A friend of mine now lives in Paris with her British husband and their two children. No one gave her any grief or guilt about her decision to move away; in fact I suspect she’s heard more people tell her how fortunate she is to be residing right smack dab in the center of the City of Lights. Her choice to leave was not a statement against the United States nor was it meant to demonstrate the superiority of France. She moved simply for personal reasons. And that was good enough.

Unfortunately for us Filipinos who now live outside the Philippines, it’s never that simple a reason. No matter why we left, there’s always that cloud of perception hanging over us that we abandoned our country in its time of need. It’s rather confusing, you know, to be hailed by the government as heroes because of the dollar remittances we send back home — and then practically denounced as traitors by many of our fellow Filipinos (sometimes even by the same government officials) for using our talents and skills for the benefit of another nation and not our own instead.

Continue reading at GIGI GOES GAGA

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