OWWA scholar joins gov’t service to give back

By Justin Paul D. Marbella

OWWA

For Joseph Deo C. Erguiza, 26, working in the government is an opportunity to serve the country. And as a former scholar of the state, he says public service is his best chance to give back.

For two years now, Joseph serves as the municipal accountant in the town of Basista in Pangasinan. At a young age, he now leads a team that handles the finances of his hometown. As a certified public accountant (CPA), he oversees the internal control procedures for the local government unit (LGU), and makes sure all financial processes are just and objective.

“This is actually a challenging profession,” shares Joseph, who finished BS Accountancy at Saint Louis University in Baguio City in 2011. “It comes with great responsibility and accountability, which requires sharp decisiveness and utmost integrity.”

But the young public servant thinks his being a former government scholar prepared him well for the profession.

Joseph was a scholar of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) during college. As a brother of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who was an active OWWA member then, Joseph took the chance to apply for the Education for Development Scholarship Program (EDSP). When he passed the examination, he then qualified for the scholarship which he enjoyed from 2006 to 2011.

“The OWWA scholarship trained me to become disciplined and goal-oriented,” he shares. “While I was studying, I had to focus on my goals because failing in school was never my option.”

Joseph took inspiration from the sacrifices of his OFW sister, Mary Joy, who went on separate stints in Dubai and Taiwan. “Her sacrifices as an OFW inspired me to become determined and hardworking,” he shared.

Joseph says the OWWA scholarship did not only help him build essential values, but it also extended financial help in his studies. For five years, he received P30,000 per semester which helped defray expenses in school. “All I had to do was to never get a failing mark, and to diligently comply with the requirements set by the OWWA,” he expressed.

In June 2016, during the celebration of the 2016 Migrant Workers’ Day, Joseph was recognized as one of the outstanding OWWA scholars in Region 1.

And now that he is in the government workforce, Joseph says it’s time to give back. Aside from being the municipal accountant, he also assumes other duties such as being the Public Employment Services Office (PESO) Manager and Migrant Desk Officer, who takes charge of the affairs of OFWs in his town.

“By serving the government and the people, I believe I could help bring change,” Joseph quips.

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