Immigration from the Filipino Nation

Peering through the microscope’s lens, the middle-aged woman barely blinks as the quiet hum of ceiling lights and bells and whistles of laboratory equipment fill the room. Hardly moving at all, she scribbles away taking notes of the blood sample under the lens.

Surrounded by shelves of medical manuals and records, refrigerators storing pouches of blood, and pictures of co-workers’ families as well as her own, this was a typical scene on another typical night at Judy Soriano's work.

Adjusting the long white lab coat she is required to wear, Soriano continues her duties focused on not making any mistakes. This was her routine for hours, a routine she loves, and takes pride in doing.

“I love my job,” Soriano said. “It is fun and I get to relax, for some of the time.”

Most people couldn’t do Soriano's job’ working as a medical technician, but for her, this was another day in her 25-year career. She works more than forty hours a week studying blood samples, but still finds time to read, cook, do yoga, and spend time with her family.

A native of the Philippines, Judy Soriano immigrated to the United States, with her brother, Jessie, in 1983. A graduate of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Soriano earned a degree in Biology hoping she will be able to move to southern California one day. After earning her credential and saving enough money for the trip, Soriano and her brother set their sights on the United States.

“I really wanted to come to California so I could be close to Disneyland,” Soriano said. “L.A. was the place to be so I wanted to be there.”

Soriano was not the only person who wanted to come to the United States. Thousands of Filipinos, mainly working professionals, began seeking work outside the Philippines in other countries, not just the U.S. According to Christine Labjo, a social worker and graduate of Asian American Studies from California State University, at Northridge, numerous problems were making life in the Philippines very difficult. Dictator Ferdinand Marcos was causing political unrest by declaring martial law and unemployment was on the rise along with poverty.

Filipinos and Americans know the migration as the “Brain Drain of the Philippines.”

Skilled workers began leaving the Philippines for various reasons often resulting in a loss of quality to their respective industry. Filipinos figured working in another country like the United States would be smarter economically because they can make enough money for themselves and for family still living in the Philippines.

“People still move here today for the money,” Soriano said. “Even though the dollar is dropping, it can still get you at least 40 pesos.”

The largest group to leave the Philippines was professionals in the medical industry. In a study done by the International Labour Office in the Philippines, more than 36,000 workers left the Philippines in 1975. The number rose to over 200,000 five years later. Many of them were mid-level professionals like nurses and medical technicians. They offered exceptional experience and skill because they were trained as doctors.

“Anyone who works in the medical industry knows most of the nurses are Filipinos,” Frances Prado said, a former co-worker of Soriano. “They are all smart and trained though.”

Federico Macaranas, executive director of the Policy Center at the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, said in a lecture Western nations are taking talent from countries like the Philippines because they have demonstrated enough talent and an understanding of the English language. Macaranas added the Philippines are the number one supplier of nurses for the United States with about 100,000 leaving each year.

Soriano explained the lure of money is too hard to ignore for Filipinos who would make only a few pesos a day if working in the Philippines. Wages are kept low because employers choose not to invest in employees who may leave for a foreign country. Hospitals in the Philippines are usually low in quality and normally understaffed. Macaranas said 200 hospitals were closed in the past five years.

“It’s even harder now because there are still people coming to the US from PI (Philippines),” Soriano said. “They’re all looking for jobs but they are all gone now. It’s so hard to find a good job these days.”

Soriano continued saying having job security is a relief she loves to have and a why she came to the country. She explained with a good job in the United States, a person could do anything they want. Her road to success was anything but easy though.

First hired in 1983 by Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, CA, as a lab assistant for under five dollars an hour, Soriano moved into a nearby studio apartment on Venice Boulevard. She met a nearby market owner, probably another immigrant she explained, because he too was foreign and could not speak English well. He gave her groceries when she had no money, often saving her on a daily basis.

“I can still remember making a can of sardines last for days,” Soriano said.

She eventually worked her way up to blood bank supervisor. It was difficult for her co-workers to see a small, short, Asian woman in a management position, but Soriano said she deserved the position.

“I was a very hard-worker,” Soriano said. “And I spoke great English.”
She would later work for other medical facilities like Daniel Freeman Hospital and Santa Monica Hospital. She currently works for a private laboratory in Santa Monica, CA.

After an hour or so of studying several slides of blood samples, she turns off the microscope, rubs her eyes, and makes her way to a nearby break room. She sits down and sighs, reaching for her purse to go over mail and call her family.

These were the difficult times for Soriano. This was her downtime at work. She despised these moments because all she could do is worry about her family. Clocking in more than forty hours a week was normal for Soriano, but it has taken a toll on her loved ones. She needed to be at work though, like thousands of other immigrants in the U.S., struggling every day to make a living. The time away has developed communication problems with her kids, most notably her daughter, Jasmine.

“Both of my brothers are ‘momma’s’ boys, but my mom and I have our days,” Jasmine said. “Something I noticed and brought up is that we are both culturally different, I am American, and she is Filipino. That is why we can not agree on anything. I don’t even speak any Tagalog, at all.”

Soriano tried to teach her children the most common language spoken in the Philippines, but the task of learning the language was overwhelming for them. Her children do know some Filipino culture and history, but have not made it a priority to learn.

“I think we (Soriano and husband) might have been too easy on our children, but it’s too late now,” Soriano said. “I can’t complain though because they love it here. I’m guilty too because I also love being American.”

When asked if Soriano would ever move back to the Philippines, Soriano responded with a smile and said, “that’s the dream.”

Soriano wants to retire once her youngest son graduates from college, which is only a few years ahead. She plans to open a free medical clinic in her hometown, Bicol, and return to school to earn a master’s degree. She is not saying goodbye completely to ‘the States,’ a reference to the United States said by many Filipinos.

“I think my husband and I want to live six months here, and then maybe six months in the Philippines,” Soriano said. “We’re not too sure yet because we want to take an RV and go all over America one day. Or, I can just go back to Disneyland!”