CONSTANCIA MARANAN

Story

I first came to Australia in July 1981 to undertake postgraduate study at the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra under a scholarship from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). I flew from Manila by Qantas Flight (QF 20) to Sydney via Brisbane for a stopover and then to Canberra. I enjoyed my student life in Canberra, despite the cold weather. Canberra is nice place to live and study; it is quiet, very clean, no traffic hassles and has good access to most services. I established friendships with Filipinos residing in Canberra as well as other Filipino students while studying at the ANU. With my friends we were able to travel interstate during term breaks and do some outdoor activities like going the parks on weekends for social barbecues. As part of my scholarship conditions, I needed to return to the Philippines as soon as I finished my Masters degree and was required to stay in the Philippines and serve my employer for at least 5 years. I returned to the Philippines in August 1983 and rejoined my previous employer the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines.

In 1992, I decided to look for opportunities abroad and applied for a Skilled-Independent (Migrant) Visa to Australia. As I had no relatives in Australia, and my visa application was not sponsored, so my application was assessed on meeting all of the basic Immigration eligibility requirements and passing the points test. My application was approved in late 1993 and I was granted a permanent visa to enter Australia. I selected Canberra because I had previously lived here. I resigned from my work at IRRI as Senior Research Officer in late December 1994. Personally funding my travel, I departed Manila on a direct Qantas Flight (QF 20) to Sydney and arrived in Canberra on 11 January 1995. Arriving in Canberra for the second time was much easier however, with 12 years of absence; I found the city a bit busier with more people and more developed, but with less vacant space and many tall glass buildings. With no relatives in Canberra, I made arrangements to live in a Canberra hotel, initially for 1 week. I was later able to find suitable rental accommodation in the form of a fully furnished flat in Watson, ACT. I started to apply for jobs immediately after I settled into my accommodation. Finding a job was difficult for a newly arrived migrant. Having a Masters degree from the ANU and 20 years work experience from an international research organisation did not help that much in my quest to find a decent job. I applied for all sorts of vacancies but Australian employers tended to put much weight on Australian work experience and an Australian sounding name and accent. During my job hunting, I found that when I applied for low level positions employers told me I was over qualified and when I applied for a senior level position, they told me that I lacked Australian work experience. However, with almost depleting my personal savings, I became more determined to find a job. The idea of returning to the Philippines did not cross my mind but with perseverance and after many applications and interviews, I was able to secure a job in an Australian Government statutory authority as a contract employee for a month and was later offered a fixed term contract for another 12 months. When my contract expired, I ventured out applying for a permanent job in the Commonwealth Public Service. Shortly, I was able to obtain permanent employment with one Department in Canberra. This permanency allowed me to move around in the Public Service. I worked in 4 Commonwealth Departments, prior to my retirement as an Executive Level 1 Officer in July 2008.

I met my husband John socially in Canberra in 1996 and we were married in 1998. John was a former Australian diplomat who lived overseas for almost 15 years posted to Australian diplomatic missions in Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore, San Francisco, and South Africa. He is also now retired and we are enjoying our retirement life together, both as self funded retirees. Our marriage was the first inter-racial marriage on both sides of our respective families. The Aussie side has welcomed me into their family with open arms and kindness. The Filipino side remains intrigued and has welcomed John. We now live in our house in the ACT surrounded by Australian native fauna and flora in a pleasant neighborhood.

After I gained my Australian citizenship, I petitioned my younger brother to join me in Canberra. He arrived in Canberra in 2001 and now lives with his wife and 2 children about 5 minutes from us. The rest of my family including my mother, 2 sisters and a brother and their children live in the Philippines. I still visit and communicate with them.

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