Periscope
Estimated Time of Arrival
By Chester Leangee Datoon
It has been seven years since I started a routine travel away from home for my education. From a five-hour bus commute since I was 13 years old to around two-hour plane travel since my first year in college, part of my identity as a student was molded by my coming from the province. Amidst the burdensome situation, the silver lining of my situation is apparent — a ‘good’ future with present connections as a sacrifice. Interestingly, it mirrors the detrimental culture of Filipino migration and how the necessity of going to distant lands for greener pastures has been weaponized to maintain the status quo.
“Why study there?” is a question that has been asked of me countless times which I sardonically answer most of the time with “Eh Pisay/UP na ‘yan” or “May scholarship kasi.” In a society run by ever-increasing goods and a competitive market for job opportunities, securing what we think is the best education at a minimal cost is of utmost importance. Following this trend, degree programs that lead to high-paying professions become a priority to many — a reflection of the disastrous provision of resources in non-STEM degree programs.
Studying in Manila was also a form of last resort — it was the only place where a state university offered an undergraduate degree in pharmacy, another manifestation of the dismal state of tertiary education funding. While I could have opted for degree programs in line with my interests, my family and I wished for me to become a healthcare professional — a form of pressure that would surely be familiar to many.
Nonetheless, behind the pursuit of this ‘free and quality’ education comes its hidden costs. While scholarships and the free tuition law eliminate university fees, studying far from home makes one pay for living expenses such as food, utilities, and rent. Hence, there is no such thing as ‘free’ education for city students from the province. While monthly stipends from scholarships could alleviate the inevitable out-of-pocket spending, these are often given late due to bureaucratic inefficiencies, making one wonder why they still call it a ‘monthly’ stipend.
Beyond money matters, city students from the province pay for their education in a personal and cultural sense — personal, as students like me need to adapt to the reality of being far away from home and being isolated. Video calls and Messenger chats can only do so little when students suddenly fall ill with no one present to tend to them. The alienation intensifies when one is immersed in a new environment while old friends seemingly still retain the lifestyle of the province.
Apart from concerns about proximity and mental well-being, studying away from home alienates one from their community due to the need to adjust to a new environment. Since students like me seldom go back to the province, our cultural identity blends with the city and the province. It leads to the formation of habits that could be wholly unique and difficult to communicate using one’s first language.
Studying in the city is not a luxury but becomes a necessity. With the absence of institutions that support my chosen degree program in the province, I am forced to accept the hidden costs of studying in the city. So long as the culture of centralized resource allocation pervades in the country, students from the province are forced to go to cities to seek better and more options for their degree program. It is a system that benefits from the labor export-oriented Philippine economy by grooming these students to experience the struggles of overseas Filipino workers that only desensitize them.
We see how the government turns the illusion of ‘greener pasture’ in ‘distant lands’ into a reality. From the ever increasing budget cuts in state universities, increasing prices of goods, and promotion of students that receive scholarships in foreign countries, it pushes the impressionable youth to pursue tertiary education in cities to acquire degree programs that are ‘high-paying.’ When these students graduate and experience unfair competition during job hiring through the padrino system and the overworked and underpaid culture, they look for jobs outside the country to enable them to fend for themselves. In this culture, working abroad is glamorized, especially those within the health sector who desperately desire even the basic minimum wage to fend for themselves. It is a vicious cycle that runs the inescapable labor exportation in the country, which cannot be solved through mere band-aid solutions such as return service agreement.
With the countless travels I had, I often wonder if there will be a time that I will arrive at exactly the ‘estimated time of arrival’ for I have always experienced delays. Whether it be due to turbulence, or ‘airport traffic,’ arriving on time at my destination has always been a challenge. Nonetheless, as I once again board the plane to Manila, I remain hopeful for the day that I can arrive at the estimated time of arrival — the time where success is never elusive, the time where education is not laced with numerous forms of sacrifice.
