Some travel for leisure; others travel for work. Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) fit the category of the latter, but take working overseas to a whole different level.

Hubert Humphrey Fellow Arnel Bañas will be paying tribute to the group of people he called a “special class of Filipinos” in his talk “Filipino workers: Modern day heroes cope in a globalized world” tonight in Parrington Hall.

The surge of OFWs began in the 1970s as a temporary measure, Bañas said. However, with people continuing to work abroad, it has turned into a new industry.

In 2007, an estimated $15 billion flowed into the Philippine economy in the form of remittances, accounting for 13 percent of the country’s gross national product. OFWs can be found in two-thirds of the members of the United Nations.

“You can even find them in countries where there is war,” Bañas said. “When you find Filipino workers in every nook and corner, that’s a problem. It’s like a restaurant turning into a buffet. You can’t stop eating.”

OFWs, often aged 25 to 29, leave the Philippines to work in other countries in order to support their family and children. While there are happy endings to some of the stories of OFWs, there are bad ones as well.

Political reasons can drive Filipinos to work abroad, but their primary reasons for leaving the country are economic. Mothers, for example, often leave the Philippines to care for other women’s children.

“It’s ironic,” Bañas said. “You leave home to support your family and children, but when you come back, they (their children) think of you as strangers. You leave a lot behind. You don’t get to see them take their first steps. You don’t get to see them get their diplomas.”

Freshman Myra Demissie, who will attend Bañas’ lecture, knew that overseas Filipino workers sent their incomes back to their families. However, she was not aware of the extremes that OFWs go to support them.

“Personally, I went to school with a lot of Filipinos,” she said. “It’s not a shocker to me. They’re a close-knit community and I know they’re really hardworking. Someone I knew sent money back to the Philippines to help his family start a business. But I didn’t know they went to such extreme levels and had to leave their families and children behind. ”

Bañas, who is deputy secretary for administrative and financial services in the Philippine senate, will also be focusing on the views and appreciation of the Philippine government toward the OFWs. The government has given benefits to the OFWs, enacting the Migrant Workers Act of 1995 and the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003. The former protects and promotes the rights and welfare of OFWs, while the latter gives overseas workers the right to vote for the election of the president, vice president and senators.

While the economic contributions of the OFWs are surely appreciated, Bañas believes the industry needs to be reversed.

“They are leaving their comfort zones for their families,” he said. “They travel because they feel like they have to. We appreciate their economic support, but we still want them to be involved in the Philippines. The solution is at home. How do you implement laws when they’re overseas?”

[Reach reporter Kim Lee at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]