OFWs not ATMs, Pinay's book says

A Filipino author recently launched the book "The Path to Remittance" Tales of Pains and Gains of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), which focuses on the message that OFWs are not automated teller machines (ATMs) or cash points. The book was written by Papias Banados, an OFW who has worked both in the Middle East and Southeast Asia for the past 16 years. In the book, she recounts how she obtained overseas employment through recruitment agencies and later remitted money to support her family back in the Philippines. The book sheds light on issues related to the OFW phenomena — how political leaders and government agencies tend to condone the exodus of Filipino workers; how concerted international action is needed to stop the exploitation of OFWs by recruitment agencies, and so on. To the families of OFWs, especially in the grassroots communities, the book relays the message that OFWs are not ATMS or cash machines. The book talks about the demands that many OFWs get from their families back home, especially for money. The book tells how some OFWs are depended on by their parents, children, brothers sisters, as well as their uncles, aunties, and cousins. With their meager incomes, many women OFWs have resorted to devising ways to earn extra “income" to avoid losing face to their relatives. The book was launched in Quezon City on September 30 in cooperation with Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation, Inc. and Migrant Forum in Asia. - VVP, GMA News