Heart Line: Touching Filipino Hearts Worldwide
10-Mar-06
by: Merlyn Guillermo
Emmy’s Story
Emmy is a Filipina married to a Japanese. They were married and have been living in Japan for several years. But their life as husband and wife was quite difficult. Besides the cultural barriers, she used to stay with her Japanese mother-in-law who was sick and bed-ridden. Emmy was so upset with her mother-in-law’s attitude that one day, she literally threw the wet towel at the senior citizen.
Life was frustrating for Emmy.
One day, she attended one of the series of Family Life Seminars conducted by Ptr. Clem and Merlyn Guillermo when they visited Japan some years ago. Little by little, Emmy’s character and attitude changed. She was no longer the depressed and angry young Filipina. Her transformation was so authentic and evident that her husband and her mother-in-law were surprised. Eventually, both Japanese became Christians.
But Emmy’s success story doesn’t end there.
Out of Emmy’s gratitude to the Lord for changing her outlook in life, whenever she goes home to the Philippines to visit her relatives in Dumaguete City, instead of bringing the usual gifts bought at the Japanese mall or flea market like wine or jewelries, she buys hundreds of Bibles from the Back to the Bible Bookstore in Manila to give to her unsaved loved ones.
Emmy’s story is just one of the many inspiring examples of what the Family Life Seminars are doing for Overseas Filipino workers in Japan, Hong Kong and the Middle East. Some have already returned to the Philippines for good because they’ve realized through the seminars that financial gains cannot make up for the love of a father or mother.
The Philippine Family Situation
The family situation in the Philippine is unique, and deeply troubling.
The strongest and most cherished value among Filipinos worldwide is love for the family. That includes providing for the family, being near / loyal to its immediate and extended members, and putting the family first – even above national, religious or spiritual interests. What’s ironic is that, in the Filipino’s ardent and unrivaled love for the family, they force themselves to leave and seek greener pastures in foreign lands – something that every Filipino will tell you is that the last thing they’ll do because it will mean being away from their families.
But why do millions upon millions of Filipinos leave each year to become caregivers, nurses, construction workers and entertainers in far away lands?
The main reason is poverty.
The National Statistics Office reported that in 2000, poverty incidence affected 19.9 percent of families in urban areas and 46.9 percent in rural areas. Real number of poor families climbed to 5.1 million, 1.5 million of them in urban areas and 3.6 million in rural areas. Some 2.5 million families were living in subsistence level, meaning their income was not enough to buy their basic food requirements. Furthermore, in its 2001 report, the World Bank said 12.7 percent of Filipinos were "poor", a term it assigned to those who lived on less than US$1 a day while 45.9 percent were "near poor" or those who lived on less than US$2 a day.
Although most Filipinos are poor, a lot of them are highly skilled workers and are able to speak, read, write and listen in English, thus making them qualified to the foreign market.
In fact, the country’s top exported product today is no longer rice, sugar, coconut or bananas but Filipinos. Specifically, professional caregivers, nurses, doctors, engineers and other workers in demand all over the world. According to Senator Francisco Pangilinan, the seven million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) worldwide have remitted over US$40 billion to the Philippines from 1991 to 2001. Last year, the overseas remittances of OFWs reached an all-time high in 2005 when it reached $14 billion. Economic analysts are saying that it is this remittance that is keeping the country economically viable. Without these remittances from almost 8 million OFWs, they believe that the country’s economy would collapse.
Although the dollar remittances are good for the economy, the trend of separating family members is damaging the family’s values.
A Damaged Family, A Damaged Nation
Social welfare experts from both government and private agencies agree that the separation of family members because of overseas jobs has damaged the Filipino’s family values resulting in the following social problems:
Rape
Some 3,145 cases of rape were reported in the country in 2001. This translates to 8 cases of rape each day and one rape incident in every three hours during the year. The figure only covers rape incidents reported to the police. There were also 5,735 murder cases and 4,079 homicide incidents reported in the country in 2001 alone.
Sex Crimes Against Children
According to the Social Welfare and Development, there were a total of 5,185 sex crimes committed against children in the Philippines in 2000, and 3,980 cases in 2001. Sex crimes refer to rape, incest, and acts of lasciviousness.
A Billion Peso Illegal Drug Industry
According to former Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina, the crime syndicates produce and trade P300-billion (approximately $57 Million) worth of illegal drugs in the country annually. The Dangerous Drugs Board also disclosed that some 1.8 million Filipinos are hooked on illegal drugs while 1.6 million others are casual users.
Two Million Drug Users
According to the International Narcotics Control Board, the use of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu has become "the most popular drug of abuse" in the Philippines. The Anti-Narcotics Group of the Philippine National Police disclosed that around 1.8 million of the 80 million Filipinos were regular drug users.The agency also disclosed that about 70 percent of marijuana supply in the world might be coming from the Cordillera region in northern Luzon. It claimed that marijuana fields have been found among the 300,000 hectares of Cordillera farmlands in the past. In 1999, the police conducted 7,956 raids and arrested 11,004 individuals on drug-related cases.
Women Beaten Daily
As of 2002, militant women's group Gabriela said at least 15 women and six children are beaten up daily. In 2001, Gabriela recorded 5,668 cases of wife battering and 2,274 cases of maltreatment of children.
Two-Thirds of Young Workers Had Premarital Sex
A survey conducted by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) in 2002 showed that 30 percent of the country's young workforce claimed to be sexually active, with 10 percent of the single male respondents claiming to have casual sex. In a separate report, a study conducted by the University of the Philippines Population Institute in the year 2000 showed that 23 percent of 16.5 million Filipinos aged between 15 and 24 have engaged in premarital sex.
400,000 Prostitutes
Despite the fact that prostitution is illegal in the country, women's group Gabriela said that around 400,000 Filipinos were working as prostitutes as of 1998.
100,000 Child Prostitutes
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), about 60,000 to 100,000 Filipino children were working as prostitutes as of 1997. Prostitution was present in 37 provinces then. The major child prostitution dens were found in Manila, Angeles City, Puerto Galera, Davao City and Cebu City. The Philippines has reportedly become a favorite destination of pedophiles from the US, Australia and Europe. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has documented 8,335 cases of child abuse from 1991 to 1996.
400,000 Abortions
A study released by the University of the Philippines Population Institute in February 2003 said that there were 400,000 cases of abortion in the country each year, despite the fact that abortion is illegal here.
Filipina Entertainers
There are around 180,000 Filipino entertainers in Japan sending US$200 million each year. Many of these women were vulnerable to abuse and some driven to prostitution by the Japanese Yakuza gang. Filipino entertainers were eventually called "Japayuki", which was an original concoction made by Japanese media referring to young girls working as prostitutes. The Philippine government allows the deployment of Filipino women as young as 18 years old.
Alcohol, Most Abused Drug
Liquor is said to be the most abused substance in the Philippines and the world. While there remains to be a concrete study on the effects of alcoholism, many index crimes such as homicides, physical injuries and sex-related offenses are often associated with alcohol. Adding to these are the numerous accidents caused by drunk driving. Many Filipino families were also ruined by alcoholism, with young children exposed to the evils of their drunken fathers. Sadly, the government does not do anything about it.
These economic and social problems in the Philippines call for a unique approach in terms of evangelism, Christian discipleship and missions work.
Since Filipinos are basically family-centered, Family Seminars, one-on-one counseling and a phone-in radio counseling program have been very effective in reaching Filipinos for almost three decades.
What Back to the Bible – Philippines is Doing
The Philippine office is active in reaching out to Filipino families through the unique ministry of Heart Line.
The Heart Line Broadcast
Heart Line is a one and a half hour radio telephone counseling program produced by Back to the Bible – Philippines and Far East Broadcasting Company. Aired Mondays to Fridays from 10 to 11:30 in the evening (Philippine time), the program receives hundreds of text messages each night and several phone-in questions from Filipinos all over the world -- the US, Japan, England, Australia, Canada and the Middle East. -- who are depressed, confused and those seeking answers. The program receives hundreds of SMS (short message system) text messages, and an average of 12 calls during the one and a half hours that Heart Line is aired. Besides being heard over 702 DZAS, Heart Line is also heard around the world through the worldwide web via www.febc.ph.
Heart Line is not just another radio program. We’ve seen, heard and felt the desperation and utter hopelessness of our countrymen. We believe in this unique ministry in helping people. We believe it is a rare privilege that the Lord has given us. Our listeners write:
- Heart Line is such a great and very inspiring show. I make it a point to listen every night. I hope God will continue to give you good health so you can give more inspiring advices to all the listeners. God bless!
- I want to thank the staff and counselors of Heart Line. Your program is a big help to me. I’ve learned a lot and when I listen, my questions are being answered.
- I’m Jessica of Poblacion Binalonan, Pangasinan and I’m so blessed every time I listen to your program. It serves as my inspiration. I’ve learned a lot with the advices that you have given. God bless and more power to your program.
- I’ve wanted to call your program but we don’t have a phone. Thanks anyway, because many of my questions are being answered because it is similar to the problems of other listeners who call up by phone. You are really a help. God bless you.
- I’m Mary Andase of Nagcarlan, Laguna. I’m a pastor’s wife and your program helps me as a counselor for our church members. Thank God for your program.
- I’m Maricel. Through Heart Line, my knowledge about counseling has been increased. I use that knowledge when friends come to me for advice. May God bless your program abundantly!
- I am Flora and have been a listener of your program since the late 1980s. We are now a permanent resident here in Toronto, Canada and we are glad that through the Internet we are able to listen again to your famous DZAS program. The Heart Line program has been an instrument to my spiritual growth and strength and a help in helping others too.
Heart Line has a sizeable Roman Catholic audience (80% of the Philippines is Roman Catholic). Some of them “accidentally” find the program by surfing the AM radio sites. Once they find the program, they become regular listeners. Recently, Mark Kristian, a Catholic youth, inquired how to become a born-again Christian. We invited him to the office and through counseling, he accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. There have been other similar cases in the past, but space and time would not allow us to list them all.
Family Life Seminars
Besides the radio broadcasts, the ministry also equips and teaches couples, families and individuals through its non-broadcast services which include the Family Life Seminars. Through Back to the Bible’s partnership with churches (here and abroad), the PCEC (Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches), The Promise Keepers, World Teach and many other Christian organizations it also helps in creating exciting and meaningful family seminars for churches, religious organizations, private companies or government offices.
Through the years, the ministry has helped hundreds of families and individuals through its Family Life Seminars. Topics include Love Courtship and Marriage (LCM), Marital and Pre-Marital Counseling, Marriage Enrichment, Parent-Child Relationship, Crisis Management, Development of Personality and Self-Esteem and Developing Counseling Skills.
When I go around the Philippines, when I am invited to speak, I meet a lot of people whose family members are in Japan, Hong Kong, the Middle East or in the US. They usually ask me about the latest news about their families working abroad. On the other hand, when I am in these same countries for a series of seminars, Filipino overseas workers also want to hear about news back home. In a sense, the ministry has become sort of a bridge between Filipinos separated by the need to earn in another country.
In my recent trips to Japan and Hong Kong, I’ve conducted seminars among Filipinos and some interested nationals from other countries. But it is Emmy’s story that inspires me and my staff to continue our work. We believe that our seminars and my one-on-one counseling among OFWs there resulted in the Gospel coming to Japanese homes through Filipina wives who became Christians. It’s a well-known fact among mission groups that it is very difficult to witness or even to have Christian converts among Japanese working men. But when they see the significant and dramatic change in their Filipina wives, they are surprised and are curious about their partners’ new-found faith. Their wives become the beachhead for the Gospel to penetrate the Japanese households.
Besides Family Life Seminars, we’ve also had rallies for Promise Keepers (this meeting usually has 3 to 6,000 men attending) and Marriage Enrichment Seminars in close coordination with the PCEC. We’ve conducted quarterly seminars for couples and even for spouses married to police and high ranking military officers. Our seminars are part of our preventive counseling efforts, especially among couples married to members of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.These seminars exclude the frequent seminars we conduct for churches, government offices and agencies, private organizations and corporations.
This summer, Ptr. Clem hasbeen invited to Japan and Hong Kong for another series of seminars.
Plans have also been set for October 6 for additional family seminars in Dubai, Yemen and Qatar. According to Rev. Raul Santos, a Filipino – Canadian pastor working as a missionary among the Christian and Missionary Alliance in the Middle East, there are 8 million Filipinos in the Middle East region alone. Rev. Santos arranged my visit and these series of seminars. Basically, it’s a counseling seminar for Filipino pastors and workers.
The Harvest is Great
But despite these many efforts, I feel that the broadcast and the seminars are merely scratching the surface of a very, very big social and spiritual hunger and confusion among Filipinos. The need is so great that we feel so overwhelmed sometimes. Every time I read in the newspapers that almost half a million Filipinos are leaving every year, I think of the family they are leaving behind and the adverse effect it would have on their loved ones.
My only hope is that the Lord sees our efforts and that He will multiply its effectiveness not only for Filipinos like Emmy, but for every Filipino family in the Philippines and throughout the world.
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