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Effective April 1, temporary foreign workers in Canada, including live-in caregivers, may only work for a maximum of four years.
NANNIES’ NEW CONUNDRUM The Canadian government seems bent on simply exploiting temporary foreign workers every four years based on supply and demand instead of opening up opportunities for skilled workers to migrate permanently to Canada which the country really needs to replenish its greying population. BY JOE RIVERA
HEY THOUGHT the program offers them a pathway to permanent residence after completing their work contract. But the new rules for temporary foreign workers which took effect last April 1, 2011 say otherwise. It’s not with certainty. The devil is in the details, as the idiom goes.
Effective April 1, Canada will now subject temporary foreign workers to a fouryear cumulative duration limit. This means that temporary foreign workers in Canada, including live-in caregivers, may only work for a maximum of four years. After reaching this limit, temporary foreign workers must go back to their home countries, wait for another four years to lapse before reentering Canada again as temporary workers. This must be a big blow to Filipino livein caregivers and their advocates who have embraced Canada’s Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney as their hero. Mr. Kenney, who has been riding high on his status as a folk hero to many Filipino women workers in Canada, is guilty of Orwellian doublespeak. He has promised before that nannies will not be covered by the new regulations, but the details clearly say that that would be subject to certain preconditions. Just like the time when Mr. Kenney said there would be no more need for caregivers to undergo
There are many cases where the PR applications of live-in caregivers have been unnecessarily delayed. Many of these caregivers have already received removal orders.
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a second medical examination when applying for permanent residence, yet the rules still state that medical officers overseas retain the right to examine for excessive demand. This includes, for example, those who may have illnesses or other inadmissibility issues which may impact on the ability of the government to provide health and social services. Of course, there are exceptions to the new rules but not enough to guarantee that live-caregivers will not be subjected to the Conservative government’s policy of treating immigrants as mere economic units that they can dispose at will. This government seems bent on simply exploiting temporary foreign workers every four years based on supply and demand instead of opening up opportunities for skilled workers to migrate permanently to Canada, which the country really needs to replenish its greying population. In the words of Minister Kenney: “We saw a need for clear regulations to better protect workers from poor treatment and to ensure that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program continued to address short-term labour and skills shortages.” Seasonal agricultural workers who come to Canada to work during harvest time are exempt from the four-year limit. Live-
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This year, there are over 150,000 people waiting for 11,200 visas. That would take about 14 years to process.
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in caregivers who have applied for permanent residence after completing their contract are not covered by the rules if they have received an approval in principle letter. And so with other temporary foreign workers such as those in managerial or professional occupations, those employed under an international agreement, and those exempt from the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) process. How will the new rules negatively affect Filipino caregivers in Canada? Under the new rules, visa officers will issue initial work permits to live-in caregivers that will be valid for four years plus three months. A live-in caregiver must complete the employment requirement in her contract within four years in Canada, while the additional three months allow for a transition period to apply for permanent residence. Most live-in caregivers can easily complete their contract of employment in less than three years, allowing them enough time to apply for permanent residence and continue working as caregivers while waiting for the approval of their applications for permanent residence (PR). But herein lies the problem: when is that approval-in-principle letter going to be in the mail? Not all caregivers are in simi-
lar situations and would expect smooth processing of their PR applications. Some would have problems with family members such as their spouses or children who are supposed to be examined before a live-in caregiver’s PR application is approved. A live-in caregiver’s spouse in the Philippines, for example, could be stubbornly uncooperative and would not bring him and the children to a medical examination. Or he would not simply fill out the required documentation. Or, the marriage between the nanny and her husband has broken down due to the strains of a difficult and long separation or perhaps, either one of them is now in a relationship with another person. The wife then decides to apply for divorce which she needs to show to Canada Immigration as proof of the marriage breakdown. This again will delay the processing of the PR application. Let’s also mention that if there are minor children involved, the longer the process will take especially if the husband refuses to allow the children to travel to Canada in order to join their mother. As in some cases, one of the children would have medical inadmissibility issues such as a child having Down syndrome or has a heart problem which the visa officer deems as imposing a
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Most live-in caregivers can easily complete their contract of employment in less than three years. heavy burden on Canada’s health and social services. So, the PR application will be denied. Under the rules, all family members of the live-in caregiver, whether accompanying the principal applicant or not, are required to be examined. Live-in caregivers cannot become permanent residents if any of their eligible family members are inadmissible. I have encountered a number
of cases where the PR applications of live-in caregivers have been unnecessarily delayed. Some of them have been here in Canada as temporary workers for over five years because their PR applications were either delayed due to bureaucratic red tape or disallowed because of medical inadmissibility issues. The new rules will not protect them as Mr. Kenney has promised. Many of these caregivers have already received removal orders. It is not important for immigration officers to know whether live-in caregivers will seek permanent residence after completing their work contract. The question is whether an immigration officer is satisfied that the person would not stay in Canada illegally. This is what their Operations Manual directs them to find out. Advocates of Filipino caregivers in Canada should wake up and face this grim reality, and stop cuddling Mr. Kenney and the Conservative Party. The present Conservative government under Stephen Harper has not done much for the benefit of immigrants. Mr. Harper tried to overhaul Canada’s system of accepting refugees and skilled workers. He cut the right of landing fee to half of the old fee of $975, and many ethnic minorities shifted their support to the
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Conservative Party. The Conservative government has imposed stricter conditions for refugees to enter Canada and cut funding for group sponsorships for refugees from countries ravaged by civil strife. Temporary foreign workers will now have a four-year limit on the length of time they may work in Canada. This year, there are over 150,000 people waiting for 11,200 visas. That would take about 14 years to process. Sponsorship of parents would be next if the Conservative Party wins a majority of Parliament’s seats the May 2nd federal election. They have already made known that they prefer to bring in younger family members who can work and therefore pay taxes, rather than older parents who would only sap the country’s pension or social assistance programs. Canadians, especially the blocks of new Canadian voters who may likely make or break a government, need to hear solutions to our immigration dilemma. We’re tired of hearing the same pledges every time there is an election from both the Liberals and Conservatives. There are gaping holes in their credibility fences. We will need a giant grain of salt if we would only listen to their promises. (From the author’s blog, An Uncomplicated Mind) n
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MAKE WAY FOR THE E-JEEPNEY
BY PEPPER MARCELO
ITH RISING oil prices and worsening air pollution, Filipinos are looking into clean and green technology as the only viable option for the country’s transport industry. This is gladly manifested in the people’s growing fascination with and acceptance of the electric jeepney, or e-jeepney, that environmentallyfriendly version of the iconic, World War II-era public vehicle.
Powered by lead acid batteries, e-jeepneys can run for about 65 kilometers at a maximum speed of 3540 kph after each full charge. Aside from being emission-free, they offer a far more comfortable ride because they have less noise and vibration than the traditional jeepneys. Already, more than 30 e-jeepneys are operating in Makati City and Puerto Princesa City in Palawan. Spearheading the move to propagate the e-jeepney is the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC), a nongovernment, non-profit organization working on sustainable energy solutions and fair climate policy. iCSC is the proponent of the pioneering ClimateFriendly Cities (CFC) initiative, which integrates waste management, energy generation and sustainable transport programs for sustainable, climate-resilient city and commu-
Imagine the jeepney as a purely electric machine that belches nothing, makes no noise, has a high headroom, comfortable seating and large windows, gushes a proponent.
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nity development. The e-jeepney is a central part of the CFC initiative. After the ejeepney’s debut in the Makati financial district in 2007, iCSC has widened the deployment of electric public utility vehicle transport alternatives in the country through the development of eTrike, eQuad and eCoach applications as well as different e-jeepney models. “We chose the electric jeepney not because we’re fixated with jeepneys, but because we wanted to start with something that makes us go the distance. That means choosing a vehicle that has iconic status in the minds of public, realizing that there could be other applications in tricycles and buses,” says Red Constantino, iCSC Executive Director Red Constantino. He adds: “Compared to private vehicles, mass transport by itself - whether it be rail or individual vehicles like the jeepney - already reduces pollution. But of course, they even out because most of the jeepneys in Manila are terribly inefficient, which also means they produce a lot of pollution.” iCSC’s studies have shown that every liter of diesel avoided results in a reduction of 3,140 grams of CO2 (carbon dioxide)
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Red Constantino, iCSC Executive Director
Vice President Jejomar Binay arrives in style at his inaugural at the Quirino Grandstand aboard an e-jeepney. and 16 grams of NOx (nitrous oxide) that are released to the atmosphere. At excessive levels, these harmful emissions could result in climate change that has recently been blamed for the typhoons and floods that wreak untold havoc and destruction all over the world. iCSC believes that sustainable transport should not be driven by technology, but by city planning and systems. In other words, their initiative is more than about the inventions themselves, but rather their application. E-jeepneys comprise one-third of a far bigger project in iCSC’s Climate Friendly Cities Program; the other two being a “biodigester” that is fed with biodegradable solid waste and decomposes it into gas, as well as a depot and terminal that transforms the gas into electricity which then powers the public vehicles. Already, more than 30 ejeepneys are operating in Makati City and Puerto Princesa City in Palawan. Launched in July 2007, the Makati Green Route (MGR) project is expected to help reduce noise and air pollution in the country’s central financial district. The e-jeepney is powered by lead acid batteries which takes approximately eight hours to charge. It can run for about 65 kilometers at a maximum speed of 35-40 kph after every full charge. Though it might seem slow, Constantino argues that speed is relative, especially commuting within a typically congested area. “Say you live in Metro Manila and drive a Porsche or the latest Audi. I drive an e-jeepney, with a maximum speed of 40 kph. Let’s go out at the same time, 8 a.m. to go to Makati. I might even get there before you if I drive well,” he points out. E-jeepneys can comfortably seat 14 passengers and have a
dwell time of only 10 seconds per stop, so as not to contribute to traffic. Aside from being emission-free, the e-jeepney offers a far more comfortable ride because it has less noise and vibration than the traditional jeepney. “It’s very easy to ride. Because it’s lighter, the jeepney drivers who are so used to the heavy diesel engines will feel a little weird at first, but it only takes a short while to get used to it,” said Panch Puckett, president of Solar Electric Co., manufacturer of the lead acid batteries that power ejeepneys, at the launch of Makati’s MGR project. “You do not hear the engine running. It’s very silent and there’s even a radio for you to check if it’s on,” noted Joey Salgado, Makati city’s information and community relations department chief, on the same occasion. As with any new and game-changing concepts and projects, e-jeepneys face a number of obstacles. For one, there is the matter of numerous administrative and bureaucratic regulations in registering them. “It took us two years just to get registration plates because the papers required [the vehicle] to have a tailpipe and an
The Makati Green Route (MGR) project is expected to help reduce noise and air pollution in the country’s central financial district.
The iCSC worked patiently with government to come up with regulations catering to the new model. engine number, which electric vehicles don’t have,” Constantino says. Ultimately, the iCSC worked patiently with government to come up with regulations catering to the new model. “We started with classification categorizing them as lowspeed vehicles. That’s just the start, because there are a whole lot of regulations that need to be revised over time,” he adds. E-jeepneys also carry an enormous tag price that many divers and operators may scoff at: rang-
ing from Php350,000 to 400,000. But Constantino argues that over time the savings of switching to electric will eventually add up. “A typical driver would be paying Php450 in gas for every 100 kilometers. For electric jeepneys, you only pay Php150. That’s the savings you get.” He adds: “People have grown used to a certain way of doing things. Economics are skewed towards things that harm us. For instance, when you drive a vehicle, the big costs are off the books - health costs, the pollution, the noise, fuel price fluctuations. Maintenance is staggering. People are so used to things that are artificially cheap, because the companies that involved in these efforts have passed on the costs to the consumer.” Constantino emphasizes that the e-jeepney should not solely be looked at as an environmental option, but a financial opportunity that could provide great dividends to businesses and the government willing to invest in a sustainable public transport. “We’re trying to focus on telling people we have economic alternatives. Green alternatives, that’s an add-on. Even though we’re an institute for climate change, we would like these transport options to be seen as making commercial sense. If it helps the environment, that’s a bonus, he says” He adds that utilizing the new technology can potentially benefit many sectors of society. “It can boost income in the locality, whether it be tourism, or a better workplace for professionals and working class Filipinos.” Now more than ever, eco-friendly vehicles such as the e-jeepney are the “steady green hand” that can confront the escalating problems of a “jittery oil market,” Constantino concludes. “We face a future that is more constrained. With the kind of resiliency a locality needs in the face of uncertainty like energy security, we feel that the time of electricpowered vehicles has come.” n
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Natori’s Fall 2011 collection in New York.
JOSIE NATORI SHE EMBROIDERED PHILIPPINES ON THE FASHION MAP Although she has lived abroad for most of her life, Natori says, “the heart and soul of a Filipino never left. I think that my biggest assets have been, first, being a woman, and second, being a Filipino. Filipino women are very strong and very independent.”
BY IVY ONG
ROM MANILA to New York, from finance to fashion, and from art to real life, Philippineborn Josie Natori crossed the frontier. When she founded The Natori Company, she empowered women to dress beautifully right down to the bare essentials, and established lingerie as a category in luxury wear. Thanks to her, “Made in the Philippines” has become a mark of global pride and distinction.
It was 1977. Josie Cruz Natori was the first female vice president of investment banking at Merrill Lynch. She was earning six figures on Wall Street. Then, she dropped everything to sell nightshirts. She was an expert in finance at the time, but in the fashion industry, not so much. But a box of peasant blouses – hand-embroidered from the Philippines, along with a lingerie buyer at Bloomingdale’s and a Japanese-American
“I’d really like to see more things out there made in the Philippines. I think it will happen.” husband with a striking surname plus a series of fortuitous events led Natori to launch a fashion house with her own label of luxury lingerie: The Natori Company. By chance or by fate, Natori showed the peasant blouses to a Bloomingdale’s lingerie buyer who suggested she lengthen them so they could be worn as nightshirts. Those nightshirts, plus a collection of handcrafted lingerie which would become The Natori Company’s signature style, made it to New York’s elite department
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stores. Though Natori was new to the industry, the artistry of her designs and her responsiveness to women’s need for stylish, tasteful innerwear and sleepwear placed her lingerie among clothing lines in high fashion. “In the beginning, I didn’t know what I was doing,” she says. “I just started in lingerie and it was all based on embroidery from the Philippines.” Thirty-three years later, The Natori Company retails not only in New York and the Philippines, but all throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas. It has grown from an exclusively lingerie line to include collections in ready-towear and home décor as well as eyewear and fragrance. “The kind of upbringing I had and the kind of culture here (in the Philippines) have been instrumental in bringing me where I am today,” Natori says. The Cruzes are a big and tightly knit family. Natori is the eldest of six siblings who were raised with the help of their grandmother. “My grandmother was very strong – a matriarch,” recalls Natori. “She ran many businesses and never left the house without a flower in her hair, perfume, a handkerchief and dressed to the nines.” A 17-year-old Josie left her home in Manila to study college in New York and pursue a career in banking straight afterward. Because New York is also the home of the man she married, it is where they settled to raise their only son. After the birth of The Natori Company, 34th and Madison streets became the fashion house’s headquarters. With another office in Paris to manage nowadays, Natori gets to come home to the Philippines only three times a year and only for a few days at a time. She has lived away from the country for most of her life. “But the heart and soul of a Filipino never left,” Natori declares. “I think that my biggest assets have been, first, being a woman, and second, being a Filipino. Filipino women are very strong and very independent,” she asserts. Natori actually only just regained her Filipino citizenship a few months ago. She lost it when she married Ken, an American, and in effect acquired his citizenship. With the passage of the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003, Natori and many like her were able to reclaim their Filipino citizenship. Despite spending so little time in her own country, Natori shares so much of it in her life and work. The Natori Company maintains 50 percent of its production in the Philippines with a staff of 500 employees. A few of these people have been with Natori from the day her very first collection was
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Josie takes a bow at the end of The Art of Natori Gala Dinner and Benefit Show, a fundraiser of Asia Society Philippines at Makati Shangri-la in February 2008.
The Natori Company has opened up women’s fashion options with its distinctive Eastmeets-West flair.
Natori’s collection titled The Way of the Warrior in New York. conceived. “The most expensive things we have are made here,” she says. “It’s not just the quality. It’s the detail. I think we have a way of handling the finer things.” As she sits by the small gallery of the Cultural Center of the Philippines resting after her photo shoot, she looks striking in a piece from her Spring 2011 ready-to-wear collection: an Inka gold dress in Italian fabric with an obi belt, made in The Natori Company’s Philippine production facilities. “I’d really like to see more things out there made in the Philippines,” Natori says. “I think it will happen.” Indeed, The Natori Company has opened up women’s fashion options with its distinctive Eastmeets-West flair. Oprah wore an
embellished yellow Natori tunic on the front cover of the July 2010 issue of O Magazine. Glee’s Lea Michele wore Josie lace briefs on her cover story shoot for Glamour October 2010. Marie Claire, In Style, Vogue, Elle Décor, and Town & Country frequently feature fashion, as well as home décor and accessories, from The Natori Company’s collections. The Natori Company has added several lines of clothing to its brand over these three decades, while its lingerie line has developed into the Josie Natori, Natori, Josie and N Natori collections. It grows ever more as a brand and as a concept in fashion. As it does, Natori’s view of what makes a garment worthy of a woman to wear – the one she had when it all began – remains.
“Natori is about details, artisanship and craftsmanship,” she says. “There’s a running thread through it of femininity and luxury. It’s in the details – an indulgent feeling. I don’t want to just do anything in Natori. It’s really a gift. Special. Whatever we do is special. I remember embroidered tablecloths at home. Everything was bright in the house. My mother’s an art collector. Now, I have quite a huge collection of antique textiles from the 16th and 17th century.” Aside from collecting art, Natori also plays the piano like her mother, famed Filipino concert pianist Angelita Almeda. Natori, who performed solo with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra when she was only nine years old, still makes time to take piano lessons to this day. Obviously, her mother’s musical influence is strong as Natori also learned to play the xylophone, organ and marimba when she was a child.
“I’m an artist at heart,” she says. “I love art. I love antiques. And I want to bring them into everyday life, whether it’s just a robe or details on the accessories. All her loves, passions and interests, from her country to the arts, inspire Natori’s sense of fashion. She built The Natori Company upon everything that means most to her. “The East-West aesthetic is there for sure, from day one,” she says. “Just because I can’t help it. I look for it from my background. I am driven to create things that enhance a woman’s life and make her feel good about herself.” Her success is almost like a fairytale, finding herself with an embroidered blouse at the perfect place and at the perfect time that has since become fashion history. But through it all, hard work has made The Natori Company what it is today. “Fashion is a very difficult business,” Natori says. “But at the same time, I had a long-term vision. It wasn’t about making money in the first year or with the first line. It was really having a vision of building a brand that will live beyond me.” The Natori Company was responsible for revitalizing women’s lingerie as luxury wear. Women’s inner clothing became a fashion statement, something to be proud of as part of an outfit. Thanks to Natori, the Philippines has become a distinct presence on the global map of high fashion. (People Asia) n
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SENATOR JOKER? PINOY NAMES TICKLE FOREIGNERS
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No one questions the integrity of Joker Arroyo, “one of the country’s most respected senators.”
After living in the Philippines for a while, a British journalist is no longer surprised. “When I’m introduced to a Dinky or a Dunce, or read about people called Bing and Bong, it seems almost normal. In fact, if anything, I rather like the fact that Filipinos are self-assured enough to use these names, no matter how odd they sound or how senior the person’s public role.”
BY CARMELA G. LAPEÑA
LAYFUL Filipino names need getting used to, especially if you’re a foreigner with a more predictable Western nickname like Kate. In a recent article published on the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) website, amused British journalist Kate McGeown writes about a favorite topic of first-time visitors to the Philippines -- unusual, invented, or just plain funny Pinoy names, the kind she has been coming across since her first day in Manila when she was served by a waitress named Bumbum. “I did a double-take, then smiled back, deciding it was probably a joke. But if so, it is a joke that practically the whole country seems to be in on,” writes McGeown. Like fellow Briton Matthew Sutherland, whose tongue-in-cheek article A Rhose by Any Other Name listed common categories of Filipino names, McGeown observes that these bizarre names can only be found here, and are “as quintessentially Filipino as the country’s Catholic faith, friendly smiles, former US military jeeps knows as jeepneys, beautiful beaches and love of karaoke.” “Even the president is not spared,” writes McGeown. President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is casually referred to by his
nickname Noynoy. Since his election, the nickname has evolved to PNoy, short for President Noynoy. Even the country’s top officials have Pinoy nicknames. McGeown notes that no one seems to see the need to ask why two of his sisters are called Pinky and Ballsy, or question the integrity of Joker Arroyo, “one of the country’s most respected senators.” Indeed, no one seems to think twice about such nicknames. After all, we have grandmothers we call Baby and grandfathers we call Boy, as if their parents thought they’d be infants all their lives. We have families named after flowers, or according to a single letter. When we repeat
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Is that really your name, or is this a joke?
We have families named after flowers, or according to a single letter. When we repeat syllables, we find it more endearing than annoying. syllables, we find it more endearing than annoying. Kids are named after food their mother craved for, or their favorite food. So if you know someone named Hershey, you can count on having a Nestle in the family. For families with several people inheriting the same name, perhaps nicknames are necessary to be able to differentiate. After all, simply adding a number to the name would be so impersonal. Some parents, it seems, can’t be bothered to think up names for their children, and simply name them according to their birth order. Una is followed by Segunda, and so on. Kids are often given religious names, like Maria. But why settle for one when you can have three, as in Jejomar - Jesus, Joseph and Mary - as our vice president Jejomar Binay is called? Other parents see their kids as combinations of themselves, so they name them by combining their own names. For instance, Elovel sounds exotic and foreign, but it’s really because her parents are named Edwin and Lani, and well, E loves L. For some Pinoys, it’s only logical. We once entrusted our religious guidance to someone called Cardinal Sin, and we’ve had classmates like Edgar Allan Pe and Chica Go. None of this is surprising to us. McGeown attempts a sociological take and writes that perhaps the strange names came about because the Philippines is a melting pot of different cultures. Spain gave us Catholicism, America taught us to shorten everything. “The president himself is a good example, whose full Christian name is Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino, names which are Spanish, Hebrew and Chinese respectively. His nickname Noynoy is the only part that is truly Filipino,” says McGeown. Could it be that the Pinoy penchant for
strange names is good old Filipino creativity at work? In the same way that we took former US military jeeps and came up with a wildly colorful mode of transportation, we came up with names you won’t find anywhere else. Some names just evolved. Bok almost never answers to her real name, which is Tanya. “Nung nagkamalay-tao na ako, Bok na ang tawag sa akin eh,” she says. “Bokyo yung buo. May phase din na Atoy tawag sa akin, o Bill,” she says. Her mother still calls her Tanya, but ever since fifth grade when a classmate overheard her being called Bokyo, her friends called her Bok as well. Ping, whose real name is Rafael Miguel, got his nickname from some high school friends who initially called him Paeng, the standard local nickname for Rafael. “Eventually, Paeng turned into Ping and I kept it. Obviously way cooler than Raffy,” says Ping, formerly Paeng and definitely not Raffy. “I’m so not a Raffy.” At Starbucks, Ping is often asked, “That’s Pink, sir? Pink po ang name nyo?” “I’m 6’ tall and 190 pounds.
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Yes, of course my name is Pink,” he jests, but still he keeps his nickname. “Because I knew I wouldn’t be able to go through college with Raffy as my nickname. Who would?” Most interesting names have stories. Bamba, whose real name is Jezreel, got her nickname from the popular song La Bamba, to which she would sing and dance when she was eight months old, even when she wasn’t feeling well. “Tinakbo na ‘ko sa clinic, tapos biglang pinatugtog yung La Bamba sa radyo ng sasakyan kumakanta at sumayaw pa rin daw ako kahit tumitirik na ang mata ko,” she said. Now 25, Bamba still prefers her nickname. “Mas cool. Hindi mo alam kung surname o nickname eh,” she says. Also, it gets her instant entertainment. Whenever people mistakenly call her Bambam, she says as in La Bamba, and they automatically start singing and dancing. Sutherland devotes a paragraph to “the fabulous concept of the randomly-inserted letter ‘h’” - which he thinks is designed to give a touch of class to an otherwise only typically weird name. As it turns out, the ‘h’ may just be there for luck, although it is unclear where this belief comes from. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but a rhose is even better. Dharlene’s name evolved from Darling, which was her father’s term of endearment for her mother. “Nilagyan ng h kasi maswerte daw pag may h,” she explains. Dharlene was eventually shortened to Dhang, which she didn’t bother to change. “Kumalat na siya so nakilala na ako ng buong madla na Dhang. I got used to it, so keri na,” says Dharlene-turned-Dhang. After living in the Philippines for a while, McGeown is no longer surprised. “When I’m introduced to a Dinky or a Dunce, or read about people called Bing and Bong, it seems almost normal. In fact, if anything, I rather like the fact that Filipinos are self-assured enough to use these names, no matter how odd they sound or how senior the person’s public role.” But don’t count on her changing her name to Kat Kat (Kat2) anytime soon. “While I think it is great that Bumbum can wear her name badge with pride, I’m not quite ready to adopt a Philippine nickname myself just yet,” says McGeown. (GMA News) n
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STRANGERS IN OUR OWN COUNTRY
I am an OFW but I am not a hero. I did not come here (Saudi Arabia) out of my sense of patriotism but as a husband and a father who wanted to see a new dawn for my family, no matter if that dawn unfolds in some other country. BY CASIANO MAYOR JR.
EDDAH, SAUDI Arabia—Two items which appeared in Saudi newspapers prompted me to ponder about our wanderings as migrant workers. One was a photograph showing Filipino women in an employment agency seeking job placement overseas. The other was a news report about how Filipino families back home are slashing their spending on food, to stretch the family budget for other basic necessities like fuel, electricity and water.
More than 2,000 Filipinos leave the country every day for greener pastures in some foreign lands. lunch with high hopes that life The two items underscored thy with the job seekers. how difficult life has become in We have had our own share of would turn for the better when our country. The queue of over- experiences similar to theirs be- we find our dream jobs overseas. My own family did feel the seas job seekers had given flesh fore we came to our new job sites pinch of hard times before I came to the government statistics that in the Kingdom. Many of us had queued out- to Jeddah in 1999. Although we more than 2,000 Filipinos leave the country every day for greener side job placement agencies in had made it a point not to miss pastures in some foreign lands. Manila or other key cities in the paying our electricity bill because Those who saw the photograph archipelago, braving the scorch- we knew that Meralco would have could have felt a sense of empa- ing sun and eating banana cue for cut our power line with neither