CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The Problem and Its Background

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), those that seek greener pastures outside

of the Philippines, are often dubbed as “modern-day heroes” due to their sacrifice of

being far from loved ones for relatively long periods of time for the sake of providing

for their respective families. In addition, their remittances are contributing

significantly to the Philippine GDP, thus helping greatly not only the OFWs’

respective households or families but also the development of the Philippine

economy.

Working in a different country, however, has always proved to be a great

challenge. Aside from being far from loved ones for relatively long periods of time,

dealing with different cultures and the possibility of being in grave danger are often

factors that OFWs also need to worry about. Among OFWs, the most prone to these

dangers are the overseas domestic helpers. In fact, a prominent case was that of

late Flor Contemplacion who was executed in Singapore in 1995. There were also

cases of domestic helpers who were maltreated, raped and/or murdered in some

countries in the Middle East, which recently forced the current Philippine President

Rodrigo Roa Duterte to issue a strong warning of total OFW ban in the said Asian

region. This warning eventually forced concerned countries to enact and enforce

laws that would improve the protection of OFWs, particularly domestic helpers, from

abusive employers.

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 Despite the abovementioned challenges, data from Philippine Overseas

Employment Administration (POEA) and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show

that a significant number of Filipinos still choose to work abroad as domestic

helpers, with new hires being added almost every year to those who renew

contracts. Many kept on renewing contracts and have spent more time abroad than

at home in the Philippines, which is an evidence of better coping mechanisms

overseas Filipino domestic helpers have. Over time, these coping mechanisms

apparently develop into psychological and emotional resilience, locally described or

translated as “katatagan”, of overseas Filipino domestic helpers.

Studies conducted abroad and locally and data from Philippine government

agencies suggest that resilience could be one of the key elements that help

overseas domestic helpers survive abroad for years despite the challenges they

have to face and deal with. This study, therefore, wishes to understand resilience

development in overseas domestic helpers by assessing the state of personal

resilience of the said Filipino workers and by investigating on the factors or coping

mechanisms that aid in the development of such resilience within them. In addition,

the study will be conducted in Singapore, an “open country”, and in Saudi Arabia, a

“close country”. Such study design will allow a comparison of culture and

environment as additional possible significant factors affecting personal resilience

development in overseas Filipino domestic helpers.

Objectives of the Study

To be able to obtain the data necessary to understand personal resilience in

overseas Filipino domestic helpers and the factors or coping mechanisms that help

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in the development of such resilience, the following objectives shall be done during

the conduct of this study:

1. Determine demographic and some employment information from

respondents working in Singapore and Saudi Arabia

2. Determine the perception of the respondents on the level of relevance or

significance of the following factors that could possibly affect their coping

with being far from loved ones for relatively long periods of time, their way

of dealing with different cultures, and their mindset on the possibility or

existence of abusive acts from employers:

a. Presence and company of other OFWs, which includes support or

religious groups in the area, etc.

b. Availability of communication technologies such as cellphones and

the Internet which allow local and overseas communication

c. Positive characteristics of employers

3. Determine the state of resilience of the respondents

4. Determine any statistically significant relationships

a. between the perceived relevance or significance of each of the

possible factors and the demographic and employment data of the

respondents,

b. between the state of resilience of the respondents grouped

according to their demographic and employment data, and

c. between the perceived relevance or significance of each of the

possible factors and the state of resilience of the respondents.

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Statement of the Problem

The present study aims to understand the development of personal resilience

in overseas Filipino domestic helpers, specifically those working in Singapore and

Saudi Arabia, and the factors associated with it by seeking answers to the following

questions:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents with respect to (i) age, (ii)

gender, (iii) civil status, and (iv) educational attainment?

2. What is the employment profile of the respondents with respect to (i) length of

employment and (ii) country or place of employment?

3. How do the respondents perceive the following factors in terms of the level of

relevance or significance of each factor to the respondents’ coping with the

challenges of working abroad?

a. Presence and company of other OFWs, which includes support or

religious groups in the area, etc.

b. Availability of communication technologies such as cellphones and the

Internet which allow local and overseas communication

c. Positive characteristics of employers

4. Will the (i) perceived relevance or significance of each of the factors and (ii)

the respondents’ state of resilience be significantly affected by the

respondents’ demographic and employment profile?

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 5. Will the perceived relevance or significance of each of the factors significantly

affect the respondents’ state of resilience?

6. As perceived by the respondents, will one or two factors be more relevant or

significant than the others or will there be no significant difference?

Study Hypotheses

The following hypotheses shall provide guidance during the conduct and

development of the present study:

1. The respondents’ age, gender, civil status, educational attainment, length

of employment, and country or place of employment will have significant

effect on the respondents’ mindset regarding the level of relevance or

significance of each of the factors to be studied in this research and the

respondents’ state of resilience.

2. The perceived level of relevance or significance of each of the factors will

have significant effect on the respondents’ state of resilience.

3. The perceived levels of relevance or significance will be significantly

different between factors, i.e. the respondents will perceive or decide that

one or two factors is/are significantly more relevant or more important than

the others.

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical bases of this study are the resiliency theories or models

developed by Taormina (2015), Patterson (1988), and Leipold and Greve (2009).

The present study will mainly adopt the principles of Taormina’s “Adult Personal

Resilience Theory” which focuses on resilience on the personal level only and

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determined that adult personal resilience is a multidimensional construct, the

dimensions being “determination”, “endurance”, “adaptability”, and “recuperability”.

This model focuses on the internal characteristics of a person, through the

mentioned dimensions, as factors that help develop resilience in adults. Such

dimensions are then used to better understand what adult resilience is as compared

to the general idea of resilience and could be used to understand why certain

individuals or groups of individuals have better resilience development than others.

Therefore, since the present study will be focused on respondents working in two

different countries, the said dimensions will be used to assess the state of resilience

in the present study’s respondents.

The models developed by Patterson (1988) and Leipold and Greve (2009) will

be used to further understand the development of personal resilience in the present

study’s respondents. Patterson’s “Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response

Model” generally describes the process of families balancing demands and

capabilities as they experience family crisis. For the purpose of the present study,

the fact that members of respective Filipino families need to work abroad, far from

their loved ones, for relatively long periods of time shall be treated as the family

crisis that each of the OFW families and the OFWs themselves need to adjust to. If

such adjustment and adaptation lead to positive outcomes, psychological and

emotional resilience is expected to develop within OFWs over time.

In addition, Leipold and Greve’s “Integrative Model of Coping, Resilience, and

Development” proposes that resilience results from coping processes and, therefore,

is an important part of the conceptual bridge between coping and development. The

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model’s principles suggest that coping mechanisms play a significant role in

resilience development. Such proposition is in accordance with the present study’s

objectives and will be significant in the study’s development and, later on, in the

interpretation of data from respondents.

Conceptual Framework and Research Paradigm

Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework of the proposed study. To gather

the data needed in understanding resilience development in domestic helpers

working in Singapore and Saudi Arabia, the present study will adopt the descriptive-

correlational under quantitative research approach.

Initially, a survey questionnaire will be prepared based on Taormina’s “Adult

Personal Resilience Theory”. Since the reliability of the model’s psychometric

properties has already been studied and proven, reliability tests will not be

performed in this study. Furthermore, since Taormina’s resiliency model is based on

positive or proactive psychology, the questionnaire items based on the dimensions

of personal resilience will be slightly modified to conform to the objectives and

hypotheses of the study and shall be verified and approved by the research adviser.

After which, copies of the approved questionnaire will be distributed to chosen

respondents working in Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

The respondents will be given enough time to answer the questionnaires,

probably 2 to 3 days, to reduce as much bias as possible. Too little amount of time

allotted for answering the questionnaires might force the respondents to just answer

the items without giving them significant amount of thinking, thus leading to

unreliable results.

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 The answered questionnaires will be gathered, the data will be tabulated, and

the summarized data will be treated with appropriate statistical tools. The gathered

and treated data will then be interpreted, analyzed, and discussed qualitatively and

quantitatively. After which, conclusions and recommendations regarding the adult

personal resilience development in domestic helpers working in Singapore and

Saudi Arabia and the factors associated with such resilience will be formulated.

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 Determination of Relevant Resiliency Model(s)

Formulation of Survey Questionnaire Based on Resiliency Model(s) and Study Objectives and Hypotheses

Determination of Sample Size

Conduct of Survey

Data Gathering and Statistical Treatment; Interpretation, Analysis, and Discussion of Raw and Treated Data

of Conclusions and Recommendations Regarding Development of Resilience in Overseas Filipino Domestic Helpers and the Fact

Figure 1. Conceptual framework/research paradigm of the proposed study.

Significance of the Study

The present study on adult personal resilience development in Filipino

domestic helpers in Singapore and Saudi Arabia could provide information and

insights into how personal resilience could develop in overseas Filipino workers over

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time and the factors associated with such resilience. In addition, the data that will be

gathered could also provide insights into the coping and development of these

workers. Such valuable insights could be used by the Philippine government and

other governments and international labor and social welfare organizations such as

the International Labour Organization (ILO) in formulating programs that would

further assist overseas workers, not just Filipino workers but other nationalities as

well, in coping with challenges brought about by employment abroad.

In addition, the results of the present study are also expected to provide

valuable insights that could possibly be of help in understanding and addressing

other relevant issues or problems concerning OFWs, particularly domestic helpers,

such as depression that could lead to suicidal tendencies or the possibility of

committing homicide against their employers, among many others.

Scope and Delimitations

The present study will be focusing only on overseas Filipino domestic helpers

or those Filipino workers whose jobs are domestic- or household-related. None of

the other OFW professions will be included in the discussion, although such variable

will be included in the recommendations for further studies. In addition, only

overseas Filipino domestic helpers working in Singapore and Saudi Arabia will be

included in the sample population to be surveyed and interviewed.

For the purpose of the present study, only three external factors will be

assessed, namely (i) presence and company of other OFWs, which includes support

or religious groups in the area, etc., (ii) availability of communication technologies

such as cellphones and the Internet which allow local and overseas communication,

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and (iii) positive characteristics of employers. Since the respondents have different

employees, the respondents will be given the liberty to determine according to their

perception and experience the level of relevance or significance of the

abovementioned factors on their coping mechanisms or strategies.

Lastly, only Taormina’s “Adult Personal Resilience Theory” will be used to

assess the state of personal resilience in the respondents of the present study. The

other theories that will be included in the present study shall be used only in the

analysis and discussion of the data that will be gathered from the survey.

Definition of Terms

Personal Resilience: For the purpose of the present study, the term shall be

defined as resilience on the personal level only which takes into account only

the personal or internal characteristics of a person as described by the four

dimensions of Taormina’s “Adult Personal Resilience Theory”.

Resilience: In this study, the term shall refer to the general concept of

resiliency being affected by personal or internal characteristics of a person

and other external factors.

Overseas Domestic Helpers: For the purpose of this study, the term shall

refer to the overseas Filipino workers with household-related jobs; these shall

include housemaids/boys, nannies, and adult caregivers, among others,

wherein the OFWs are staying within the homes of their respective

employers.

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