CBCP: OFW loneliness leads to 'textmates', illicit affairs

Loneliness is turning out to be a major problem among Filipino migrants, leading them to have relationships by text and eventually, multiple families, an official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said. Fr. Edwin Corros, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Migrant and Itinerant People, said loneliness is the first problem that hounds OFWs while abroad. “Yung text-text very common yan sa mga kababayan natin na hindi naka-establish ng maturity sa kanilang personal life at familial relationships," Corros said in an article on the CBCP news site. (Casual texting is very common among our compatriots who have not established maturity in their personal life and familial relationships.) He said this is mainly due to the difficulty that OFWs have in coping with the isolation and loneliness they experience. Temporary separation caused by migration eventually leads to broken relationships and breakdown of families, he noted. In many cases, the OFWs enter into illicit relationships, he added. Corros said the ill effects on relationships and families is one reason ECMI does not support migration. On the other hand, Corros said a migrant worker may cope positively by using his family as his inspiration.—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV