This is my 3rd weekly column for 2023 and again my topic is about reintegration. You see by May 28 this year we would have been living and working in the UAE for 22 full years. We arrived here in 2001 for an adventure as well as to escape from Metro Manila’s traffic, flood, pollution and crime. It was not about economics as I was working with United Laboratories or Unilab as Corporate Affairs and Communications Manager. It was about a new and safer life while raising a young family.
Fast forward to 2023, our only child Yuji has his own life away from us which started in 2016 when he first studied in Canada and then pursued and completed his university degree at Ateneo de Manila University from 2017 to 2021.
Typically, a father’s and a husband’s responsibilities are to send children to school and build their own home. I had fulfilled the first and the second is still a plan unless we finally reintegrate back into Philippine society. I already have a lot near Tagaytay for our ‘semi-retirement’ house but my wife still wants to continue embracing the goodness of Dubai and UAE. We also have a condo in Makati which is being rented. The unit is appropriate for working couples or individuals.
This brings me to the possibility of going home for good and still pursuing one’s career, successfully. Here are three individuals who will inspire, encourage and empower you dear readers.
Karen Lipardo is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who started her career in 2004 with SyCip, Gorres, Velayo (SGV) and then Royal Dutch Shell Plc in the Philippines. From 2007 to 2018, she relocated to Dubai and worked with DP World and then Pfizer. He last job was Senior Financial Analyst covering 11 Gulf and Levant countries.
A month after going home, Karen was hired by the Capiz Provincial Government as Budget and Financial Analyst and after three months appointed to a regular position as Budget Officer II. She now functions as Supervising Administrative Officer (Budget Officer IV) where she does ‘a rewarding role performing the annual executive budget for the whole province and working side by side with the research division and providing legal basis of local budget circulars, executive orders and memorandum issued’.
As expats we know that our salaries here cannot be matched back home. There are many valid reasons for going home for good and Karen said it on her LinkedIn page on September 13, 2018: “My reasons might be very petty for some, for others it may even sound as an excuse. But for me, I never had a single doubt with the decision that I contemplated several times prior to handing over my resignation letter. I reckoned that this act that I’m doing is not even equal to what my mother has done to me and my sibling, and to our family. I am not where I am today if not with my mother and hence, it cemented my courage to finally change the course of my life from living the luxuries in Dubai to living a simple, laid-back life back home, to where my happiness is.”
When I read her testimony on September 23, 2018, I instantly messaged Karen that I was ‘inspired by your sharing on going home for good and leaving a lot of things in Dubai that are very good’. At that time I was already open to reintegration which was triggered when our son enrolled at Ateneo in 2017. When we were together in Dubai from 2001 to 2016 we were always saying that home is where the family is.
“Make a necessary preparation and roadmap and focus on looking for opportunities that best suits your qualifications and interests. Be ready to be patient along with adjusting to the local culture back home and, if possible, continue learning by going back to school for more edge in the application process,” advised Karen.
Noriel Gojar, Jr. graduated with a degree in Business Management whose first job was Marketing Coordinator of a well-known real estate company in the Philippines. He then came here for work and was hired as rank-and-file employee of the Tristar Group where I am connected. Noriel worked for four years and went back home in mid-2016 to ‘follow my heart where it really belongs’.
He first worked as Corporate Communication Officer in the healthcare industry and after a few years worked in the construction industry as Advertising and Promotion Supervisor. He later on transferred to another company within the same industry as Corporate Marketing Manager.
Noriel added: “Today, I work in the automotive industry as Marketing Head. I can FINALLY say I made it. Yet, there is more career ladders to climb. Who can imagine that this sloppy person before can now be the best practitioner in his field?”
He is encouraging expats who want to pursue their careers in the Philippines to ‘follow your heart and make it happen’. “Some say that it is the unfulfilled dreams that keep you alive. I guess this will always be the case for people who passionately pursue their dreams till that day comes as they announce Finally.”
Sharon Cabauatan-Cayetano has been connected with the Telecommunications Industry for 20 years. She started with PLDT in 1993, worked with du in Dubai for more than 7 years, and was hired by Globe Telecom in August 2016 where she is currently the Senior Manager – Regional Strategy Management.
She is very optimistic that returning expats can still continue their career in the homeland. “There’s a lot of opportunities in the Philippines and the work experience of expats gives them the edge. The companies ‘may’ also provide a little over the top rate offer with enhanced benefits given the expertise and best practice that expats bring with them – which is another advantage. Thus, expats have the leverage to get their dream job. Aside, of course, from the fact that they are united with their families here, which I think is the best reason for coming home,” Sharon explained.
She further said: “When I moved back in 2016, I applied for a job and got a call for an interview with the Head of Customer Experience. God is so good, I never thought I would get employed soon and in the same industry.”
The journeys of these three ex-expats show that staying and working overseas do not have to be very long. All it takes is a firm decision to say ‘it’s about time’ without any hesitation or regret. Again, as I mentioned in last week’s column that it’s never too late nor too early to start preparing and saving for our eventual reintegration. All the best everyone.