Brain Drain

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The top official of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), acting director Martin Rellin, is scheduled to migrate to Canada with his family very soon. A cursory look at his resume would reveal that Rellin, who started his career in PAGASA in 1979 as a weather observer aide, an entry-level position which is the equivalent of a janitor, and through sheer hard work and dedication steadily rose through the ranks until he was named acting director by the President herself last June, would paint him as a man who has done more than his fair share in serving his country.

Martin Rellin cannot be faulted for his reasons for migrating to a country where the grass is greener, a place where he feels he can secure a brighter future for his children. Nor can he be accused of abandoning his country, for he has served this country longer than most of us ever could. But we just cannot ignore the stark reality that we have lost another intellectual because the country they have served and loved their whole lives simply cannot take care of them and their families.

It may be good for the economy, but this country cannot survive on remittances from Filipinos working abroad alone. If this government does not make a conscious effort to retain these uniquely Filipino minds from continuously leaving the country, we may be left with one that has run out of specialists and intellectuals. Let us not wait for the day when our sick have no more doctors to run to, when a country battered with yearly super typhoons has run out of people who can accurately predict the weather and warn the general population, when no more volcanologists are around to monitor the country's plethora of active volcanoes. If this country can spoil the politicians who have done nothing worthwhile after decades of “service”, maybe it can set aside something for those who have been working silently and tirelessly in the background.*