A Bigger Job

Before I went out of the office this afternoon, I bid goodbye to my American superior, he just arrived from a month long vacation. I have just been regularized; so he asked me how my job was. I said it was fine. I said that I was getting along very well with the job and been learning a lot as each day progresses. Sounds good? Hmm, but you know what? Lately I have been trying hard to hold my head together as I dealt with the overwhelming responsibilities as the company's new accountant. Not that I feel incapable of doing what’s assigned to me, it’s only that sometimes I would want to tell them that true I am just a paid employee but I also do get tired dutifully unlike a restless robot.

Never Say No

My sister texted me yesterday. How sweet noh?! But wait, she didn’t text to say hi or how I am, or to thank me for my last padala. Text from the Philippines is quite expensive so she cut it off, she needed three thousand pesos for a project she's doing in school. "Fine" I said, I'd send right away. So I did. After, I called her to give the reference number and she thanked me. I smiled and I said to myself, I don’t need to be thanked. As an OFW, I am believed to have lots of money, though the inside of my wallet, the place where I live, the roads that I walk, the food that I eat and the way I spend my weekend would say something else.

Never say no. that’s probably the motto OFWs like me have come to breathe and live in as far as family back home is concerned. Whatever they need, whenever they ask, however they want, we try hard to provide and fulfill every promises and every hope in as much as we can. When sometimes it requires going beyond our capacities, we still make up ways not to frustrate and upset our beloved. Though it means we need to swipe that card, borrow from friends, avail of company loans, sell personal properties or engage in extra sidelines, we are more willing to do that so we could be that ever dependable anak, kuya, tito, kaibigan at kapitbahay.

It hurts sometimes when we are too misconceived. They think that when someone left the country to work abroad, success is a guarantee. It may or may not be, but whatever happens, we cling on to our missions and sanguine that the next time will be better. Yeah, we are heroes, but not super ones. Hence, we have limitations and inabilities that oftentimes we conceal beneath our tears and under the pillows when we sleep at night.

I counted the change in my wallet when I arrived home, it's enough to last till the next payday, only I just have to take meals twice a day and spend nothing else for other things, not even for a piece of toblerone that I terribly love to grind. But I am not saying these to make someone feel guilty or to solicit any form of pity. I love to be of help to my family, and that’s basically the reason why I am here working far from them, away from friends and bare of a comfortable life that I want my loved ones to have.

Actually I can say no. But I have chosen never to say it. More than a motto, I have come to love and live with it, like a destiny, a bitter sweet destiny.

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.