CLARK FREEPORT — With a great majority of its folk being Catholic, officials in this town cross the boundary of the separation of state and church by also providing “moral and spiritual guidance” especially for families left behind by those who work abroad, mostly in the Middle East.
In a forum with members of the Capampangans in Media Inc. (CAMI) here, Guagua Mayor Dante Torres expressed concern over the temptation of infi delity among wives left behind by their husbands working in foreign lands.
“This is especially true for wives who are good looking. If they have relationships and fall in love, that’s a big problem,” Torres said. Statistics on OFW’s was not immediately available, but second- term councilor Michelle Rivera said a significant number of families in Guagua have members who work abroad.
“The number of OFW’s has become so significant, such as in Barangay Sta. Ursula where members of families left behind have actually organized themselves into an association,” she noted.
Torres said that he has been encouraging wives of OFW’s to attend seminars for their “moral and spiritual” formation, so as to protect them from the temptations of infidelity. Rivera said, however, that social workers in her town did not have statistics on cases of marital infidelity among such wives, but stressed that the assistance of the local government to OFW families also extend to their children who are emotionally affected by separation in their families.
The mayor said that his government is coordinating with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to provide the wives with livelihood concerns. “We are gathering data on their skills,” he added. This, even as his local government has also been coordinating with knowledgeable authorities for the availability of anti-venom formulations amid cases of snake bites in his flood prone town.
He noted studies indicating continuing subsidence of his town, showing that Guagua has sunk about six inches
since the time of the late Mayor Manuel Santiago.
