Love, Mum

“I know it’s not easy for you growing up without a mum, but I hope that when you’re older, you’ll understand and forgive me,” Ressel writes in a letter to her children back in the Philippines.

Accompanying the handwritten note is a black-and-white portrait of the mother of four, who lives and works in Dubai. She is one of five overseas Filipina workers featured in an emotional photo series by amateur photographer Jed Bacason.

The project, titled Love, Mum, was named one of the 10 winners of the Polaroid X Magnum Open Call photography competition in August. In addition to receiving a new camera and mentoring, Bacason’s project will be shown at the Paris Photo Fair from November 7 to 10.

“I was genuinely surprised by the announcement,” Bacason, 41, tells The National. “My stories are deeply personal, resonating primarily with those who have shared similar experiences. They're not necessarily themes that western audiences might find relatable or appealing.”

Growing up in the small town of San Jacinto in the Philippines, Bacason recalls looking forward to letters from his father, who worked in Saudi Arabia. Back then, Bacason struggled to grasp the longing his father expressed, but now, as an adult - and, more importantly, a father himself - he has a greater understanding of that time.

“My father began working abroad when I was around nine or 10, and we only saw him for a month every two to three years," he says. "Since my hometown had no telephones then, our main communication was through handwritten letters and photos. My father would write us letters and send photos from his workplace, and we would do the same. These exchanges became cherished memories from my childhood."

While Bacason was in high school, his family moved to a city four hours from his hometown. He continued his studies there through university. After graduating, he worked for a national daily newspaper for two years before switching to a corporate role in Manila, where he remained for nearly a decade. He met his future wife, Patty, in 2011, who he married a year later. They welcomed a baby girl in 2013, the same year Bacason was offered an opportunity to work in the UAE.

Reflecting on his time in Dubai, he says “the first five years were relatively smooth” because he had a stable job and his wife was in a well-paying position as well. “I remember hearing other parents talk about their struggles and, though I would listen, I couldn’t fully empathise. But, as life often does, it threw us a curveball when we least expected it.”

In 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bacason, who was working for a family-owned business, lost his job. "Our company closed down within the first two months of the total lockdown," he says. "We lost every little comfort, and even some of our friends turned their backs on us. We truly hit rock bottom."

Seeing people sell homemade cloth masks on Facebook, he decided to learn how to sew by watching videos on YouTube. Within a couple of days, he had learnt enough to start selling his own masks online. He says the business allowed him to connect with other parents doing what they could to make ends meet.

“I saw our struggles reflected in theirs and I learnt to count our blessings, even the smallest ones," he says. "Seeing the same determination in other overseas Filipino working parents deeply impacted both my life and my artistic pursuits.

“With the parents we met during the pandemic, a constant topic was the well-being of their children, especially those left back home in the Philippines. They spoke often about the challenges of raising kids from a distance - the struggle with children growing up without parental supervision, and sometimes becoming distant or rebellious because they don’t yet understand why their parents had to leave.”

About 2.16 million Filipinos worked abroad between April to September in 2023, of which more than half (55.6 per cent) were women, the Philippine Statistics Authority shows. Saudi Arabia is the leading destination for Filipino workers, accounting for 20 per cent, followed by the UAE at 13.6 per cent.

Bacason says his own experiences mean he understands how children feel as they grow up while their parents work overseas. He describes being an overseas worker as a “complex experience”, with great rewards but high emotional costs.

“In the Philippines, many people dream of going abroad and the promise of a better life for themselves and their families,” he explains. “For most, this dream becomes a reality, enabling them to provide a comfortable life for their loved ones. However, the flip side is often the toll this distance takes, sometimes fracturing the very family they’re working so hard to support."

Bacason says his father ended up spending more than half of his life away from his family, while he worked in the Middle East. While his father’s monthly gave the family a relatively comfortable life, the physical and emotional distance took a toll on his parents’ marriage.

“In the end, our family split, with my mum and dad eventually finding new partners, though they remain faultless parents to us,” he says.

Given how integral this experience was to Bacason’s life - and knowing it is a struggle shared by many Filipino families - he felt compelled to create a photo project highlighting the complexity of the issue. When it came time to honour the sacrifices of parents working abroad, he chose to focus on mothers, who have been a great source of inspiration to him.

They included his wife, Patty, who he chose to include in his series "being an OFW mother herself".

“This [project] is a tribute to my mum, who was an unfailing guiding light when I was trudging through the darkest moments of my life in the past five years, and to my wife, whose sacrifices are the heart of this series and my ultimate source of inspiration,” Bacason says.

His work will be seen by a wider audience when it is shown in Paris. “I am grateful to the organisers for providing OFW mums a significant platform to share their stories, their struggles and their deep love for their children. This is their story, not mine.”

Although he photographed five women, Bacason, who teaches creative photography and digital visual design in Ras Al Khaimah, says that, if he receives positive feedback from his community, he will look to expand the series. Once it is complete, he plans to send the photos and letters to their intended recipients.

“I’ll ultimately lose the assets I’ve gathered," he says. "But they were never truly mine to keep, so I’m more than happy to let them go.”