Friday, July 31, 2009

Sweaky, Where Art Thou?


A loyal companion, a trusted friend, the clown of my life - that's Sweaky. I wonder where he is now.


I last saw him in early 2006. That was when our office was transferred from Ortigas to Valenzuela. It was a disappointing management decision but who were we to complain. We're just employee bound to obey whatever the force-that-be wanted. In a matter of months, the entire staff retired, including me and Sweaky.

I have met Sweaky in 2005. He was introduced to me by a friend. I brought him to the office and then he became my first ever best friend. How would I describe him? Hmm..well, he's s a perenially happy guy, actually there were times I was bothered why he never gave up on always flashing that wide smile. Sometimes I thought he's getting crazy. Then I realized that it's just the way he is. Sweet. Care-free. Always ready to say hi.

When we were in the office, he liked to sit on my desk watching all the things that I do. Sometimes I got embarassed bacause he would stare at me all the time whether I was picking my nose or getting rid of those nasty and stubborn pimples. His smile was annoying at times but he knew I wasn't vain. That's what I had liked about him. He never talk down to me, not a single word. He stayed with me all the time. If I had to go overtime, he was there to join me even without any dinner or so. He hated eating, very conscious indeed.

We were really the best of friends and I was always proud to introduce him to new office comers. When we transferred to Valenzuela, he never reacted or anything. I knew deep within that he would follow me wherever I go and whatever decision I make. December 2006, I retired from office after working for more than six years. I had to leave San Miguel and every thing that I have learned while under his providing arms. Sweaky too, I know was also grateful because we have come to know each other when I was with SMC.

When I packed all my things, I left nothing but Sweaky. I was too excited that I have forgotten my one true friend. Pity me! Damned me! How could have I done that? I wasn't sure. I was so stupid. It has been three years now and I am thinking of where has he been. I have no idea. I have contacted all my friends in the Philippines if they could help me find him and they too, have not seen him. I had no one else but myself to blame. I lost him. I lost a beloved friend.


click here to see the only picture of Sweaky, with friends Froggy and Santy. In any case you see him, please do inform me, thanks.

Monday, July 27, 2009

A World Without Filipinos

we are much better than these.......

Have you ever wonder what's gonna happen to the world and to the Philippines if all the OFWs around the globe will just suddenly disappear? Take a look:

Think of the homes that are dependent on Filipino housekeepers, nannies, caregivers. The homes would be chaotic as kids cry out for their nannies. Hongkong, Singaporean and Taiwanese yuppie couple are now forced to stay home and realizing, goodness, ther's so much of house work that has to be handled and how demanding their kids can be and hey, what's this strange language the'are babbling in.

It’s not just the children that are affected. The problems are even more serious with the elderly in homes and nursing institutions, because Filipino caregivers have provided so much of the critical services they need. When temporary contractual workers are brought in from among non-Filipinos, the elderly complain. They want their Filipino caregivers back because they have that special touch, that extra patience and willingness to stay an hour more when needed.

Hospitals, too, are adversely affected because so many of the disappeared Filipinos were physicians, nurses and other health professionals. All appointments for rehabilitation services, from children with speech problems to stroke survivors, are indefinitely postponed because of disappeared speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists!

Eventually, the hospital administrators announce they won’t take in any more patients unless the conditions are serious. Patients are told to follow their doctors’ written orders and, if they have questions, to seek advice on several Internet medical sites. But within two days, the hospitals are swamped with new complaints. The web sites aren’t working because of missing Filipino web designers and web site managers.

Service establishments throughout the world — restaurants, supermarkets, hotels — all close down because of their missing key staff involved in management and maintenance. In Asia , hotels complain about the missing bands and singers.

In the United States , many commercial establishments have to close shop, not just because of the missing Filipino sales staff but because their suppliers have all been sending in notices about delays in shipments. Yup, the shipping industry has gone into a crisis because of missing Filipino seafarers.

The shipping firms begin to look into the emergency recruitment of non-Filipino seafarers but then declare another crisis: They’re running out of supplies of oil for their ships because the Middle Eastern countries have come to a standstill without their Filipino workers, including quite a few working for the oil industry.

Frantic presidents and prime ministers call on the United Nations to convene a special session of the Security Council but Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. says he can’t do that because the UN system itself is on the edge, with so many of their secretarial and clerical staff, as well as translators, having disappeared from their main headquarters in New York and Geneva, as well as their regional offices throughout the world. Quite a number of UN services, especially refugee camps, are also in danger of closing down because of missing Filipino health professionals and teachers.

Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. also explains that he can’t convene UN meetings because the airports in New York , Washington and other major US cities have been shut down. The reason? The disappeared Filipinos included quite a few airport security personnel who used to check passengers and their baggage.

Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. calls on the World Bank and international private foundations for assistance but they’re crippled, too, because their Filipino consultants and staff are nowhere to be seen. Funds can’t be remitted and projects can’t run without the technical assistance provided for by Filipinos.

An exasperated Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. calls on religious leaders to pray, and pray hard. But when he phones the Pope, he is told the Catholic Church, too, is in crisis because the disappeared include the many Filipino priests and nuns in Rome who help run day-to-day activities, as well as missionaries in the front lines of remote posts, often the only ones providing basic social services.

As they converse, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. and the Pope agree on one thing: the world has become a quieter place since the Filipinos disappeared. It isn’t just the silencing of work and office equipment formerly handled by Filipinos; no, it seems there’s much less laughter now that the Filipinos aren’t around, both the laughter of the Filipinos and those they served.

A phone ring at the White House early in the morning from Malacanang, Obama could not answer the phone, he could not get-up in bed suffering from diarrhea because his Mexican chef stuffed his burritos with marijuana guacamole,because the Philippine Congress extradite Pareng Barak’s lady chef back to the Phillippines.

Gloria Arroyo wants to complain to Pareng Barak and asking for stimulus package and bailout regarding Henry Sy on his plan to lay-off close to million casual employees. His huge shops like SM, the Robinsons chain and the Glorietta and Greenbelt malls in Makati, the country’s financial district, have been plagued with diminished sales as people no longer go to enjoy their penchant for shopping and dining. The disappearance of their beloved OFW relatives have cut their spending at all and remittance agencies and bank and automated teller machines eager to serve,are likewise closing businesses because no remittances are coming from abroad. Gloria Arroyo declared a nationwide State of Emergency.

In short without OFW, Filipinos in the Philippines will die in famine. And a world without Filipinos may seem unimaginable to those nations whose lives have been greatly enriched by their presence. But, impossible as it may be, a world that allows every Filipino to take his loved ones along wherever he may choose to work would be a far richer world. Better still, a Philippine society that affords every Filipino the chance to grow and to use his talents without having to leave his country would be a far richer society.



-this essay was originally written by Father Jess Briones and had appeared, re-published, quoted in various newspaper, blogsites and internet forums.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Dead Heroes

I am setting aside my self nepotism to devote a piece of my time and blog space to honor the Filipino Overseas Workers who have lost their lives while trying to make a difference in the lives of their loved ones and our beloved nation in general. I am feel sorry for their ill fated journey and tragic loss and now I am raising a hundred and one reasons why they deserved to be called heroes, but not when they are dead.



"pinoy care, handog natin sa mundo.."




FROM THE VERY BEGINNING….
Leaving loved ones behind is a painful thing to do – but they did.
Abandoning their jobs back home is a silly idea – but they did.
Facing a new culture is a wall difficult to infiltrate – but they did.
Searching for a job without assurance is a costly gamble – but they did.
Heading for a future so vague and blurry – But they did.



ALL FOR THE LOVE OF FAMILY – THEY DID, SO THAT ….
New house can be built ….
Bills can be paid…..
School can be pursued…..
Occasions can be celebrated…..
Illness can be cured…..
Life can be saved…..
Dreams can be achieved…
Economy can be revived….
Progress can be fueled….




BUT SOMETIMES LIFE CAN BE SO CRUEL…..
He who works is bothered…..
He who cares is ignored….
He who sees is overlooked…..
He who sacrifices is redeemed….
He who loves is taken away…..


AND BRUTALLY UNKIND….
He who only hope for the welfare of his loved ones….
He who only wish for the best for his kids…..
He who only think about the safety of his parents….
He who doesn’t think only about himself…..
Is murdered, terminated, evicted and gone…..
Without warning, without sign, without goodbye...


----)0(----


Same month last year, a road mishap in Dubai has claimed the lives of three Filipinas working for a coffee shop. The freak accident, whose cause was attributed mainly to reckless driving, has ranked among the most tragic in Dubai. Recently, ten Filipinos were among the civilians killed in a helicopter crash in a NATO base in Afghanistan. Their unwanted death came at a time when there's an imposed labor ban on that country. As such, they would not be entitled to full benefits from the government for being undocumented workers. Their hard works as an OFW have long benefited the country, but now it has ended up in a tragic loss, their suffering was theirs and theirs alone.

But why? Simply because they sneaked out of the country illegally to work on these places makes them less of an "OFW"? Aren't we all out here sacrificing basically for the same reason? When we send money back home, it is received without even care if it is coming from someone documented or not. We all help in our own capacities. The government benefits from the risk that these people have taken into themselves so that a better future awaits their family. The same risk that's helping the economy up is now the same risk that putting their names and bereaved down. That oversight is just not fair.

When someone left home to work abroad, that’s already a huge sacrifice, not being able to see your loved ones for some time. When you accept a job which is quite different from what you professionally can do, your sacrificing your pride and honor. When you try to fight the homesickness and boredom every time you lay yourself in bed, that’s a sacrifice. When you get our salary, you try to limit your personal spending so that you can send more to your loved ones back home., that’s sacrifice. All for the sake of our families and our nations.

When accidents that claim lives of OFW happen, the sacrifices end, together with the prospects of a brighter future for their family. There would be some media coverage and some financial assistance from the government. After that, the sacrifices of the people who once left their homeland to fulfill an unselfish dreams in the most noble way they can will be forgotten. The modern heroism of the people who left their country alive and with high hopes will be forsaken just as their lifeless body is buried six feet below the ground, silently and forever.

That’s the tale of our present day heroes. Heroes only when they are dead. Never accorded the respect, honor and benefits they deserve when they living and sending billions in annual remittance. Currently, there are over 12 million Overseas Filipino Workers around the globe mostly setting aside their lives to fulfill a greater good for their respective families and country.

PBA090oq4p4s

Thursday, July 23, 2009

The House That Loneliness Built

Sunday, I was happily trading online messages with a former housemate in Quezon City when out of our scattered conversation I learned a very disturbing and saddening old news: the boarding house where we used to live had been burned down to ashes last year due to faulty electrical wiring. Shock restrained me from typing a word when I heard what happened. The boarding house where I have lived for more than two years back when I was still working in Manila has surrendered its walls and floors to a tragic and unwanted demise. I couldn’t believe that such misfortune had happened and I didn’t even know. Suddenly I was silenced by shame and denunciation. I was clothed with immeasurable guilt and disconcern for an old house that I have come to call home.

Our boarding house was a unit of a typical up and down apartment building that was located along Bansalangin Street in Veterans Village, approximately a hundred meters away from Edsa. It was an old apartment building and our boarding house unit, I'd say, looked older as it wasn’t well maintained. For its dark interiors, busted lights, clogged drains, waterless faucets, swaying staircase, cracked walls, rusted windows grills, crawling insects and all other stuff reminiscent of those haunted houses featured in creepy Korean horror movies, it was definitely a miserable place, good enough as shelter, you might think, for miserable people.

But not so long ago, I was there in that same building. I have lived there since our office was transferred to Valenzuela. If it weren’t for its proximity and convenience, I wouldn’t have lived there. There was nothing special in that house, except for an old woman who had been keeping that boarding house operational and inhabited, so that she too could survive, she was our landlady. In two years that I have lived in that house, I have witnessed boarders come and go. I was there when the house was fully occupied with bedspacers and I had to act like a caretaker overseeing the others. I have witnessed how at one time the house was almost empty of any occupants, just me and Nanay Mimi, yet still we survived. I was there when someone have tried to sneak into the house and rob but didn’t succeed. I was there in many occasions that though all might not necessarily be happy, for all the lessons learned and trust earned, I'd say that it's all worth it.

I could still remember when I've found that boarding house, it was advertised in BuynSell. That was in 2004. When I came into the house, It was full of male boarders, it was more like a jail, only the prisoners were free. Time passed and everyone had to go but not me. I have chosen to stay in that house despite prolonged waterless day, despite the cockroaches, despite the creepy settings. I didn’t know. Maybe I was a miserable guy destined to live in a miserable place. Maybe because the rent was cheap and the location was very accessible. Maybe because I have already developed a sense of family inside the house. Maybe because I didn’t want to leave her alone. Maybe I was afraid to see her in tears. Maybe I was afraid to just see the house stand in its solitary and desolate state.

When I came to Dubai in 2007, I had to say goodbye to my landlady and to the house for good. It was after spending my nights there for more than two years. It was a sad moment indeed as I emptied my improvised dusty wooden cupboard, it was like leaving a huge vacuum in the house and heading forth with a hollow space in my heart. It wasn’t that easy. Working abroad was a tall order but leaving something that has come to be part of your life was rather heavy. The so many nights where she shared her unforgettable and sometimes incredible life story were incomparable. The many mornings where she'd cooked breakfast for me were genuinely appreciated. I knew when I left, she'd also felt sad. She has no family. Well, actually she has, but she's living on her own, with her pride, her silence, her solitude. This old boarding house was what kept her surviving all these years and it pained me to see her left behind and not see her at time when she simply needed someone to talk to.

The last time that I've seen her was the time when I left the house with all my belongings. I have never heard anything from her since then, not until this shocking old news that sent my thoughts to nostalgia and melancholy. I am still gald to know that no life was wasted in the accident. I felt sorry for her. I wonder where she is right now; it's been almost a year since the boarding house caught fire. The house was gone, so I hope her loneliness. Pray that she's fine and doing good, wherever she maybe.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

What Michael Made of Me

...
He came before me but from the first time I looked into his soul, I knew that deep inside the legend were the cries, longing and dreams of a child who never used to be. We had never met in our lifetimes, but it was his voice that I heard and listened to most often. He was a gifted musical phenomenon. His sad story of stolen childhood, changing appearance, broken marriage, notable eccentricities, child abuse accusations and the isolating incendiary meganess of his stardom had made his journey even more complicated and indelibly fanciful. People called him Michael and despite spending as much time seducing the tabloids as the microphone, his undeniable talent had made him to me, an idol.

He was a talented man. That impressed me, even if I have never felt singing along with his dance tracks or strutting the iconic moon-walk. Michael has a lot more to teach the world than just how to grab his crotch while performing or hanging his baby over hotel balcony. I have learned a great deal from listening to his artistry and musical career in general. His commitment to greatness at his trade, his willingness to persist despite adversity and the genius level at which he performed are things that would surely etched in our memories long after he has his untimely demise.

I have been introduced to him through Ben. Ben, just so you know was Michael's first solo hit, and was the theme of the 1972 film of the same title that tells a story of a young boy who befriends a pet rat named Ben that later on turns evil and recruits other rats to attack humans. But for me the song dictates a different meaning aside from friendship between two unlikely pair. My inner thoughts believes that Ben represented two things, the yearnings to understand why little people without a voice are always shut out, and another, a cry for help from someone who thinks that no one could ever love him, which could very well be another symbolical figure of himself. Early on, we could see how he's been championing the cause of the voiceless, the sidelined and the unlovable.

After his poignant tale of Ben, Michael reminded us about that one day in our lives, that moments when we were experiencing our first love, and losing it and how sweet it is to know that somoene is still there to wait. His early musical brilliance had assured him of tremendous fame, at the expense of a normal life. People placed him along line the statue of gods forgetting that he was just as human as all of us. For all his strange behaviors and ambiguities that have accorded his critics and followers the difficulty understanding his personality, he had to tell them that it's just human nature. That to sneak around to do normal activities like going to the store without being bothered or hitting the streets of New York and sleeping around with women or not being afraid of things that you don’t understand is only human nature. And I couldn’t agree more.

And just as we humans are all vulnerable to committing mistakes, in our hands also lies the power to rectify and undo whatever prejudices and destructions we may have done to things around us, be it living and non living. That’s the exactly the message that he had wanted to impart when he encouraged everyone to look at the man in the mirror. Indeed, it mirrored a socially relevant battlecry that if you want to make a change, it has to start from oneself. And he didn’t stop there. The progressing inhumanity of men to his fellowmen had made him lead a call to heal the world, that if we love the future of our children, it is the same love that should make this world a better place to live in.

If we don’t succeed, life could still be beautiful. In times of sorrows and pains, Michael had lifted our spirits. Whatever the object, whatever the magnitude, whatever the distance of the burden that we may be carrying, he sung to us that someone would always be there to comfort and say that "you are not alone'. More than ballad of promise of a guy to girl to never leave her side, I liked it more for its spiritual conveyance of God's eternal love for all of us. Now he's out of our lives, truly I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. H'es gone too soon.
-0 Michael Jackson, 1958 - 2009 0-


He'd be missed, everything about him, his musical talent, his eccentricities, his legacy. Say what you will about this man, ridicule him, judge him, but you gotta' admire him for his commitment, persistence and willingness to put himself "way out there." What you cannot deny is this is a man that came from nothing and became known to the entire world. His commitment to his dreams, the pursuit at becoming great at his trade and his willingness to go all the way should both be admired and modeled by anyone that wants to make their dreams come true and to make a difference in this world in our own natural ways.

So what had he made of me, nope, he never made me moon-walk or screamed with thriller. He just made me realized that no matter who you are, you can still be loved, that we are all humans vulnerable to committing mistakes and as such, everyone deserves a second chance and that you can have the power to save the world from its complete imbalance by starting within yourself whatever changes you would want to happen. Inspirations come from all forms. For this matter, and from Michael, it's through his music and his equally brilliat and tragic life. RIP.


We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.