You are right in saying "the country is so mismanaged," but the point is that the country is in need of them.

They cannot deny there is a brain drain from the Philippines. According to an IMF Report, among the countries in Asia and the Pacific, the country with the largest amount of brain drain is the Philippines, with 730000 migrants. Of these, the great majority have a tertiary education. You already state: Ca. 100'000 Filippinas are working as house maids in Hong Kong.

I quote another reliable source:
POEA (Philippines Overseas Employment Administration) statistics indicate that over the past eight years, the number of Filipino workers who have left the country in pursuit of more gainful employment abroad has averaged 880,000 a year, with destinations spanning the globe from the Americas to the Middle East, Europe and other Asian countries.

That is a staggering figure. The brain drain has put Philippines in dire straits. The Philippines is already the largest exporter of registered nurses to foreign countries, says the World Health Organisation. Official statistics put their number at 250,000, coming from a country where an average of 2,600 people leave daily for overseas work. "We are left with the novices," says Dr Annabelle Borromeo, vice president for patient care services of Asian Hospital. Dr Darby Santiago, senior resident of the state-run Philippine General Hospital's department of ophthalmology, says the departure of experienced nurses directly affects the quality of health care because ''we depend upon them to interact with patients and to be our troubleshooters''. "It's frustrating because the ones you've trained already know what to do and they learn how to anticipate your needs which, in turn, makes your work efficient. And then they leave," he sighs.

I quote what a Filipino says about the brain drain from his country.

"YES THERE IS BRAIN DRAIN. I'm now here in Canada. I used to work as Metering Engineer of Energy Regulatory Board. I was First Place Top-notcher of Professional Electrical Engineers Board Exam in 1999. Life is better here in Alberta. Oil economy is booming. My career Electrical Sales is great. We have lots of pinoy doctors here working as nurses and caregivers. Lawyers and bankers from . . . the Philippines working as taxi drivers and forklift operators."

But here is a Filipino who, like ______, does not believe there is a big brain drain from the Philippines. He says:

"There are two schools of thought to this. One I tend to believe is not really so!!! Here's why:

1. Those leaving the country are those who are under-employed or could not get a job anyway since the brightest and most talented have already been hired by big corporations in the Philippines.

2. Those who are intelligent and talented are actually the ones remaining because they find their lives and employment in the Philippines rewarding.

Once in a blue moon we've missed people like the founder of US Robotics, a few doctors who have pioneered some notable advances in modern medicine, etc. But for the most part, brain-drain is actually a fallacy!!..

Those who are now overseas, please don't get mad!!"

OK, OFWs, you may not agree with him, but dont get mad. Another Filipino has noted that More OFW's mean more broken Filipino families, and More broken families - Is this good for the country? One understandably knows broken families can be caused by other means - infidelity, for example. I have known of Filipinas leaving their families behind to work in other countries because, as one of them says, most of them want to help their families, and want to have a better life, but at what cost to their country and families?