LET’S brace ourselves for the double-, even triple-, whammy that may come our way as a nation as a result of the natural and man-made disasters visiting the other countries of the world.
Already, the civil convulsions gathering steam in Egypt, Libya and other countries in the Middle East continue to force tens if not hundreds of thousands of overseas Filipino workers to come home to escape the bloodshed that has already started. This diaspora in reverse will be disastrous not only to our economy which for the longest time had relied so much on the remittances of OFWs, it will likewise impact heavily on the well-being of Philippine society, most specially Filipinos whose family fortunes were supposed to have improved due to the employment of their breadwinners abroad. Many, if not most of them, will be back to zero in terms of livelihood, capability to send their children to school and provide themselves with healthful living. Given the situation, it is uncertain if these displaced OFWs will find work or start small business here at home.
Comes now the catastrophe suffered by Japan due to last week’s 8.9 earthquake and resulting tsunami. It is likely the devastation will force Japan to cut down on importation from the Philippines, including but not only Cavendish bananas from Davao. Let’s hope the adverse effects of the disaster in Japan will not be much as to also prompt our biggest trading partner to embrace a drastic reduction in demand for Filipino manpower.
Aside from its economic impact on us, let’s not forget that last Thursday’s earthquake and tsunami could have also damaged heavily Japan’s many nuclear plants that may cause a big nuclear accident that would also affect us and other neighboring countries.
Let’s hope and pray that the largely untested leadership of this country will be competent enough to lead us through all these unfolding horrific challenges.
