Nagwawala ang mga Pinay maids sa Hongkong, Singapore, Malaysia, at Taiwan dahil sa bagong requirement na nilabas ng POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) para maka-trabaho sa labas ng bansa bilang katulong.
Ang bagong requirements ay 1) bawal ang placement fees na pinapabayaran sa mga maid; pinapa sa ibang lugar; 2) mas mataas na simula ng sweldo. Magiging $400 na sa halip na $200; 3)mas mataas ang edad. Dapat 25 taong gulang. Dati pwede na ang 21 taong gulang; 4) dapat nakapag-training sa TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Ang mga napabalitang nagpu-protesta ay ang sa Southeast Asian countries. Ngunit apektado lahat na Pinay maids kasama na ang nasa Middle East dahil sa lahat naman na sulok na mundo ngayon mayroong Filipina na maid.
Nakakaiyak itong balita na ang mga Pinay maid ay ayaw ng mas mataas na sweldo. Ang rason nila, kapag mahal raw ang singil nila, mawawalan sila ng trabaho dahil kukuha ang mga amo ng mas mura na mga Indonesian at Pakistani maids.
Sabi nila, hindi bale mura basta may trabaho.
Hindi ito nakakapagtaka. Di ba noong giyera sa Lebanon, kung saan maraming mga Pinay maids ang naiipit, lumabas na $100 o $150 lang ang kanilang mga sweldo.
Di ba nakakaiyak. Ang mura natin!
Nagre-reklamo rin ang mga recruitment agencies sa pagbabawal ng placement fees na umaabot sa mga P100,000 at pinabayaran ng mga maid. Ito namang mga maid natin. Okay lang sa kanila na sila ang magbayad. Basta makalabas lang sa bansa at maka-trabaho.
Itong mga bagong requirement ay sa pagsulong ng programa ni Gloria Arroyo na “Supermaid”. Maala-ala natin na noong giyera sa Lebanon, maraming kwento kung paano marami sa mga Pinay maids ay sinamantalahan.Hindi lang mababa ang sweldo, yung iba hindi binabayaran. Marami pa sa kanila ay ni- rape.
Ang solusyon ni Gloria ay ang programang Supermaid. Tuturuan raw ng first aid, magsalita ng English, maayos na paggamit ng mga appliances. Ang akala nila kapag may gaito raw kaalaman, hindi na aw lolokohin at sasamantalahan ang mga Pinay maids dahilSupermaid na nga sila.
Ito nagpapakita na sa alapaap itong ating mga opisyal.
Hanggang matindi ang paghihirap ditto sa Pilipinas, kakagast sa patalim ang Filipino para lang mabuhay. Hindi mo hawak ang kultura at ang batas ng ibang bansa.
Kung gusto talaga ng administrasyon maprutektahan ang Filipino, ayusin nila ang palakad ng pamalahaan para magkaroon ng trabaho dito sa Pilipinas. Hindi na kailangan magpa-maid sa ibang bansa.
Maitanong ko lang kong apektado rin po yong manga OFWs na pumunta dito sa Canada. Dahil ang alam ko ang nandito manga nannies at caregivers na under contract ay protectado na local labor laws.
Either live in or live out, they are only required to work 40 hours to 44 hours and anything over are overtime. And most get the weekend off as most of their employers are working on the weekdays and off on the weekends to take over the care of their wards.
And also the difference is after two years of continuous employment, all contract worker are entitled to apply for landed immigrant visa and have the option of working or upgrading their educational or professional training to qualify in their respective fields or any other job training.
Nakakaiyak talaga ! Diba yung model ng Supermaid si Gloria ? Why would a maid want to identify herself w/ Gloria & be a Supermaid ? Nakakainsulto yata sa mga Pinay maids !
The exodus the Philippines is experiencing is largely due to a rotten leader who keeps saying that our economy is doing well. It’s NOT the economy, Stupid ! It’s you, Gloria. As long as you remain in Malacañan, you will be the issue.
Sayang talaga ang Pilipinas.
Bakit ba kailangan makialam ang Philippine government sa mga recruitment na ito? Kasi iyan ang isang pinagkakakuwartahan ni Pekeng Bansot!
Swapang is the word for these creeps fleecing on these OFWs since I doubt if they are being effective in protecting the maids, etc. being pimped overseas by these government bugaws.
Frankly, over in Japan, we are monitoring the planned deployment of these so-called “caregivers,” who are reluctantly being given permit to come to Japan on condition that they meet the strict requirement of taking national board exam in written Japanese that I doubt they can really comply with, especially when a lot of them are mostly ex-Japayukis who are now banned to come to Japan.
Hiring maids too is limited to the foreigners, who are based here, and must meet a certain criteria before they can be approved and their maids given the proper visas. Japanese nationals are not allowed to hire foreign maids.
Pero pag sa kaswitikan talaga, sanay na sanay ang mga pinoy. A lot overstay and do not leave even when their employers are no longer around, and they try to get new employers even at a risk. Lately, the Japanese government has taken measure to check on these employers except when they are connected with the foreign diplomatic missions, and are considered untouchable. Foreign maids for instance can now join labor unions in Japan, and enjoy the protection of such union, thus, rendering the labor department in the Philippine embassy useless, and reason I guess why the staff there do not teach these maids to register and join these unions that will also mean their paying dues to the Japanese government in exchange for protection from abusive employers.
At least, they are entitled to some refund when they go back to the Philippines unlike when they do not register and just depend on the POEA or the OWWA at the Philippine Embassy.
They even take the risk of exploitation as long as they can stay in Japan and work here on a higher fee, because of a requirement that employers pay them no less than 150,000 yen a month (at the rate of 117 yen/dollar). Iyan ang pinupuntirya ng mga ganid at swapang sa Philippine government.
Kawawa sila, Ellen, but who do you think should be blamed? Sila rin kasi nagpapaloko sila. I actually cannot understand the kind of risks that they allow themselves to go through. Kahit ma-rape basta makalabas ng Pilipinas? Unbelievable indeed!
Nakakaiyak nga kung mismong ang mga pinay ang ayaw sa “super” sweldo na $400 (as against $200) na panukala ng Supermaid Glueria. How would they like it when thousands of other asian maids are also overseas competing for a slice of overseas jobs as maids for a lesser pay! Hindi ba ito alam ng pekeng pangulo? Instead of protection for the continued stay of pinays working overseas as maids, this mayordoma Glueria wants them unemployed!
Get real Dirty Mama G! Who wouldn’t want a bigger pay for pinay maids, pero tama sila na hahanap na lang ng ibang maids ang kanilang mga employers kung saan sila ay makakatipid.
This Glueria ay really ‘katawa-tawa’. She got no leverage in all issues! Pati na ang $400 ay tinatanggihan ng mga pinay maids. Puro lang kasi pogi points ang nais, hindi ang realidad!
Elementary Glueria. Oversupply of maids, coming from all directions, means less jobs or no jobs at all for those who demand raise in pay.
Chi,
Sa kaswapangan ng ibang mga pilipino dito, naagawan sila ng trabaho ng mga Sri Lankans who are now being hired by employees of the US embassy who used to hire Filipino maids. Nawala ang mga trabaho nila doon because of a Filipino maid who became greedy and demanded salaries that she did not deserve.
Sa totoo lang, 100 or 150 dollars a month is chicken feed for us in Japan. Maski ako kaya kong kumuha ng 10 maids with such low fees, but the Japanese Immigration will not approve them because as a Japanese I am not entitled to hiring a foreign maid. Japanese are encouraged to hire only Japanese to protect Japanese laborers, who are threatened by these foreign workers.
Ingat ang mga swapang sa Pilipinas, baka mawalan ng trabaho ang mga pilipino, who are likely to be the target of some worldwide retaliation against foreign workers especially in countries where the natives are now demanding for stricter rules against foreign workers whom they think are stealing their jobs as in New Caledonia.
There should be a stop to this human trafficking the Philippine government is engaged in, even calling it its No. 1 Export!!! Inutil!!!
if gma is really interested on pinay housemaids, she should inquire on their working conditions abroad, specially in the middle east. salaries abroad are beyond her power, not even within her sphere of influence. on the other hand it is within her power to influence the minimum wage in the pinas which can give a lot of comfort to many.
norpil,
Glue has no power to influence minimum wage hike in Pinas. If the businessmen, more specifically the MBC, say NO, this bansot will keep her mouth shut! This is the reason why her lips are suddenly sealed on the issue of P125 daily minimum wage hike after playing coy about it.
salamat naman at natalakay din dito ang paninikil sa mga maids. Sa ating bansa, hindi pa napupuna talamak na ang paninikil ng gobierno. Talo pa ang mga kidnapper at holdupper dahil lahat ng gawa nila legal at sunod sa batas.
The regulatory functions of government is so tailored and implemented to enrich the crooks in government.
Taxation is oppression by any which way you look at it. Kawawang sidewalk vendor, tricycle drivers, na dati ay Libre sa taxation, lagay lang sa pulis and daily kotong. Ngayon pati BIR kasali na, bukas Dept of Health kasama na sa paninikil. MMDA oppresses and collects. PNP serves and protects not the people that pays its salaries. OFWs should be thankful because as heroes, they are just held up and robbed by Dept of Labor and POEA and Immmigration, and GSIS or SSS. Pasalamat silang OFW. Ang heroes ng AFP ay nakakulong at under denied torture.
Puede ba, what are facts? Magkano ang nahuthot sa mga OFW?
Only in the Philippines pati ehi (urine po) ay ginawang legal na negosyo ng gobierno.
Isang rason kung bakit nag rebolusyon ang Amerika laban sa Inglaterra ay VIRTUAL TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTAION. Yun ang simula ng kalayaan sa Amerika. Yung slavery otra cosa yun.
Yuko,
I know very well that the competition of hiring maids in the international market is getting tighter. Pinays can’t demand higher wages because of competitors from Thailand, India, Shri Lanka, Bangladesh, Mexico, Russians at etcetera pa. Kapag tinaasan ng mga pinay ang asking price nila, ang mga employer ay hindi nagdadalawang-loob na sila ay palitan. First hand info from ‘good’ public servants assigned overseas.
In the US and doon kay Vic sa Canada, are beyond reach by Glueria. Lucky ang mga maids and nannies sa Canada, really protected by the government. Ang dali pa nilang maging immigrant, di ba Vic? Don’t know situation in Europe.
Chi,
There is a minimum wage law in most countries in Europe – employers must comply with the law; if the maid works full time (eg., 35 hour work week in France), the employer is obliged to pay the minimum monthly wage, failure to do so would make the employer liable for a heavy fine and if the employer has not declared the maid/employee, he/she is liable to damages which could amount to as many as 5 years of back pay.
The governments do not take this problem lightly.
Minimum wage (blue collar workers) I believe is almost 1,200 Euros or +1,700 US$.
I pay my own part time maid (she’s not Pinay), 14 Euros per hour (22 US$)+ social security benefits, paid holiday, etc. But I know here are Filipino maids here who accept 12 Euros an hour on the black market, I suppose because they are illegally staying in Europe.
Oooops, 14 Euros per hour should be about 20 US$ but am not really sure of the exchange rate.
Isang milyong trabahador ang quota ng pekeng pamahalaan na ipadala sa overseas kada taon! Sa bilang na lang na ito ay tiba-tiba na ang DOLE, POEA, OWWA, recruitment agencies, maliban pa sa mga pulitiko na may ari ng recruitment agencies o nakikisawsaw sa raket na ito. Kaya hindi nakakapagtaka na buhay pa hangga sa ngayon si Dirty Mama G, binubuhay ng mga OFWs. Kaya gustong-gusto ni Glueria ang programang ito dahil ginagamit niya ang OFWs bilang panustos sa kanyang ekonomiya. Bukod sa bawas na ang nagra-rally sa Malacanang.
Perhaps, Gloria’s 400 $ wage thinggy is not inteded for OFWs in the US, Canada or in Europe.
Impossible – that’s barely 220 Euros, enough to pay for the monthly transport train/subway ticket of the poor maid and a phone card.
That’s probably her ambition – make sure OFWs sent to Sudan, Tchad, Nigeria get a monthly 400-dollar salary.
400 Dollars monthly? Heck, that’s hard! I used to pay my maid 10 years ago in Malaysia 600 dollars already… and the going rate then was already 400 dollars monthly.
Anna,
Big cities in the US pay also about $20 per hour when the maids are registered. Kung TNT, I guess they settle for less. Compare with what the maids are getting in the Middle East, Hongkong, Singapore, etc., these maids in Canada, Europe and US are mucho dinero!
Chi,
Gloria’s plan is to 1,000,000 people to export every year because there are no jobs in the country – this is gobsmacking in the extreme!
Can you imaging Bush, Blair, Chirac, Merkel, Prodi and other Western leaders announcing a similar plan because they can’t provide jobs on the home front?
Their governments will collapse! Furthermore, there would be a revolution under their watch.
This is warped, absolutely warped! What in God’s name is Gloria, a nasty piece of creation, thinking?
One thing is so glaring in this issue, the lack of opportunity in the Philippines. Our countrymen who would settle for low pay out of desperation. It is happening here and is happening abroad.
Puro yabang lang itong si pandak, akala niya siguro ay matutuwa ang mga Pinay, tignan natin ngayon kung may kumuha pa sa ating mga kababayan, tataas ang unemployment dahil ang mga kababayan natin ay tatambay na lamang dito.
$400 monthly, kulang pa sa hourly pang-Pakyaw hotel sa Vegas ni Fatso! Tapos, Dirty Mama G is so proud na itinaas niya ang salary ng mga maids and nannies from $200 to $400 na ayaw kagatin dahil mawawalan naman sila ng trabaho! Ano ba ‘yan Glueria?!
The EU’s domestic help front is already saturated. We have people from the expanded EU countries (from Eastern Europe) flooding the market.
My maid is a Ukranian who used to be a teacher there; her husband is a plumber from Poland who charges half the price of a Western plumber. She’s very good at what she’s doing – domestic chores (great at ironing, heheh!). She wants to save enough money to be able to go back to a Western european university to earn another degree and perhaps move on in the world.
In most hotels and restaurants here in Europe, these new EU citizens are giving imported workers from third world nations a run for their money.
The Filipino maids are getting stiff competition. Unfortunately, even Filipino old timers here are no match to the ambitious, go-getting Eastern Europeans who do the same job but want to move up. So, many Filipino old timers remain and will remain domestic helpers, they are being left behind, they seem to be content with their lot, i.e.,. they seem to have no further ambitions in life. Really sad.
Schumey,
If this fake administration is bent on implementing this $400 monthly salary for maids, Glueria will wake up one morning na marami ng tambay sa labas ng Malacanang. The trouble with Glueria is that she’s never been a hands-on business person, so out- of- touch with employment realities.
PhD kuno, but needs OFWs to prop up her economy! What a loser!
A loser indeed, PhD in what? Lying, cheating and stealing, diyan magaling ang hitad na tiyanak. Sitting on her high perch and declaring herself the empress of a nation wallowing in the quagmire of desperation. Napaka manhid ng isang ito sa hirap na dinaranas ng sambayanang Pilipino.
Schumey, if she didn’t sit on that high perch, every body in her cabinet will have to kneel to see her eye to eye. Heh!
Last year, I helped edit a show for NHK on the Philippine caregivers. I translated interviews of maids working in Lebanon, etc. in the Middle East.
I was shocked to hear of their stories of being raped (1 out of 5 of the interviewees, 3 out of 5 ending with broken homes and marriages) by their employers, but what I find amazing is how these women would still want to go overseas than mend their lives back home.
I felt sad and nauseated. Why can’t the idiots see how this human trafficking is destroying the foundation of the Philippine society, the family? No wonder God above does bless the Philippines.
PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Schumey,
Huwag mo nang asahan magbabago ang takbo sa ilalim ng bogus president running a bogus government thriving on human trafficking. Ang dapat diyan, patalsikin, sipain, ikulong!
My condolence to the Filipinos for not being able to do anything yet. Challenge nila sa election, pero tignan mo ang desperation ng mga trapos. Nang hindi makapasok sa Opposition, kunyari nagtatayo ng sarili nilang ticket at hindi na lang umalis kundi mamimintas pa.
Sana madala na ang mga pilipino na bomoto sa mga trapo at anak ng mga dating trapo din. Bakit nila gustong maging politiko kundi para makanakaw din! Hopefully, iyong mga bagong mukha ay iba na!
Never had an opportunity to vote in the Philippines to tell you the truth. Never had the chance to choose between two evils as a matter of fact. We have better line-up at least over in the Land of Rising Sun. Hindi nakakatagal ang mga ungas dito as a matter of fact. Nagpapakamatay kapag nabisto. Sa Pilipinas, ang kapal ng mga mukha. Bistado na, nakaupo pa rin! Suka, suka, suka! Ngek!
I wonder where the other $200 would go? Poor maids, most of them have to mortgage a property or sell the only personal possessions they have(like jewelries, to pay their recruiters. It will take them years to recoup the cost of the placement. So these maids( who by the way are even college graduates who can not simply find any job in the Philippines) have to hang on to their very low paying jobs just to pay their debts. I can understand their reluctance for a higher pay. They will be priced out of the market and can lose their job and be marooned in a strange land. Some of them will sacrifice themselves ( even being raped in the interim or simply exploited). But the tiyanak does not care about that. She succeeded in increasing the commodity taxes to a point where the poor people can afford less. She succeeded in sending out millions of Filipinos to nowhere land and now enjoys the “economic growth” from these enslaved maids. She wants more. It would be interesting to see what she is cooking up in her dirty kitchen for the $ 200 increase she wants from these maids.
Lacking in opportunity, these people are forced to disregard their rights and throw their dignity away for a few dollars which their families desperately need. Now this administration has cooked up regulations to earn pogi points. These new rules are to be used by these offices to justify their huge annual budgets. The new milking cows of the Arroyo regime so to speak. Those OFWs who will be squeezed out of their jobs should march to Malacañang and ask the bogus one to feed their families.
chi,
you’re right!!most of current friends and townmates here were former nannies and maids and now are Canadian who were able to sponsor their families and also find employment (nannies and maids) for their relatives thru their own circles.
Most of them can get out of their contract after, and find jobs in their fields or any other positions including civil servants. soem could even avail the available students’ loan to go back to college and universities for a new career.
Some would still prefer to stay with the family of their original employment as established a very loving family relationships with the Children and sometimes get paid much better than working out. One exampli I will site is a friend of mine, who for ten years is still employed by the same family and help her bring in her three nieces and got paid $500 take home per Week net, and she a live out maid with her own place and a husband. There are a lot like her.
Schumey, it might interest you that while I was checking out all the websites related to the Davos Convention before the Midget announces another successful foreign trip, I did try to search if any mention of Gloria, if at all, was worth trumpeting. Nothing, nada, zilch.
Oh, there was the main blog for the event, davosconversation.org, I think, that summarized each speaker’s contribution in two to three sentences, and a short profile of each of the attendees. Yes, the usual MA from Ateneo, PHD from UP, (I confirmed for myself what Yuko had been saying all along, that the ACTING President never finished the much-touted Georgetown course) though it still included her membership with Georgetown Club in her CV.
So that was it after all, a 64-man delegation spending millions of our money for three damn sentences while a small obscure company producing car parts got more! She was never near Senators John McCain, John Kerry, Patrick Leahy or the lameduck Tony Blair, nor Shimon Perez or the other kings, presidents, senators, ayatollahs, emirs and gurus. I assume she never had an audience with the techie giants like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Mitchell Baker of Mozilla, Dave Sifry (Technorati), John Chambers (Cisco), and many others who thought it was just a Silicon Valley workshop judging by majority of the delegates from that sector. If so, then her Taunting Bunye would have wasted no time to announce it. Nor did she get to meet with Loic Le Meur, the famous French blogger, and Arianna Huffington of huffingtonpost.com whose blogs covered the whole event.
Three eff-ing sentences!!
Ystakei,
How many maids that don’t leave for abroad do you think get raped by their Pinoy masters? One out of five sounds low to me so it sounds like they are doing better abroad, even in the Middle East than here.
But the main substance of this issue is that it is the stupid govt again trying to interfere in markets and the freedom of people to find survival even if it means leaving this god-forsaken place. It is is the same socialistic mentality that govt can and should take care of everything.
I don’t see why the bleeding heart liberals should feel sorry for OFWs. They are the lucky ones!
Feeling sorry for the OFWs? Far from it. I would rather they till their lands and stay foot in the Philippines as in through thick and thin!
I am against this deployment of Filipinos overseas being made an industry of the Philippine government, which actually do not and cannot protect its own nationals overseas. I find in fact the POEA and OWWA useless agencies, and the reason for the overlapping of work and function in the Philippine Embassy/Consulate. The job of the labor officers here in fact can be sufficiently performed by a legal adviser connected with what they have termed as assistance to nationals. In other words, they are not needed here, especially with the option now offered by the local governments in Japan as in Tokyo for foreign workers to join labor unions under the supervision of the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Justice through the local governments. I have in fact enrolled my own Filipino staff in this program.
I hate the easy way this Dorobo government is getting out of its responsibility to guaranty freedom from want to Filipinos without burdening other countries like Japan, etc. which are even brazenly harrassed, even threatened by some crooks in the Philippine government to provide jobs to unemployed Filipinos.
I surely did not find Lagman funny when he told a group of Filiipinos in Tokyo that he and his fellow crooks in the Philippine Congress would make it difficult for Japanese investors to invest in the Philippines if Japan would not grant the Filipino Japayuki a waiver from the revised Immigration Law of Japan as if Japan was dependent on the Philippines for its survival! If that is not being stupid, what is? Japan can always find alternative elsewhere!
Just sharing from arkibo for those interested in the gallivanting sprees of the Dorobos in Europe:
Please visit http://www.arkibongbayan.org, or go to:
http://www.arkibongbayan.org/2007-01Jan27-Davos/davos.htm
for photos of the picket vs GMA in Bern, Switzerland re political killings and related issues.
Arkibong Bayan Web Team
Tongue T: Oh, there was the main blog for the event, davosconversation.org, I think, that summarized each speaker’s contribution in two to three sentences, and a short profile of each of the attendees. Yes, the usual MA from Ateneo, PHD from UP, (I confirmed for myself what Yuko had been saying all along, that the ACTING President never finished the much-touted Georgetown course) though it still included her membership with Georgetown Club in her CV.
*****
Pasalamat si Dona Burot, she is not Japanese. She reminds me of a Japanese newcomer in the Diet who claimed that he graduated from a California university that he used to impress the voters. When the media digged into his story, they found out that he was telling a lie. Right there and then, he was disqualified and he was asked to return the badge given him to enter the Diet. Sayang, walang ganyan sa Pilipinas! Kundi matagal nang tanggal si Burot sa position.
Did you know that she even brazenly claimed in front of the foreign correspondents here that she was not just a classmate or schoolmate but a girlfriend of Bill Clinton even when Clinton was still a nobody then? Kapal din ng apog, di ba?
Supermaid? Nampu@@tsa !! Pinaganda pa e atsay,super-atsay din ang ibig sabihin niyon..They call it overseas employment but in simplified terms, That is simply the slave trade under government enterprise..The economist tries to fool us here but I am already a fool..She says
The peso is very strong, Do you believe that?
I was in tears when the prime minister of Myanmar said;
That he is not interested about the gross national profit of Myanmar but he is more interested in the gross national happiness of his people..
Ystakei,
Travel broadens the mind and improves the person, even transforms him. I don’t want the Filipinos to necessarily be rooted to the ground here and till the soil, even if it is native. The world is one, even if it is an archipelago. The Filipinos are among the first to accept this fact, being so used to it. They may have the longest commutes to and from work, but the ONLY thing keeping this strange bit of earth afloat is the money they earn serving other human beings, caring for and loving whatever or whoever they are responsible for. The idea that the OFWs are somehow worse off abroad or better off here is false. How can they be far away, when it is their blood sweat and tears that succor and save their families. I would rather empower Filipinos with education to leave than bugger them with nationalism to stay. If they find their fortunes elsewhere, Godspeed to them. There’s plenty more where they came from that I also hope become Citizens of the World!
What is $200 or $ 400 salary a month….That’s only less than an hour in the slot machine in Las vegas for fatso.Make it a thousand dollars.
Working abroad is a choice and a decision to be made by each individual. Kung meron pagkakataon, bakit di subukan di ba? Kung merong ibang trabahong makukuha, sino ba ang mananatiling katulong? Pero tama ang tono ng post na ito ni Ellen, nakakaawa na tayong mga Pinoy dahil sa kakulangan ng opportunity sa sariling bayan, handa tayong magpa-alipin sa ibang bayan sa napakababang sahod!
Apoy: They call it overseas employment but in simplified terms, That is simply the slave trade under government enterprise..
*****
Sinabi mo pa, Apoy. When the government starts making this kind of deployment a big enterprise, it is no longer just a means to provide Filipinos a means to survive. It is more exploitation, a racket in fact called “human trafficking.”
I work for the police, court and bar association in Japan as an interpreter/translator. I’m a pioneer in this field as a matter of fact, and I have met all kinds of Filipino workers who come here to do jobs abandoned by more emancipated Japanese as they do the kind of jobs we call the “3K” (kitsui, kitanai, kiken, or roughly translated difficult, dirty, dangerous). I have helped a lot of them in fact from abusive employers, even go with police when they raid brothels and prostitution dens.
What is pathetic is I have come to be numbed to the plight of these wannabe lawbreakers, who are part and parcel of the deception they allow themselves to be part of. A lot many of them in fact travel with false identities and IDs. At least, in our church, members are counseled not to agree to being recruited for overseas jobs bearing false passports.
A lot many of them end up being fugitives from the law, and getting involved in various crimes. Fortunately, in Japan, they don’t get capital punishment for peddling and smuggling illegal drugs. The Filipinos in fact rank third in committing such crimes in Japan.
And yet, the nerve of this bogus government entertaining and flattering them, calling them as heroes and heroines even when they make everyone ashamed as those teen-agers they deploy to bars and clubs in Japan where they are corrupted in their youth.
What is revolting is when these crooks in the present Philippine government even trick Filipinos into believing that their remittances help keep the country afloat, and the peso stronger (?), and call them as the Philippines’ No. 1 export commodities! If that is not human trafficking, what is?
As for the Filipinos learning from their travels, I doubt if majority do, especially when they cannot assimilate with the natives of the countries they go to, and are more concerned about surviving than really learning about their hosts. It is different of course if you go to other countries as a student as I did when I studied in UK, US and even Japan, where I actually have found my place under the sun not to mention the blood ties I have had with this country, and even UK for that matter.
Schumey,
I can understand about the lack of opportunities. At least, we have had enlightened leaders over here when Japan was rebuilding who thought of the waifs and orphans, who were gathered and put in foster homes and orphanages. Then, a law was passed to protect them from exploiters, and together with the Child Welfare Law that prohibited the employment of children below the age of 18, the government under the supervision of the Allied Forces drafted, passed and seriously implemented the Compulsory Education Law that made parents legally liable to prosecution if they would fail to send their children to school, and the government setting aside a big portion of the country’s budget for its implementation. Now, Japan is reaping the fruits of such wisdom and concern.
The Japanese government does not also meddle in deployment of Japanese workers overseas even when the government is duty-bound to help defray expenses for such exodus as what happened in the 50’s when impoverished Japanese were encouraged to settle in South America, particularly Brazil, and find their luck in the Amazons. They were definitely not fleeced by the government the way the Philippine government do to wannabe OFWs.
A few years back, there was a surge of Japanese women seeking employment in Hong Kong. Instead of encouraging such exodus, they were cautioned and fairly warned about not falling prey to exploiters unlike the Philippine government which is even acting as the recruiter!!! Bugaw!
The heart of the matter is… most Filipinos would want to be anywhere but the Philippines. Even to hell, with all the hellish conditions, these unfortunate Kababayans would fight for the right to be there. Has the Philippines turned into a place worse than hell?
Supermaid? Maid pa rin! Then we complain if a dictionary defines a Filipina as a maid?
I, as any other Filipino must, get offended that a Filipina has become stereotyped as a maid once outside the Philippines. This government, instead of being super offended, even has the gall to be proud of it? If GMA would only try walking the streets of the Middle Eastern countries, sans bodyguards, she would definitely be looked down upon as a maid. Would she like that?
apoy, masusunog tayo niyan. cool ka lang, he he heh!
Tongue,
Thanks for the info. Two to three sentence is not worth spending millions. The usual junket of course. Buti pa sila panay ang biyahe while our people travel to slave in some distant land. Its nice to see Filipinos abroad, but not as slaves but as tourists. Maybe after Glueria is out of office, she should repay the OFWs by being their super maid for at least a week.
“Kung gusto talaga ng administrasyon maprutektahan ang Filipino, ayusin nila ang palakad ng pamalahaan para magkaroon ng trabaho dito sa Pilipinas. Hindi na kailangan magpa-maid sa ibang bansa.”
Tama ka rito, Ellen..Dapat ayusin natin ang pagpili kung sinu-sino ang mamumuno sa atin sa darating na eleksyon. Kung nakikita natin ang mga nasa poder ay hindi ginagawa ang kanilang tungkulin ay dapat sabihin sa medya at huwag nang iboto sa susunod na eleksyon.
Ang Filipino ay mahilig gumaya at madaling mainnggit sa mga nakikita niya sa paligid niya. Sa isang barangay, kung ang isang OFW o tsimay sa ibang bansa ay napapalaki ang maliit na bahay at napapaganda ang kanilang buhay, sinuman na nakakakita sa kanya ay maiinggit at gustong gayahin ang kanyang ginawa. Malakas ang loob ang Filipino basta makakita ng pera na mas malaki sa kikitahin niya dito sa bansa. Malaki ang diperensiya sa sweldo na tinatanggap dito sa bansa kaysa kinikita niya sa ibang bansa. At balang araw, kung masuwerte siya ay mapapalaki din niya ang munting bahay niya at gaganda ang buhay ang kanyang pamilya.
Kahit anong gawin ang gobyerno para bigyan ang trabaho ang lahat sa bawat isang Filipino o Filipina dito sa atin bansa ay tamang-tama lang sa pagkain at damit para sa kanyang pamilya. Ang dapat natin isulong ay ang pagtaas ng suweldo sa mga manggagawa dito sa bansa lalong lalo na sa mga paktorya/pagawaan, kunstruksiyon, at ibat-ibang privadong negosyo.
Black Knight you finally came to your senses! Maybe you have a super proposal to increase the wages of the Filipino people. The 125 pesos that the bansot promised to the workers before Christmas, she took it back. How can you have factories when imports from China are flooding our markets. How can you have private companies when running a business in the Philippines has so much red tape. Even the lowest employee in any city hall knows how to make extra money. Besides, how can one enter into any contract with the bansot when she changes her mind like the weather. She goes where she gets a big cut out of any contract.
ano ba ang ‘pinagkaiba ng super maid sa super atsay
di ba’t pareho lang katulong, kawaksi ang kahulugan
meron bang mababago kung gawing “class” ang katawagan
kung itataas pa ang sahod, meron naman kayang sasagpang?
mga ina ng tahanang di matitis makita ang paghihirap
buhay ay ibibigay sa kasiyahan ng bugtong niyang anak
gagawing gabi itong araw matupad lamang ang pangarap
makamit ang mithiing mabigyan ng magandang bukas.
mas pinipili nila ang lumayo, mawalay sa kanilang piling
tinitiis ang kalungkutan, pighati, at paghihirap ng damdamin
magdusa man ay ligayang mabatid na itong supling
hinding hindi magugutom, maitataguyod ang naisin.
kung itong namumuno’y tinutupad ang katungkulan
disin sana’y walang anak na sa ina’y mawawalay
walang pamilyang mawawasak, walang luhang masasayang
ligaya ang maghahari, matiwasay na pamumuhay!
********** ************* ************** *********
(para sa mga ina ng tahanan:)
aling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila
katulad ng pag-ibig ng ina sa anak niyang minumutya?
ibibigay ang lahat kapalit man ay dusa’t pag-alipusta
may pag-ibig pa bang maitutulad? wala na nga, wala!
ang isang maliwanag sa raket na ito ay TESDA lamang ang nakikinabang dahil nagbabayad para sa training ng ewan ang mga supermaids at iba pang skilled workers. pagkakakitaan ng perang galing sa utak ng baliw na babaeng mukhang daga sa malakanyang na ayaw umalis sa kanyang daga.
Ystakei,
“Did you know that she even brazenly claimed in front of the foreign correspondents here that she was not just a classmate or schoolmate but a girlfriend of Bill Clinton even when Clinton was still a nobody then? Kapal din ng apog, di ba?”
So did Gloria have sexual relations w/ the man ? Heheheh.
Come on, this evil superwoman is in panic when the Senators accept the 125 peso and thw ball bounces into her court. So if this evil superwoman isn’t serious about the 125 peso why should she be serious about the $400 supermaids, she’s pushing her luck and knows it.
Superwoman knows that in the western world there is a fearsome competition with domestics there from various local countries trying to beat others by offering their employers cheaper rates whether labeled a ‘supermaid’ or not.
The superwoman is trying to sell ‘supermaid’ for one reason and that is if an employer pays the extra then the ‘supermaid’ remits a larger sum home, therefore good old Glo can boast an increase in revenue from OFW’s. If this evil superwoman is not interested in the wage given to local workers here why the interest in ‘supermaids’.
I see the midnight freaks were out in force last night, why on earth do you guys acknowledge them when they talk so such crap. They’re like naughty children seeking attention with some misguided notion that we take notice of what they say. Ignore them and like naughty children they will get fed up and find someone else to spin their stories to.
We-will-never-learn,
I agree w/ your comments. Let’s just ignore the Dirty Mama G who, as usual, because of her Napoleonic complex, is just craving for attention ! TONTA talaga !
Re: GSDC’ “They may have the longest commutes to and from work, but the ONLY thing keeping this strange bit of earth afloat is the money they earn serving other human beings, caring for and loving whatever or whoever they are responsible for.”
Spot on, Dean!
Of course, it would do the OFW world a lot of good if only they, who stamp “approve for export” from home country, acknowledge viva voce that their (those approving authorities) very existence depends on these human exports, i.e., treating them with utmost respect, providing them with the service they need when things go awry wherever and whenever these OFWs need them, etc.
Let’s face it – OFWs who are sent abroad face two harsh realities: abuse from their own before they are stamped approved for export and abuse from other nationals abroad (not necessarily their employers.)
If you come down to it, RP government is the well-paid brokers for the sale of modern-day slaves and are making millions out of the trade. Now, if that isn’t warped, I don’t know what is.
If RP wants to treat the OFW trade as a legit business, RP must turn it into a profitable one – not merely to prop up Gloria’s fake govt but it should benefit the places, the loved ones these OFWs leave behind. Or I don’t believe that this is the case.
In that case anna, then our Government even cares more for the contract workers all foreign government send to our shores that their own countries. Here, all Filipino OFWs most of them came here via Hongkong and other foreign countries as their stepping stones are all given the privilege to become part of our society if they choose to. After two years they can apply for landed immigrant status and three years after a citizenship is granted. While still on landed immigrants, they can already sponsor their dependants, like their spouses and children undeer 21 and dependants parents. They don’t have to forever hop from one country to another, with uncertain future but can lay and plan for their own and their families as Canadians..
Vic,
Yes, it looks like it. As do other countries in Europe. Most of the OFWs who arrive here through other third world countries actually take advantage of the social security benefits that any soul who happens to land here can freely avail of.
I think I’ve already talked about a maid I knew here who was TNT. She had serious cataract problems that almost made her blind – she couldn’t even work anymore; she didn’t have social security number needed for the hospitalization. I went with her to the hospital and talked on her behalf with the social welfare people there. The hospital admitted her and she was operated on at no cost to her but to the people of Europe.
For months, she availed of check ups at no cost. She found work again, not threatened with deportation because she was illegal and continues to send money to her family whom she hasn’t seen for some 15 years.
She can’t go home, once she goes home, she won’t be able to come back because she’s definitely not eligible for an EU visa. Problem is she can’t get her children either (she tried once, spending almost half a million pesos for a fake visa for her eldest daughter, who upon arriving here was turned back). I asked her how what she intends to do for her future and she said she’s bought a piece of property and has built a house in Cavite. When she’s got enough money to put in a business, she will go home, i.e., circa 2015 when she’s almost 75.
# Chabeli Says:
January 30th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Ystakei,
“Did you know that she even brazenly claimed in front of the foreign correspondents here that she was not just a classmate or schoolmate but a girlfriend of Bill Clinton even when Clinton was still a nobody then? Kapal din ng apog, di ba?”
So did Gloria have sexual relations w/ the man ? Heheheh.
*****
What will happen to Dirty Mama G when Hillary becomes US first woman president. With her claim of being Bill’s gf once, Hillary will just make her look a real Supermaid. heheh!
There are many more stories of TNTs here who save loads of money to send for their children by buying fake visas. Many have been turned back (their hard earned money thrown into the gutter too.)
Chabeli, Chi,
I remember Ellen commenting something about this Bill-Gloria thinggy.
Ellen travelled with (was it during FVR’s or Erap’s time?) an RP visiting group and were received by Clinton who approached the group and said, “You’re Gloria, right?”
Apparently, Gloria went into giggles and was trying to make it appear that Bill and she had a fling or something like that (ain’t sure anymore of Ellen’s exact words) when she was a student in Georgetown.
Heh!
The person who knows the real Gloria is Billy Esposo and his co Gloria handlers when she was a VP candidate or somthing.
My brother wants to join the political fray in RP. He asked me for my advice saying many people have asked him to stand up in the election.
I told him that there are other ways of serving the nation, i.e., turn his children into good citizens by concentrating on their education, then send them abroad to complete that education and if they so desire to be Filipinos still, they could go back and serve their country.
I discouraged him greatly; I told him that much as it pained me to say it, I didn’t believe that it is worth his efforts to serve the country that has undoubtedly become Gloria’s and her minions republic.
To me, any effort destined at saving the Philippines is a de-fact contribution to propping up Gloria and her minions.
It is my belief that there is a need to level the playing field first – kick out these hoodlums in Malacanang, then we talk.
Anna de brux,
“You’re Gloria, right?” Eeek, jahe ! Clinto would probably remember a pretty face. He’d rather forget an ugly woman !
Mrivera,
Your poem spoke of a reason why some pinay maids prefer $200 than a better pay of $400. Mas mabuting may pantustos sa mga supling kahit maliit, kesa sa mangarap at magising ay wala pa rin!
Yes, Anna de brux, I agree w/ your advice to your bro: “It is my belief that there is a need to level the playing field first – kick out these hoodlums in Malacanang, then we talk.” Good one !
“You’re Gloria, right?”
Naku Anna, hindi siya natandaan ni Bill! Otherwise, why asked! heheh at heheh pa!
Yuko,
I wonder whether the news of the Bern rally hit the Philippine media?
If the Philippine media fail to mention the Bern rally, it will come as no surprise if Taunting Bunye (borrowed from Tongue) heralds Gloria unano’s trip to Davos a COMPLETE SUCCESS!
Dumbo!
Chi,Chabeli,
That was exactly my thought when Ellen wrote that.
I told myself, “Gosh, she’s one thick-faced midget, ain’t she?”
Btw, when she came here to meet with EU president Barroso, a journalist friend (who was actually pro-Gloria) wrote to me asking me to send an e-mail describing what Gloria was wearing, my impressions of her as a fashionable woman, etc., I think he wanted to write something about her so, I sent the following lines:
“Sorry to disappoint you, your favorite president was wearing a drab gold colored suit of thick fabric with “banig” looking patterns in jaded Mao cut – her face hediously covered with Geisha pancake mix, pink eyeshadow that did no good to cover her jaundiced eyes and glossy pink lipstick that showed yellow buck teeth. Brown neck stood out amidst all the chalk; definitely hideous appearance overall.”
Hahahahahah! I can’t stop laughing, Anna de brux, at your description of the Dirty Mama G, expecially when you say, “..glossy pink lipstick that showed yellow buck teeth.” In other words, fea !
Nasulyapan ko si Mr. Ducky habang binabasa ko ang editoryal ng Abante. Heto at galit ang mga maids na ayaw maging Supermaids! Magra-rally daw sila sa Hongkong!
****
Gigil sa POEA
Horacio Paredes
Mayroong sumulat sa atin: “Kaming mga OFW dito sa Hong Kong ay nanggigigil sa panibagong rules ng POEA. Itong mga new rules na ito, dapat ay applicable lang sa mga bagong mag-a-apply overseas. Ang kaso, pati kaming nandirito na sa HK ay kasama pa rin ba sa mga new rules na ito na kahit magbakasyon lang kami ay kailangan pang mag-undergo ng training diyan sa POEA?
“Mayroon silang tinatawag na assessment kuno at mayroon kaming babayaran na 1,000 pesos daw. Ang daming kabalbalan ng gobyerno. Kailangan daw mag-training ng Chinese language, Mandarin. Papaano kung ang employer mo naman ay foreigner?
http://www.abante.com.ph/issue/jan3007/main.htm
Talaga naman itong si midget, lahat ng pagkakwartahan, pinangigilan!
Walanghiya!
Sige, mag-rally kayo at dumugin ninyo ang consulate diyan – at deliver nila ang mensahe nila kay Gloria bugaw na tigilan na niya ang pangkukurakot sa mga OFWs sa HK.
“yellow buck teeth” ni Dirty Mama G. Green is no longer the color of money for this bansot, “yellow” na!
Sige kayo mga kapatid diyan sa Hongkong, matatapang naman kayo! Sugod sa consulate, ipahiya at sipain ang mukhang perang pekeng pangulo ng Pinas! Sobra-sobra na ang utang niya sa inyo na siya na lang bumubuhay sa kanyang ekonomiya!
Ooops, gotta go, kiddies are home and I want to shed off the Gloria bugaw and Esperon infestations before they get home. (As Yuko says, ganoong katindi ang baho ng mga hayop na yan!)
See you gals and guys tomorrow.
Read this and weep (1)
Ellen Tordesillas
****
‘I was given the same answer – that OWWA does not rescue workers.’
http://www.malaya.com.ph/jan31/edtorde.htm
Let me just vent here. Every time I read something about this SUPERMAID program, I get worked up. I am extremely appalled by this program from the government.
Cant they provide other workshops or educational programs that would yield a different livelihood? Talaga bang katulong na lang ang bagsak ng mga kababayan natin. Dont get me wrong, I know that being a maid is a decent job and Im not putting them down either. Its just that there are more decorous jobs out there if only the government would implement an effective education and job creation policies! The government just doesnt have the best policies for the welfare of its people.
Other nations fund programs that would produce athletes, physicians, artist etc. but look at the Philippine govt. – they want to have super maids. Whats clear is that the government displaces it own role of providing a better way of life by promoting this “super maid ” program. This program, in a certain way constitutes the Philippine version of the African slave trade of previous centuries, which enriched the native slave-owners and the Christian (European and American) buyers of the human commodity at the slave market. It also bolsters the irreparable damage that has been inflicted to the reputation of the Filipinas/Filipinos in the international scene because of the indiscriminate deployment of our women as domestic helpers. Sad but true, our nation has gained the reputation that we are a country of domestic helpers, even prostitutes. Let me also note that this issue is more than just IMAGE; it is human dignity at stake here, not just the domestic helpers – it includes you, me generations after us and practically the entire country.
Just my .02
If I am not mistaken, a large chunk of the OFWs are domestic helpers. Gloria does not give a hoot about the welfare of the domestic helpers, much less the reputation of the country-why, Gloria herself is thick-faced to continue to be Malacañan despite the fact that majority of Filipinos cannot stand the daylights out of her.
All Gloria cares about is the money that the domestic helpers remit to the country. These remittances are one of the weapons that she uses as leverage (daw !) to say how great the economy has been under her regime. E kaso, it’s NOT the economy, Stupid !
Gloria really is the supreme Supermaid in the eyes of the Filipinos.
Come to think of it..Would you pay $400 for Gloria to be your Supermaid ? Who would want a Cheat, Liar & Thief as a Supermaid ?
Even if only for a dollar, I will NOT get DH Gloria as my Supermaid. Dibale nalang.
But then again, maybe I will get Gloria for my Supermaid for a buck, BUT I slap her & make her life miserable because I know if she phones the OWWA, they will not rescue her.
Our church, I understand, often hold livelihood workshops in the Philippines to help not just members of our church, who are encouraged to go back to school and then find a good job commensurate to their educational attainment, not the kind of BS thing the Great Switik even thinks make her look great.
You said it, Chabeli, the word apt to describe this creep is stupid, and stupid is what stupid does!
Over in the Philippines right now, 13-15-year-old dropouts are being lured to just attend some workshop to be caregivers (kuno) but are nothing but tsimoys and tsimays, and these kids are being used I guess at carehomes run by amigas and amigos of the creeps free of charge for a 3-month practical training (kuno)! What a crap especially when these kids in fact cannot be employed overseas especially in progressive countries where child slavery is a big no-no!
This in fact, I challenge newly appointed Education Secretary Jesli Lapus to prove his worth. I would like him to study the educational system in countries like Japan and UK where public education is free and compulsory from 1st Grade to 9th Grade. If he cannot have such program, I suggest, he goes back to Congress and finish his term rather than join the Cabinet of Creeps! It will not do good for his image to align himself with the Great Switik, her husband and her puppies!
Frankly, I have yet to meet a Filipino maid in Japan with a college degree. Majority of the Japayukis I met likewise were high school and even elementary school drop-outs.
Supermaids? My ass!
PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
I read an interesting piece in the web of The Philippine Star (Jan. 31, 2007). It was in Mr. Boo Chanco’s column. He said, “Rudi Giuliani summed it up best: “Government has got to work in order to allow people to have confidence in it.” It’s as simple as that..Ate Glue’s government doesn’t inspire confidence… lacks credibility. And that’s the sad truth whatever else they might have told her at Davos!”
When there’s an exodus leaving the Philippines, that speaks about the confidence level its very own people have on the government. A basura leader isn’t at all attractive !
Ha!ha!ha!, Ang lupit mo Chabeli.
“But then again, maybe I will get Gloria for my Supermaid for a buck, BUT I slap her & make her life miserable because I know if she phones the OWWA, they will not rescue her.”
****
But I’ll do the same! Pak!pak!pak!(sampal), Ummmmmmnnn (sabunot), ito ang bagay sa mga tulad mo! eeeeeeeeeeeyakkkkk (karate)!
Chabeli,
I understand from a friend in LAX that his publication has obtained a denial from Clinton that he knew the Great Switik when he was at Georgetown University, but the Switik’s publicity stunt is to ride on the name of Clinton in an apparent attempt to make her look big!
You wrote, “So did Gloria have sexual relations w/ the man ? Heheheh.”
Sinabi mo pa. A friend actually has been making a joke about the Switik teaching Monica Lewinsky the trick, except that Monica has to kneel to do it, while she can do it standing up, kasi hanggang waistline lang siya ni Clinton! Bastos! 😛
“Would you pay $400 for Gloria to be your Supermaid? Who would want a Cheat, Liar & Thief as a Supermaid?”
Ako, kahit 1 cent, never, never, nevah! And forever nevah for a Cheat, a Liar and a Thief! Ilimos ko na lang, worth it pa!
Sa Germany, lalong hindi kailangan ang Supermaids! Ang mga janitors nga rito, mas malaki pa ang suweldo kaysa managers ng mga banko diyan sa atin! Kaya, superhousewives are supermaids dito rolled into one!
Ugly? Sinabi mo pa, Anna. I don’t actually remember the Great Switik looking like Dadong. She looked more like her mother, much uglier! Bakit naging kamukha ni Nora Aunor? Plastic surgery?
Chabeli said, “A basura leader isn’t at all attractive !” That’s why the elites in Davos avoided the bansot like a plague!
Yuko,
Is elementary schooling in Pinas no longer mandatory?
Anna,
CNN is having a special on the Davos Conference. No mention of the Great Switik. Natabunan ang ungas. Sa kapandakan, di nakita! Who would care listen to a creep whose only economic program is pimp Filipinos overseas as domestic helpers or club/bar hostesses!!!
Believe you me, I met an Iraqi in a international crime tribunal for Iraq who told me of the Filipino prostitutes in Dubai when I mentioned that I am involved in movements to stop the the human trafficking from the Philippines. Golly, ang lalakas ng loob engaging in prostitution even in countries where prostitution is punishable by stoning the prostitutes when caught to death!
Over in Japan, when these foreign prostitutes are caught, they are immediately deported and barred from coming back to Japan. In the case of the Filipinos, they try to come back with fake passports, even declaring themselves as legally dead to get a new one in desperation to come back.
This time, however, it is more difficult to do so with everyone now required to get a machine readable passport. Also, a new machine has been developed and is present being tried, I am told, to prevent the entry of this kind of foreigners to Japan.
Yuko,
I monitored CNBC up to the last day of Davos coverage. Surot nga lang ang bansot sa Davos, I should say, dahil kahit na mention ng pangalan niya ay hindi ko narinig. That’s what she got for being a fake president. No pansin sa Davos ang pa-byuti ng Great Switik!
Paano naman – sino ba ang nagsabi na she was either busy doing monkey business with the officials of Swiss SIPCA or couldn’t understand what was being said at the different forums.
Tanga kasi!
Btw, the Filipino associations in France are SUPER GALIT kay super unano!
The president of the federation who used to like the unano, told me personally the last time I was in Paris, “Shit! We are trying to do our best to go beyond the maid status of Filipinos here and then she tells the world that she’s upgrading them to supermaids, as if there was any difference!”
Also, my friend who is a journalist based the reaction of the Pinoys/Pinays there and here wrote something about this for the Philippine Star but I heard it was put on hold or was junked because Max Soliven had died.
Ako ang nagsabi niyan, Anna.
Heheh! The difference between a maid and a supermaid is that the latter is Glueria!
Drats, double drats!
Also, my friend who is a journalist wrote something about this for the Philippine Star based on the reactions of the Pinoys/Pinays on Gloria unano’s SUPER MAID program but I heard it was put on hold or was junked because Max Soliven had died.
Oo nga pala Chi, ikaw nga pala – hahahah! Imagine, Gloria, PhD in economics (Puro hangin Daw) couldn’t understand anything seriously not monkey business.
Gaga kasi!
Sinabi mo pa, Chi. “‘I was given the same answer – that OWWA does not rescue workers.’
Many years back, I helped save a Filipino Japayuki from her abusive employer, who actually forced her and her fellow Japayukis to do lewd acts in the clubs where they were being shuffled by the promoters, who were being allowed by the crooks running the labor department of the Philippine Embassy to abuse them, even keep their passports for example so they could not escape.
I actually had to solicit the help of my friends at the Japanese police to provide the Filipina protection, and to inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about such neglect and anomalies and have the people there be made answerable for what happen to such women in Japan. Napauwi ang ungas. Galit na galit sa akin!
There is actually no need for these labor officials here in Japan since they are not allowed to negotiate directly with the Japanese authorities, and have to course their actions through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs unlike NGOs like the ones I am involved in. So, a legal adviser at the embassy is what these Filipinos need more even just to give these workers sound advise. It’s really a waste of public funds having these creeps in Japan since all that they do is fleece the Filipino workers.
Sabi nga ng mga pilipino dito, bawat utot daw nila at humingi sila ng tulong sa Philippine Embassy/Labor Dept., etc. bayad! Taga pa ang singil. Kung ako ang mga OFWs, I would demand for the abolition of these useless agencies!
Yuko,
Totoo naman na pangit eh. Si Nora Aunor medyo cute, ito parang kutong lupa.
Bulag lang ang taong nagsasabi na maganda or cute yan.
Tapos, medyo sakang pa nga – mahigit lang na 9 inches ang haba ng binti, mas mahaba pa nga iyong mga paa niya (parang flippers talaga!)
I agree Yuko! Abolish these racketeering agencies!
Off topic
Anna, if you care to click.
‘Is Arroyo so desperate to show the world that she is in the good graces of Bush?
So what was the big deal?
http://www.malaya.com.ph/jan31/edrey.htm
Elvira,
“Kaya, superhousewives are supermaids dito rolled into one!”
Totoo naman eh! Imagine a Filipina coming from the mountains who’s never seen a crysal bowl in her whole life, has never slept in bedsheets nor eaten from real china, how do you expect to make super maids out of these people?
Let’s be real: The super maids come from advanced or progressive countries. When the Philippines has become progressive (no longer on the same level as Haiti, Bangla Desh or Zimbabwe or Sudan), then Pinas can start EXPORTING SUPER MAIDS…
Maids are not slaves, they come to help the mistress of a home and should know a bit of the little niceties of the civilized world.
It is not the fault of these Filipinos from the mountains that they don’t know the little niceties of civilizations particularly if the unano pockets the money instead of spending on super infrastructure and education of people in the countryside. But to export them after being trained by dogs in the unano’s human traficking agencies, well… what will happen is the poor OFW Pinay or Pinoy destined to be a maid in some home elsewhere is abused…Double jeopardy!
Just accessed the link Chi and I agree totally without reserve with Ambassador Arcilla:
“But why fish for congratulations for something we did well but which we had to do anyway?
“Is Arroyo so desperate to show the world that she is in the good graces of Bush that she, through Ermita, had to practically fish for the congratulatory phone call? Kulang ba sa pansin ni Bush talaga?”
Walang dignity talaga itong unano na ito. Siguro dahil sa pagkaunano niya, naiwan sa umblical cord iyong dignity genes at naputol ng talaga!
Tanga, walanghiya, hayop!
As we say, “Chasser le naturel, il revient au galop!”
Once an undignified unano, always an undignified unano!
Kailan ba naging mandatory, Chi? We’re just plain lucky we have had parents who put more weight on their children getting good education, but going to school is never free and compulsory kaya nga maraming bata sa kalye!
I think, it was only Arsenio Lacson who made public schools in Manila free of charge, and why Manilans were better educated during his tenure of office as Manila’s Mayor.
That Lacson was a bosom friend of my father. Ping Lacson, in fact, does not come up to the ingenuity, sincerity and prowess of that Mayor who was feared, if not respected, even by the presidents of the Philippines.
I thought a lot of the deprived streetchildren in the Philippines when I was in UK, where public education is considered prestigious. I like the tutorial style of teaching there as a matter of fact, nothing like the “kabisote” style in the Philippines. It’s the same in Japan as a matter of fact where education is compulsory and free.
It’s why Japan and UK are progressive. Sa Pilipinas, ang concept pa ng progressive ni Great Switik is to make ALL Filipinos super atsoy and atsay for deployment overseas. Doesn’t she realize that she is being the great Mama-san doing that? Yup, Mama-san, or the Great Pimp!
Yuko, ahem… but what is ““kabisote” style”?
Forced congratulations! Buti pa si Cristeta sa kitchen ng WH, all praise si Dubya, while the bansot had no shame soliciting congratulations from Bush who obviously is distancing himself from the Fake One! Her thinking is that she’s an employee/supermaid of the Dubya!
Chi, she IS a de-facto maid to Bush…
Ganun pala ‘yon, Yuko.
Kawawa naman ang mga batang pinoy, No wonder millions of kids are out-of-school.
Heheh! What a title for a national leader kuno, “de-facto maid to Bush”! Kakasuka!
Kabisote, Anna, is only memorizing a book without actually understand its content! In short, magaling lang mag-kabesa (from Spanish cabeza or head). In other word, “kabisote.”
Buti kung de facto maid ni Bush, baka bugaw ni Bush! 😛
Thanks, Yuko! yes of course, cabeza!
Sorry, missed this one (antok na kasi ako):… is only memorizing a book without actually UNDERSTANDING its content!
Girls, nakakalokong basahin ang kakulitan ninyo. Kinakabagan ako kakatawa. Halos sabaysabay ang timestamps ng posts. Mas masaya pag walang provocateurs with their monkey wrenches, diba? Way to go, AMAZONS! (Blows a kiss to each one) Ahihihi!
Allow me to expand on the comment of ystakei and uk education. Children below 16yrs are compelled to attend classes. If children are seen in the streets during class time there are plain clothed patrols accompanied by police who stop them and take them to the nearest police station to be collected. Its even known for the parents to be taken to court for their failure to ensure they’re children attend classes.
That’s what’s needed here, wwnl. But sadly, kids would rather skip their books and chill out in airconditioned malls than fry under a mango tree they consider their classroom.
Caught the kiss, Tongue T. Salamat!
TonGuE-tWisTeD:
I understand what you say, but I like to be involved with parents of children on the barrio level. Your right, with the usual but!
I came across a small barrio school, the roof to the eight classrooms have no ceilings (bare iron zinc) and only one small electric fan. I managed to organise these parents and their teachers in finding the cash to install eight new ceilings which will assist in making it cooler for the young students this summer. The total cost of materials was canvassed at 25,500 peso (parents take care of the labour) and is being installed as we speak. They approached Prospero Nograles before, but nah! he’s not interested to assist just sweet words which never came to anything. Next project by these parents is the kids play area which is earth in the dry season but mud in the rainy season, where mosquito abound. Hopefully by the next rainy season it will be cemento to play on and less chance of mosquito bites and students catching a fever.
The students and they’re parents are more proud of their school and they can afford to tell Prospero Nograles to get stuffed.
Anna Chi Chabeli:
“I remember a comment something about this Bill-Gloria thinggy”
Maybe this was a misquote, I think the conversation was something like Bill saying boastfully that he played many musical instuments and the evil wonderwoman replying to Bill that she was able to play the organ for a buck…or something like that
magagaling ang mga Pinoy arkitek natin diba?
tingnan nyo ang ginagawa nilang mga floor plan sa posh villages o subdivision at pati na rin sa mga condo?
mapapansin nyo na merong provision o may naka-reserba na kwarto para sa kasambahay(kuno! pero Atsay naman ang turing), pinaganda lang ang bansag.
servants quarter o maids quarter?
bakit hindi na lang gumawa ng orgy room(party room) o kaya ay little casino room para hindi na lang pumupunta pa ng casino para duon na lang sila magsugalan ng mga kapitbahay.
o Kaya ay “game room” para duon ay game-na-game lahat ng mga myembro ng pamilya o mga bisita?
Dito sa Kamaynilaan, mapapansin nyo iyong mga “katuls” o mga chimi-ah-ah(tsimay), mas gustong-gusto ng mga amo nila na naka-uniporme ito ng white(minsan kulay ape-ron pa?) bilang status symbol daw?
Kaya minsan iyong mga bebot na kolehiyala(na nakaunipormeng puti) sa mall ay mapagkakamalan mo na maid sa ‘Fobres’ park, corintyan o balye berdi!
Iba na ang panahon ngayon, nag-lo-losyon na rin si Inday, para naman syempre mapansin ni Koya’.
Ellen,
pwede sana malaman ng mga bloggers dito kung saan ba nagmumula karamihan ng mga katulong?
Sa Luson ba o sa Kabisayaan?(Visayas o Mindanaw).
Ano ba pinagkaiba ng mga katulong(kasambahay o maid), housekeeper , domestic helper o caregiver?
Duon sa mga arkitekto, bigyan nyo ng pagpapahalaga ang “study room” keysa sa kwarto ni Inday!
Nelbar
noong maliit pa ako, nasabi nila na ang
mga katulong ay galing sa kabisayaan. Ang mga taga Luzon daw mataas ang pride, lalo na ang
mga tagalog from Laguna, Cavite, Quezon at Batangas. Ayaw mamasukan. Tanungin mo ang lola mo.
Ngayon matanda na ako, pantay-pantay na sa kahirapan, di na puede ang taas ng pride. Kailangan maka-survive. Palagay ko sa mga domestic helpers abroad, there is NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE as to where they come from. Poverty is now pervasive, is everywhere that the tagalogs are not that few anymore in taking the DH jobs.
oops ayun nelbar sinabi mo, sagot sa tanong mo.
Duon sa mga arkitekto, bigyan nyo ng pagpapahalaga ang “study room” keysa sa kwarto ni Inday!
hindi Neneng kundi Inday.
Nagawi ako sandali sa Panay island, nadinig ko sabi nila Mas masipag ang Antiquena kay sa Ilonga. Mahilig kasi tayong Pinoy na mag stereotype. Nasabi ko yan bilang compliment kay Ellen.
tumigil di ako sandali sa Iloilo. Noong nasa
San Jose ako, sabi nila maganda at tisay yun anak ng Kasera ko, Ligawan ko daw, nagaaral sa PWU. Noong bakasyon aba’y dinatnan ko nakaluhod sa basahan, at kinakaskas pinapuputi yung tiles sa banyo at kubeta. Taga Womens naglilinis ng kubeta gayong may katulong sila. Sabi ko tama nga yata yung kasabihan sa mga Antiquena. Sayang meron boy friend na raw siya. Ooops may proweba din ako, totoong malalambing ang mga Ilongga.
Re “totoong malalambing ang mga Ilongga.”
Jay, unfortunately as in any rule, there’s always an exception, heheheh, witness Brenda Defensor Santiago…
Hi Guys!
Been out a week to farflung barrios in a survey-campaign foray in support of my reelectionist candidate for mayor in our town. There are electricity in some barrios but in the remotest part, none yet. It’s only on transistorized radios I can get some news plus text messages being feed on my celphone. When I hit town first time in few days naglalakad sa kaparangan at kabundukan, I grabbed a Malaya and read part 1 of Ate Ellen’s column regarding Clara. Parang binabayo ang aking dibdib sa kanyang kalbaryong dinanas, chapter 1 pa lang ng report. The youthful Mayor after reading the column himself and knowing that I am deeply troubled asked me, being his consultant, if there’s something we can do on things like this. I momentarily shaked my head pondering on the fate of similarly situated kababayans going abroad to help their families back home. I told the Mayor we should do something, in our own way even how small way it is. There must be a first step to take.
What I did was to composed a directive for the Mayor to sign ordering the Personnel Employment Service Office, a component in every municipality, to update its data base on our townmates who are employed abroad focusing first in the Middle East where sexual harrassment and abuse is rampant. We will write letters to them thru their family and ask for the details of their present employment, etc. Eventually, it will cover all overseas Filipino workers coming from our community. Those who are seeking first time employment for abroad (they are required to get Barangay and Municipal Clearances) to be lectured on the do’s and don’ts and as much as possible, provide themselves with a celphone for constant communications. It’s only a small step but at least, the parents and the local government can easily trace their whereabouts in case of emergency. I have also written three (3) organizations composed of our townmates in the North America with our proposal to form a Local Overseas Workers Council and establish a Foundation where we can raise private funds as standby funds for those who will be needing financial aid. To look up at the inutil national government at this point in time will be an exercise towards inutility. Pardon the wrong mistake.
Usually, a small town’s budget does not carry appropriations for extraordinary expenditures to attend to a case like Clara. Well meaning citizens should be tapped to help out and it will take a concerted effort to be able to concretize the action plan but I am glad we have started it and I am glad I have a hand on it.
Now, I’m home in Quezon City and read the whole entry of Ate Ellen. I expected all along how it will end up in the second part yet published in Malaya. Ano pa nga ba? Pagwawalang bahaha on the part of the government officials who should be concerned on the flight not only of Clara but a hordes of similarly situated cases. They’re so engrossed dancing the chacha, that’s why.
Been reading all your entries since I arrived home but this thread is heart rending at maraming salamat, we are one in tackling the issue. The writers are driving it hard to crucify the unglorious na nincompoops pa. Much as I would like to add more, nandoon na lahat. And much as I would like to write something on the political situation obtaining in the rural areas, first hand information being in the front line, nakatungtong sa lupa, sa kaparangan at kabundukan, I’ll reserved it on the future date.
I missed you guys and your postings but I have to be back to the province by tomorrow. Sisikat din ang araw para sa ating lahat. We love this country!
galing sa kabila, dahil related, i-post ko rin dito.
Mrivera Says:
February 1st, 2007 at 2:05 pm
ito ang isang uri ng walang pangalawang mukha ng kawalanghiyaan dahil maliwanag na ipinagkanulo ng asal hayup na kung sino man itong levi na ito ang kawawang clara. gahaman sa salaping hindi kanya ang walanghiya. sino’ng maniniwala na hindi nakuha ng gagong OWWA official na ito ang perang dapat tanggapin ng pobreng pinay? pati mga personal na gamit ay pinag-interesan din. tsk. tsk. tsk. walanghiya talaga! ito siguro ang natutunan sa unibersidad na kanyang pinagtapusan na pinalala pa ng pagiging manhid sa kapakanan ng taong bayan ng isang presidenteng gahaman, sinungaling, mandaraya at magnanakaw!
kunsabagay, hindi nagkakaiba ang karanasan ng sinumang manggagawa dito sa gitnang silangan na dumanas ng pang-aabuso buhat sa kanikanilang employer/sponsor, ma-babae man o lalaki. kapag humihingi ng tulong sa mga opisyal ng alinman sa embassy, consulate o POLO-OWWA officials, hindi nila magawang ipaglaban ang kapakanan ng kababayang nangangailangan ng tulong, bagkus ay kumikiling pa sa mga asal hayup na abusado sapagkat “nagkakaayusan” at nawawala o gumagagaan ang pananagutang dapat sagutin ng employer dahilan upang lalong malagay sa mas kaawa awang sitwasyon ng mga pobreng inabuso.
ang administrasyong ito na hindi makapagbigay ng disenteng hanapbuhay sa mga mamamayan at umiimbento pa ng kung ano anong makatawag pansing walang kuwentang programa upang “ibenta” lamang ang mga manggagawa sa labas ng bansa ay nananatiling bulag, pipi at bingi sa karaingan ng mga pinagsasamantalahan subalit siyang pangunahing inaasahan upang manatiling umuusad ang huwad na pamahalaan dahil sa remittances naming mga OFW’’s. ito ang naging bunga ng pagpapagamit ng mga maralita sa mapanlinlang na mga elitistang gutom sa kapangyarihan at walang iniisip kundi ang pangalagaan ang pansarili nilang interest. ito rin ang mapait na naging bunga ng paniniwala ng mga nagtaguyod upang maluklok sa kapangyarihan ang hayup na babaeng baliw na mukhang daga sa malakanyang na ayaw nang umalis sa kanyang lungga!
hanggang kailan ipipikit ang mga mata ng sambayanan? hanggang kailan natin lulunukin ang nagdudumilat na katiwaliang namamayani sa bulok na pamahalaan? hahayaan pa ba nating danasin ng magiging supling ng ating mga anak ang kaapihang ating dinaranas?
nakikiusap ako sa sino mang mas nakaaangat ang kalagayan kaysa sa amin, kayo sana ang aming maging lakas upang maipagpatuloy ang pakikibakang ito.
ms. ellen, maraming salamat sa pagbubukas at pagsisimula mo ng buklurang ito! mabuhay ka!
Magno:
Ang policy ng gobyernong ito at ng mga nauna maliban ng kay Erap ay palayasin ang mga pilipino at kung puede ay huwag na silang babalik! Nakakahabag ang katayuan ng mga pilipino sa ibang bansa lalo sa mga bansang hindi naman sila puedeng mag-assimilate gaya ng lipunan ng hapon na off-limits sa totoo lang sa mga dayuhan. Nandoon pa rin kasi ang takot sa mga dayuhan ng mga tao dito. Napipilitan na nga lang ngayon dahil para namang pinarusahan ang mga tao dito na hindi manganak-nganak dahil sa pakikialam nila sa takbo ng kalikasan. Abortion is legal up to 12 weeks of pregnancy for economic reasons, etc. O di parusahan sila ng kalikasan! Wala pang 1,000 ang ipinanganak sa Japan noong isang taon sa totoo lang!
Diyan naloloko ang mga pilipino sa totoo lang na pumupunta sila sa mga lugar na hindi naman nila alam ang wika ng mga taong pinagsisilbihan nila. Mali iyong turo sa kanila na kahit saan sila pumunta ay magagamit nila ang ingles. Di bale kung may pinag-aralan din ang mga mami-meet nila. Siguro naman alam mo iyan sa katayuan ninyo sa KSA. Pilipino nga lang ang hinuhubog na huwag magmahal sa sariling kanila.
Golly, bakit hindi nakikita ng mga pilipino iyan na iyong mga dayuhang matanda ay niyayang manirahan sa Pilipinas tapos itong mga kabataang pilipino ay pinapalayas sa sarili nilang bayan dahil wala daw trabaho? Stupid is as stupid does.
PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Nakakaawa naman tayong mga pilipino. yung pekeng magnanakaw mandarayang presidente natin ay walang ibang vision sa atin kundi maging alila. ginawa pang super, supermaid. sobrang insulto na ito sa pagkatao natin.
nirerespeto ko ang mga DH natin sa ibang bansa at naiintindihan ko sitwasyon nila. pero yung klase ng presidente natin sorry pero hindi karespe-respeto.
Sinabi mo pa, trinity.
Sino ba naman ang magrerespeto sa isang peke kundi iyong mga nakikinabang sa kanya, di ba?!
Oopps, at hindi rin respeto ang tawag doon kundi mga sipsip-kuhol! heheh!
Ms. Ellen, hihingi po sana ako ng request sa inyo kung okay lang po. Maari nyo po bang iparating ang mensahe ko kay Manuel V. Pangilinan (ng PLDT/Smart) na kung puwede po tumakbo po siya bilang Presidente ng Pilipinas. Sa palagay ko kailangan po natin ang katulad niya.
Pinoy maids in HK cry ‘extortion’ over RP gov’t new labor law
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20070205hed6.html
Here’s a note from a friend of mine, an architect in Tokyo, on this attempt of the Philippine labor department over here “to demote” the maids because of apparently the losing appeal of the Filipino maids in Japan, whose emnployers are getting fed up of the additional unnecessary fees they pay to the useless agencies fleecing these workers:
fsyu@… wrote:
What a wonderful Monday today is turning out to be. Here’s another bit of news (the same news referred to above by Chi) to brighten it up.
There really is no limit to how low the government can go to fleece its own people. Before it tries to assess the maids’ abilities, why doesn’t it assess first the performance of its own Department of Labor, POEA and OWWA employees???!!!???
A separate note for you guys in Tokyo (and therefore supposedly interested in what our embassy here is doing…): some section of the embassy is supposedly coming up with employment guidelines that include setting the
recommended salary of domestic helpers in Japan at TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS a month. Hello?!!??? Do we expect these maids to live on water and butong pakwan?
Blind item that is not so blind: An ambassador in Tokyo hosted dinner at his residence in Tokyo with some VVIP (who would be important enough to be
invited to his residence?) from the Philippine embassy. His maid (Pinay) overheard this conversation (paraphrased):
Ambassador: I pay my maid 2000 yen an hour plus taxi fare if she goes home after the trains have stopped.
Pinoy VVIP: That’s too much. 500 yen per hour is enough.
Susmaryosep. I wonder who is the poor thing who works at Kudan (where the Philippine ambassador’s official residence is).
If it is the sentiment of our embassy that Pinoy OFWs should be paid a pittance, then maybe they would like to start the ball rolling by revising the processing fees downwards. You get charged 5250 yen (117yen/one dollar) for every certificate / translation / affidavit – what’s going to be left of your salary if you get only 200 dollars a month?