Former hog wash collector rises as acclaimed OFW therapist in Saudi Arabia

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — From collecting hog wash in the Philippines to becoming an accomplished Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Saudi Arabia, this 54-year-old respiratory therapist knows a thing or two about living in poverty, and does not want others to go through the same.

Jose Rex Navarrosa has come a long way from his struggles in the Philippines, compared to where he is now as the current head of the Quality and Accreditation Unit of the College of Applied Medical Sciences, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Dammam. 

He is also an accomplished visual artist, organizing exhibits for his creations and serving as judge in some competitions. He has donated some of his artworks to several causes.

As with many things in his life, Jose had to persist and overcome obstacles.

Hog wash

Born in Aklan and the eldest of five children to a household help and a driver, Jose was brought to Manila when he was 5-years-old.

They lived in rented rooms, sometimes in informal settlements or in more affluent relatives' house.

"I used to get kaning baboy (hog wash) from neighbors. I learned to live streetwise. Did the usual street kid things. The hard labor—, getting water in public faucets, doing the kalakal basura (collecting and selling what can be sold from trash) and selling street foods like kakanin (rice cakes)," Navarrosa said.

Navarrosa vividly remembers when he used to carry the "kaldero with ginataang halu-halo (pot with mixed ingredients in coconut milk), while my brother carried the bilao (circular basket)."

While he was in high school, Navarrosa sold sampaguita (Arabian jasmine) and washed jeepneys.

Laundry

After his father passed on due to a vehicular accident, Navarrosa, then 15, helped his mother with her work as a household hand by doing the laundry for their neighbor.

Life tended to be easier when his mother remarried. "But there is this one incident I can't forget. The son of the owner of our rented home took our electric fan due to a delay in rent," he said.

Courtesy: Jose Rex Navarrosa

During his high school and college years, Navarrosa said his friends helped him by giving him their old shoes, bags, and old white polo uniforms.

"My friends did really help a lot easing my difficulties. Mahirap talaga kami sa mahirap (We were poorer than the poor), he said.

Degree

Through it all, Navarrosa managed to complete a degree in respiratory therapy in Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) in 1993.

In 2001, he left his job as a full time faculty member at the Department of Respiratory Therapy in EAC, and moved to Saudi Arabia for "better salary and opportunities for professional growth."

Twenty-four years later, Navarrosa is the only Filipino board member of the Saudi Society of Respiratory Care (SSRC); writes questions for the Saudi Respiratory Care Licensure Examination (SRCLE); and became involved with the Philippine Society for the Advancement of Respiratory Therapy-Saudi Arabia (PSART-SA).

Navarrosa also got his hands full organizing and lecturing in free review classes for the Special Professional Licensure Examination (SPLE), which has produced topnotchers.

He was founding president of SPLE. He also was immediate past president of the Philippine Professional Organization - Saudi Arabia Council (PPO-SAC) in 2025.

He also was an Outstanding Migrant Worker Awardee, holds the Distinguished Service Medal Awardee - Knights of Rizal, and an OFW Congress Outstanding Men Awardee, among others.

Navarrosa, who resides in Al-Khobar, has indeed come a long way. — VDV, GMA Integrated News