This article is not based on any scientific survey but more on information and impressions I have personally gathered from talks with many Filipinos living abroad in many parts of the world. Through the years, I have been touring the world with Danny and Boboy of the APO Hiking Society and we have met many overseas Pinoys from all walks of life whom we have sat with over meals, or spent long hours with driving around, or just hanging out. One might say these are the issues that have impressed me from conversations with our kababayans. While my methodology in making my list is based on anecdotal data, I still believe they are quite true in general. In no particular order of importance, here are the top 10 things overseas Pinoys worry about most. 1. Family and friends back home. Each and every Pinoy worries about the health, safety, and well-being of their loved ones at home. We worry how our kids are growing up without our guidance. We worry about whether they are taking drugs, and that sort of thing. We worry about missing out on important family events. 2. Money. We all worry about whether we are earning enough, sending enough money for ourselves and to send home to keep the body and soul together, tuition, food, and many other necessities of loved ones. We also worry about the exchange rates that are at present disadvantageous to foreign currency earners. 3. Political situation. While many overseas Pinoys are abroad because they may have partly or completely given up on the Philippines, they still harbor a bitter-sweet concern about the homeland. Every time there is a coup, an election, a scandal (which almost always happens), one thinks of the Philippines and worries about the future of the country. 4. Retirement plans. Many OFWs dream of returning to the Philippines in their old age to enjoy the fruits of their hard-earned labor. Many wonder whether they have saved enough to be comfortable. 5. Their own children growing up with ‘alien’ values. In many parts in the United States and other Western countries, I have met many parents who worry that their kids are too modern for comfort. They worry that their kids will lose their Filipino values (which they equate with being disrespectful, sexually loose and immoral among other things), and a sense of their heritage. 6. Not fitting into the societies they live in. Many Pinoys, for many reasons from the lack of facility with English (or the local language) to feeling a sense of discrimination against them, worry about not having a feeling of ‘belonging’ in their places of work, church, neighborhoods in their adapted societies. They always feel like outsiders and fear they will never be accepted into the mainstream. 7. The politics and intrigues within the Filipino community. I have heard many kababayans complain that there are always elements within the Filipino groups or organizations that can be very divisive in the way they handle the affairs of the communities. Everywhere, you will find Pinoys who are still quite regionalistic and parochial even if they are already living abroad. They concern themslves with petty issues that divide instead of unite the community. I was witness to a supposedly friendly basketball game in Spain between Cavitenos and Batanguenos disintegrate into a brawl. It only ended when the police came. Many rushed out because they were illegal aliens. It is no secret that crab mentality and chismiss pervade many communities. It is also not unusual to hear of ‘breakaway’ organizations that are formed after elections. It sometimes seems like everyone wants to be President of this or that organization and when they don’t get what they want, they form their own. The joke goes that if there are 100 Pinoys, there will be 101 organizations to accommodate everyone’s ambition to head something. 8. The fear of breaking the law. By nature, many of us become quite conservative and too careful when we move to a new country. We fear that we may be doing something illegal without knowing it. Thus we become more conscientious about paying taxes, etc. We also worry for our kababayans who are illegal aliens. 9. We worry that when we visit home, we will be spending a fortune because people expect ‘balato’ and pasalubongs. Rightly or wrongly, people back home look at balikbayans as moneyed and rich. 10) Many who are nearing the end of their contractual stay worry about their legal status and how they can become permanent residents or citizens. As a result, many of us become 'experts in immigration law. If I missed out on some concerns, feel free to write and share them.