Filipinos urged to drop 'Balikbayan Box' mentality

Manila: As Filipinos marked National Migrant Workers Day, religious leaders urged people to take stock of the social costs of migration and how it affects the average family where at least one in every ten is forced to work abroad.

Priests and bishops alluded to the compelling symbol of the "Balikbayan Box" in common sermons delivered across the country.

Bishop Precioso Cantillas of Maasin in the Central Philippines explained the concept of the "Balikbayan Box" as a cardboard box filled with goods by migrant Filipino workers who send it home to their families as a reminder of the hardships they face being away from their kin.

"The 'Balikbayan Box' could very well be seen as the strongest symbol of Filipino migration; it continues to project the hope of many Filipinos that migration is the only way to improve their economic condition and that of their families," he said.

The Philippines is among several countries with a high concentration of migrant workers. According to the government, an estimated eight million, or one in every ten Filipinos, work or live overseas. Between 2,500 and 3,000 overseas Filipino workers leave the country on an average day.

The "Balikbayan Box" has been considered as a symbol of being well off but such opulence is not without its attendant tradeoffs.

Social ills

In this case, according to Cantillas, being away from their kin leaves the Filipino migrant workers, as well as their families at home, susceptible to "social ills".

Cantillas said the Roman Catholic Church is "deeply concerned" over the different social ills brought about by job migration. This is coupled with the fact there are now an increasing number of women leaving for jobs abroad resulting in the "feminisation" of overseas migration.

"The new face of migration is the fact there are now an increasing number of women leaving their families to become nurses, teachers, maids, and entertainers abroad, thus posing challenges to some family and social values," he said.