment, โ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด... ๐๐ด๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐จ ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฑ ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ฐ, ๐ญ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐จ ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ธ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ญ๐ข, ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ญ๐ข. ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.โ On another hand, Gina explains how living alone away from her kids is her biggest trouble, โ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฉ๐ข๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ-๐ข๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ช๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ด๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ข๐บ๐ฐ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐บ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐ข๐ด๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ต๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐บ๐ข๐ฏ.โ
All Filipino Migrant Workers share a similar longing for the presence of their loved ones which grows louder as the year-end holiday approaches. In line with the tradition of gift-giving, we asked each of them for their Christmas Wish for their co-Filipino Workers:
โ๐๐ข ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ด๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ต๐ข๐ดโ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ต๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ๐ข.โ
โ๐๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ด ๐ฌ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข ๐ช๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข. ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ญ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข ๐ช๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ด๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข.โ
โ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ.โ
Filipino Migrant Workers remain the backbone of our country in relation to our contribution to the global economy. One of the Philippinesโ main exports is its skilled workers, yet they remain among the most vulnerable to exploitation, improper compensation for labor, and an underprotected sector in our society. If only the Philippine Government ensures fair wages for the work of Filipinos abroad whilst guaranteeing our workers a safe and comfortable living conditions away from overcrowded accommodation and unsafe workplaces. If only laws protecting Filipino Migrant Workers against discrimination and violence, and laws that provide access to social protection and healthcare are not just made but are actively executed. If only the primary government bodies responsible for upholding labor rights actually help OFWs exercise their rights. If only the government finally recognizes the lack of a proper employment system, and exercises the rights that protect the people and the service that they give, maybe Filipinos will feel secure enough to serve their own country instead of seeking refuge in another.
We often hear OFWs say โ๐๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ๐ข,โ redefining the many faces of what resilience looks like for a Filipino. Our strength is indeed admirable, but we ought to admit that it is done because we are left with no other choice but to bear the much needed strength. Only with a competent and supportive government can we produce qualified and skilled Filipinos, instead of settling as resilient ones.
โ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐๐โ barely encapsulates the grief and the injustice Filipino Migrant Workers endure through missed Christmas Seasons. It is blood, sweat, and tears shed and it is oneโs limited lifetime given up for the sweet mirage of a secure and comfortable life. The magnitude of these sacrifices becomes an even heavier weight as the Christmas Season arrives yet leaves no space for a path back home. Though this festivity comes with a promise of hope and salvation, some can only smile at the mere thought of this promise as it remains to be a far horizon.
On the other side of it are us, their families and loved ones that await. Maybe thatโs why thereโs seldom this one empty seat on the table, an empty space on the couch, and a short moment of silence between laughters, for the grief over our loved ones abroad quietly lurks amongst the noise of the festivity. It is in these quick moments, we feel the night grow colder, a kind of cold where only their presence can soothe, a silent whisper of โ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ง๐โ.
| ๐๐บ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ข ๐. ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข
