THE story is a common one.

A parent (or two) is forced by circumstances to seek employment in foreign shores, and their children who are left behind soon find themselves having problems at school due to lack of guidance from their elders.

With millions of Filipinos now working overseas, this scenario is repeated in many households.

Yet there are many exceptions where children of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) end up excelling in school and beyond, despite the absence of their parents.

This is the phenomenon that the Bank of the Philippine Islands wants to highlight.

Last week, BPI paid tribute to Ten Outstanding Expat Pinoy Children.

Apart from academic excellence, skills in sports, music and arts, and contribution to the community?the winners also turned in the best essays answering the question, ?What is my role in the development of our society, as a son/daughter of an Expat Pinoy??

First initiated by BPI?s overseas banking group in 2007, the Search for Outstanding Expat Pinoy Children aims to honor both the expatriate Pinoy parent and their children.

A generation at stake

?Children and family members of Overseas Filipinos form a big part of our population,? BPI?s overseas banking group head Teresita B. Tan said. ?Through the Search for Expat Pinoy Children, we aim to engage them to actively participate in the growth and development of our nation.?

At the top of their lists of practical steps on how to contribute in nation building, the winners stressed the important role they intend to play in the upcoming 2010 elections.

?It is our generation at stake if we don?t participate in choosing our leaders,? wrote Nikko Servanio, a fourth year marine transportation student from John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University-Arevalo.

?In the end, we will inherit this land and lead it ourselves,? said Nikko, whose father has been working as a seafarer for the past 19 years.

Motivation

The winners also highlighted the importance of education, noting that their parents went to work overseas in order to provide them with the best education possible.

Another awardee, UP-Visayas Tacloban College political science sophomore Maris Cay Gabornes, noted the sacrifice her father, a seafarer in Japan, had to make in order to send her and siblings to school. This became her source of motivation.

?I had always strived hard in my studies,? she wrote. ?I set premier goals instead of just aiming to pass.?

As part of the criteria for the Ten Outstanding Expat Pinoy Children, the winners also made significant contributions to their communities. Jordan Cabandong, a political science junior, helped establish a Community Red Cross Youth Council in his barangay in Baras, Rizal. Jordan?s father is currently a site supervisor in Qatar.

Fellow winner, Jezza May Boquilo?whose father has been a seaman based in Brazil for 14 years?regularly participates in community outreach programs for the Mamanwa indigenous group living in Surigao City.

The program is organized with the help of the local government and the Department of Energy and Natural Resources. Jezza is a third year geology student in UP-Diliman.

Seafarer?s child

Daryl del Rosario, a Management freshman at Ateneo de Manila University, is a scholar of the Overseas Worker?s Welfare Administration (Owwa). Her father has been a seafarer based in the United Kingdom for the past 27 years. After finishing her studies, she plans to help Owwa launch programs to build healthy relationships between OFWs and their children.

According to BPI officials, the search helps promotes the value of education, culture of excellence and national pride among OFWs and their families.

To qualify, an applicant must be from 15 to 21 years old, presently enrolled, and belonging to the top ten percent of his or her class. The applicant must be an immediate relative of an OFW.

The applicants are judged by a screening committee based on their academic excellence, community contribution, and other non-academic talents or skills, such as sports, music, or arts.

All applicants are required to submit an essay, whether in Filipino or English, that answers the question, ?Ano ang papel ko sa pagpapaunland ng ating pamayanan bilang anak ng isang Expat Pinoy?? (What is my role in the development of our society, as a son/daughter of an Expat Pinoy?).

Winners

The winners for 2009 are Kennie Kabeen A. Alegno (UST); Armando G. Araneta, Jr. (John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University); Jirah Cortes Armandico (Trinity University of Asia); Jezza May A. Boquilon (UP-Diliman); Jordan C. Cabandong (FEU); Alyanna N. Cunanan (UST); Daryl K. Del Rosario (ADMU); Maris Cay E. Gabornes (UP-Visayas Tacloban College); Nikko Jones G. Servanio (John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University-Arevalo); and Leon Angelo A. Silverio (UST).

The winners received a trophy and P50,000 in cash credited to a BPInoy Savings Account.

?The 2009 Ten Outstanding Expat Pinoy Children can serve as an inspiration to the Filipino youth,? said BPI?s Tan.

?Here is a group of teenagers who have lived apart from one or both of their parents for long periods and yet, they have shown excellence in academics and genuine desire to be model Filipino citizens.?