%0 Journal Article
%T Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) as Heroes: Discursive Origins of the ¡°Bagong Bayani¡± in the Era of Labor Export
%A Jean Encinas-Franco
%J -
%D 2015
%X This essay seeks to trace the relevant national and global contexts from which the bagong bayani discourse of OFWs emerged. It does so by discussing the evolution of labor out-migration in the Philippines from its beginnings in the colonial times, to overseas employment¡¯s institutionalization in the Labor Code of 1974, until the administration of President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino. It specifically presents the political, social, and economic context around which Aquino managed and continued the state-sponsored labor export program initiated by Marcos. Finally, it discusses the factors that made it possible for Aquino to designate migrants as ¡°heroes¡±. The argument is that bagong bayani is a product of the global and national context. It can be best understood by examining transformations in global and political-economic structures, and discursive origins of heroism in the Philippine context. Presenting these contexts will provide a clearer understanding of why it has become commonsensical to regard OFWs as bagong bayani. Keywords: Bagong bayani, ¡°modern-day heroes,¡± labor expert, OFWs discourse, labor out-migratio
%K Bagong bayani
%K ¡°modern-day heroes
%K ¡± labor expert
%K OFWs discourse
%K labor out-migration
%U http://journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/humanitiesdiliman/article/view/4907