My Fellow Filipinos

When I was small, the Philippine peso was P7 to 1$. The president was Ferdinand E. marcos. Life was simple. Life was easy. My father was a farmer. My mother kept a small sari-sari store where our neighbors bought sang-perang asin, sang-perang bagoong, sang-perang suka, sang-perang toyo at pahinging isang butil na bawang. Our backyard had kamatis, kalabasa, talong, ampalaya, upo, batao, and okra. Our silong had chicken. We had a pig, dog & cat. And of course, we lived in the farm. During rainy season, my father caught frogs at night which my mother made into batute (stuffed frog), or just plain fried. During the day, he caught hito and dalag from his rice paddies, which he would usually inihaw. During dry season, we relied on the chickens, vegetables, bangus, tuyo, and tinapa. Every now and then, there was pork and beef from the town market. Life was so peaceful, so quiet, no electricity, no TV. Just the radio for Tia Dely, Roman Rapido, Zimatar, Dahlia, Tawag ng Tanghalan and Tang-tarang- tang. And who can forget Leila Benitez on Darigold Jamboree? On weekends, I played with my neighbours (who were all my cousins). Tumbang-lata/ preso, taguan, piko, luksong lubid, patintero, at iba pa. I don’t know about you, but I miss those days.

These days, we face the TV, Internet, e-mail, newspaper, magazine,grocery catalog, or drive around. The peso is a staggering and incredible P45 to the $dollar (last year ay umabot pa nga ng P55 per $1). Most people can’ t have fun anymore. Life has become a battle. We live to work. Work to live. Life is not easy. I was in Saudi Arabia in 1983. It was lonely, difficult, & scary. It didn’t matter if you were a man or a woman. You were a target for rape. The salary was cheap & the vacation far between. If the boss didn’t want you to go on holiday, you didn’t. They had your passport. Oh, and the agency charged you almost 4months of your salary (which, if you had to borrow on a ‘ 20% per month arrangement ‘ meant your first year’s pay was all gone before you even earned it).

The Philippines used to be one of the most important countries in Asia . Before & during my college days, many students from neighboring Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia , Japan and China went to the Philippines to get their diplomas. Until 1972,like President Macapagal, President Marcos was one of the most admired presidents of the world. The Peso had kept its value of P8 to the $dollar until I finished college. Today, the Philippines is famous as the ‘housemaid’ capital of the world. It ranks very high as the ‘cheapest labor’ capital of the world too. We have maids in Hong Kong, laborers in Saudi Arabia, dancers in Japan, migrants and TNTs in Australia and the US, and all sorts of other tricky jobs in other parts of the globe.

Quo Vadis, Pinoy? Is that a wonder or a worry? Are you proud to be a Filipino or does it even matter anymore? When you see the Filipino flag and hear the Pambansang Awit, do you feel a sense of pride or a sense of defeat & uncertainty ? If only things could change for the better…… . Hang on for this is a job for Superman. Or whom do you call? Ghostbusters, joke. Right?