Why I won’t migrate abroad

Growing up I had this notion that moving abroad would guarantee me a good future. High-paying job, good benefits, a house with white picket fence, and maybe a husband with blue eyes. You know, the stereotypical superficial dream.

I often wondered why I was born in the Philippines. Why was I born in a country deep in debt? In a country where corruption and disaster were things you get used to by age ten? Why is it too hot in Manila?!

Since I can’t change the past, I considered taking up my master’s degree in Columbia University in New York. It’s going to be the ultimate journalist’s dream. Plus, I can go watch Broadway plays whenever I want. If I happen to like it there, then I might just stay. At one point, I also considered moving for a relationship.

And then I covered the EDSA People Power Revolution anniversary celebration last February 25. All my plans were shattered.



Call me cheeseballs, but the celebration made me realize how beautiful and rich our culture and our history are. Who overthrows a seemingly unshakable regime with just legs and words? Who chains arms with tanks in front of them? This isn’t something I would give up for dollars and snow.

So I decided that I would never move permanently. I would go out of the country just to travel, experience new things, eat new delicacies, and maybe study. But not to reside elsewhere. My feet and my heart are apparently more rooted in the Philippines than I had thought. The promise of a better life outside is far less valuable than the certainty of keeping my identity, family and friends intact.


A lot of Filipinos complain about how screwed up the system here is. That’s precisely why we need to stay – to change the system. I hate that a lot of people who say this don’t even vote for crying out loud.

I finished college and got a job first to support myself and my family. Second, to help my country in my little way.

I have absolutely nothing against emigrants and OFWs. It’s just that when you begin to see how amazing the Philippines and Filipinos are, you just won’t be able to take living in another culture.

So I choose to stay where I can wear my shorts and tsinelas in the middle of December. Where I can eat bagoong, isaw and balut without anyone looking at me funny. Where people say “po” and “opo.” Where a stranger on the street is manang or manong. Where bayanihan happens every day.

Now that I’m grown up, I know that I was born where I am needed. — GMA News

Maviel Gonzales is a sports and news correspondent for GMA News.  More at The Adventures of Supermav.