Now’s the turn of expat and overseas Filipino bloggers to take a bow.

Through the Philippine Expat/Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Blog Awards (PEBA), the best and brightest bloggers from millions of Filipinos abroad get the peer recognition they deserve.

Winners for this year will be named in ceremonies on December 27 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Philamlife Theater in Manila. The choice of venue is apt: it is located along United Nations Avenue – Filipinos are said to be in more countries and places than the total number of UN member-states.

PEBA’s 2009 theme “Filipinos abroad: hope of the nation, gift to the world” captures an uncommon perception of our expats and OFWs – they are heroes for both the Philippines and the countries that receive them as workers or migrants.

Current estimates place the number of OFWs from 8.7 million to around 11 million – or about 10 percent of the national population. Their role in national life, however, is several times bigger: They save entire families and the national economy. Most of them are truly patriotic – they want progress for the country so they could live and work right here in the Philippines, together with their families.

Organizers and participants of PEBA deserve congratulations for championing this noble cause: giving a proud place in the Philippine and world blogosphere to the creative and compelling thoughts and experiences of Filipinos who live and work abroad.

PEBA has become the newest global Filipino organization. I hope they work with other OFW organizations in various countries, teach more OFWs and their organizations to make full use of the internet, and for them to use the internet to express themselves on issues and concerns important to them.

Life is becoming even harder abroad, especially in the midst of the global financial crisis that gives rise to anti-migrant thinking and policies in many countries.  In the Philippines, the Arroyo government is so proud of its labor export policy because of its serious addiction to OFW remittances and yet would not do enough to protect OFWs from harm’s way.

It is OFWs themselves who should stand up and fight for their own welfare, and such fight starts with giving themselves a voice, whether in blogs and social networks, or in actual forums and protest actions at Philippine diplomatic posts. Lest we forget, circumstances also compel us to raise our voice and our fist.

For now, let’s have the 2009 PEBA winners take their bows and proudly celebrate their well-deserved wins.

[Disclosure: This blogger was among the judges in the 2009 PEBA.]