Maalwang Buhay: Family, Overseas Migration, and Cultures of Relatedness in Barangay Paraiso (review)

Maalwang Buhay is the result of a study focused on migration and the family, commissioned by Fr. Bienvenido F. Nebres, S.J., and implemented by a team of dedicated researchers led by Filomeno Aguilar Jr. from May 2007 to about July 2008, and conducted in a barangay somewhere in Batangas, which was identified to be the origin community of a good number of migrant workers based mostly in Italy. To contextualize this review, let me mention that these comments come from the perspective of an NGO worker engaged in advocacy for the economic empowerment of migrants, and whose knowledge of sociological research processes is little, or almost nil. In any case, I try to relate the insights and implications that I have gathered from this book to my own work, and hopefully any future activity or further research that may be undertaken on this subject.

After overcoming my fear of the first chapter, I found that the book is not that hard to read, which is testament to the ability of this book to effectively communicate, something that is often absent from many scholarly works. Life is short and society is hungry for solutions; brilliant work should not only inform, but must also be followed by action, rather than end up languishing in a steel cabinet or some computer file. Maalwang Buhay indeed has furthered my education, and promises to enrich my own work. Let me tell you why.

My organization is also involved in doing research work especially on migrant remittances and development, particularly on the behavior of Italy-based Filipinos. There have also been recent and ongoing research by the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) as well as by the Scalabrini Migration Center. Invariably, we come up with findings on the behavior of migrants in respect of savings, investment, or generally the use of their remittances, which strike us as irrational or economically unjustifiable, such as the construction of huge houses, which end up being uninhabited. As researchers we are often asked if house construction or even education should be considered an investment, given that it does not produce any income. Maalwang Buhay’s first lesson is that migrant behavior should be taken in the context of the history and culture of a migrant’s community of origin; assessing migrant behavior solely on economic terms is not only incomplete, it is also empirically incorrect.

Evidently migration advocates, who call themselves experts after spending a few days with migrant communities, must read Maalwang Buhay to realize that (1) a house that a migrant builds symbolizes adult status and autonomy; (2) a house serves as social preparation for sibling unity, which is the basis for community; and (3) houses show the desire of migrants, despite their absence, to maintain their connection to the origin community or village roots, to where they will return after overseas work. Our current research on the retirement aspirations of Filipinos in Italy show that a large majority will be retiring in their communities of origin. This could indicate that the building of houses is part of the preparation for retiring in their origin communities. Perhaps it even makes economic sense to build now than much later when prices of construction materials might be higher and unaffordable. Somehow there could be logic to what appears to be nonessential.

The presence of extended households and why migrant workers send so much money for the maintenance of these large households are also an issue. Aside from acting as surrogate parents, caregivers look after migrants’ children, and often do the budgeting of remittances, as this study found. Grandparents, mostly senior citizens, play a critical role in the caregiving process. Even the community and especially educators, being part of this culture of relatedness, might consciously...