BY GERARD NAVAL
CHILDREN of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)
could be prone to emotional, behavioral and mental problems,
psychiatric doctors said yesterday as they aired concerns over
the continuous exodus of Filipino workers.
In a forum in Quezon City, officials of the
Philippine Psychiatric Association said the continued deployment
of workers overseas could affect the development of their
children.
Dr. Felicitas Soriano, PPA president, said
while there is no official study on the behavioral effects of
migration on children, "clinical exposure" showed that several
OFW children are having emotional problems.
"What will become of our children? We observe
that many OFW children are becoming insecure and drug
dependents," said Soriano.
She added that some OFW children also become
materialistic and spend their parent’s money on gadgets and
internet gaming because of lack of guidance.
Dr. Grace Macapagal, in-house psychiatrist
for crisis intervention rehabilitation in the Department of
Social Welfare and Development, said that in cases where the
mother or the father leaves to work abroad, there is an indirect
effect on the children left behind.
"Migration of one parent or both is a very
painful time for children and can cause bad emotions to stir
up," she said.
In the case of an absentee father, Macapagal
said, boys belonging to OFW families develop gender identity
problems which become more "obvious when they grow old."
On the other hand, there is the
"feminization" of OFWs, or where more women are now working
abroad, leaving the care of children to their husbands. This is
causing a role where fathers are left to care for children even
if they are not prepared.
Macapagal added that there are also instances
where the eldest daughters become the "substitute" for the
mother.
"Minsan it’s the eldest daughter who takes up
the role of the OFW mother. Sometimes they also take the sexual
roles of the mother to some fathers," she related.
The doctors said one way of combating these problems is the
utilization of an extended family in which relatives could act
as surrogate parents.
