In need of Catalysts for Social Change

Cosme stared at his bank book and grunted at his dwindling balance. He only has less than fifty pesos left. He still has to go to school and register for the incoming school year. “Inay, I hope you sent the money on time”, he told himself as he stood in a long queue towards an automated teller machine. His mother always remembered and never failed to send him what he needed. He inserted the Debit Card. After entering his PIN, he sighed in relief. “Actual Balance, P45,000 pesos”, he read.
One more semester and his ordeal will be over. He will have to study hard, go against the grain, and look past the excrements of sick and poor people. Nursing was not his choice. Working like a maitre-d in a hospital is not his idea of an American dream, but options in a land where equal opportunity does not exist does not even open doors for dreaming. The only option left is through self-sacrifice, deferring one’s personal preference and going for what is practical. Cosme has a heart for the written word. He pines to be a writer. Yet he needs to survive. Sometime next year, life will be different, he dreamt. He will be a registered, away from the poverty where he works. America is waiting.
Pilar used to be a Humanities College Professor in a provincial capital back home. When Cosme was a child, she used to teach him the beauty of poetry, the art of history, and the loveliness of knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Her husband was a lawyer, a defender of the poor and an advocate of human rights. He then became one of the many tragic victims of political chicanery and endemic government corruption. He was murdered when Cosme was only a toddler.
Their hometown was no longer safe. Threatened by political adversaries, Pilar, now a widow, had to leave for the sake of Cosme’s future. From a college professor she became a minimum wage laborer, working odd jobs and assiduously studying until she finally became a nurse herself. Cosme is about to follow in her footsteps. Neither the mother nor the son dreamt of taking care of America’s sick. It is ironic that America’s physical ailments, her aging citizens, and her idiopathic maladies indirectlly alleviate poverty in countries where suffering comes in another form.
We have heard of these stories, seen them converted into scripts and soap operas. They have filled gossip in hair salons and other social journals. Meet Pilar and Cosme – they are contemporary players of the Philippine economy. They depict our people’s unending attempt to rise up from the sickening rut of poverty. They embody the values of self-sacrifice and diligence. They are indeed, as stereotyped by many scribes, the modern day Filipino heroes and would be heroes. Their tales abound, many of whose survival is the sole panacea that redeems them from the frustrating and chronic ailment in our Motherland.
Christmas is around the corner, a season of increased remittances. Some time back, it was projected to exceed eleven billion dollars. With approximately eight million Filipinos overseas means an average per capita cash flow of about $1,375.00. In local currency, that would be around P64,625.00 pesos, supposedly enough to provide sustenance for a family of three within any given year. With that amount, hunger could have been reduced, extreme poverty could have been mitigated and further migration would probably be no longer necessary.
Sad to say, such is not the case. Poverty has not left the Philippines. Despite her wealth of natural and human resources, hunger is still a prevalent pang. Health care is non-existent. Mass Housing is limited to card boards, rotten lumber, and borrowed land. Education is still a utilitarian effort to amass financial gains, deprived of its true end to form proper minds in healthy bodies. Meanwhile, the limited few, the dominant minority of oligarchs and autocrats have grown in power and in wealth. Many of them used to be immigrants themselves; merchants, soldiers or sailors from larger continents equipped with a higher instinct for survival. The wealthiest individuals in Corporate Philippines are still direct descendants of Chinese entrepreneurs or Spanish historical leftovers. All of them are.
The systematic recognition of the Filipino labor as a prime export commodity was first established through the “Philippine Overseas Employment Program” more than thirty years ago, around two years after the declaration of Martial Law. From this scheme, Philippine Government Agencies such as the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Commission of Filipino Overseas (CFO) have all thrived and prospered despite allegations of deficient services. Although Filipino overseas workers provide an estimated 25% of Philippine GDC, it is a known fact that Filipino overseas workers normally beg for services when needed, receiving assistance through other non-governmental and non for profit institutions instead of getting help from a Philippine Consulate Office.
Elena, back in Manila, is another story. She goes to PNB at least once a month to see to it that her family in Tondo receives their $500.00 monthly stipend from a younger sister who promised to do so. Elena’s house is embedded with American technology. Her kids wear contemporary fashion with trendy labels. They go to a private school owned by a Religious Order. And if there is anything left towards the end of the month, something is kept in a local Philippine Bank whose funds are primarily invested in huge malls such as the SM Mega Mall and Robinson to name a few.
Philippine Presidents have encouraged the need to continue exporting Philippine labor regardless of the social ills suffered by many Filipino families left behind. They are aware that the overseas workers are a vital support to a fragile Philippine economy. They know that the inflow of foreign currency is necessary to maintain fiscal stability. And I think we all agree that if it were not for the Filipino overseas workers, and the Filipino immigrants who work side by side with these workers, our Motherland could have crumbled into a thousand pieces. Yet remittances religiously sent home have not helped improve the overall quality of life among the masses. Beggars have increased in numbers and decreased in age. And highly skilled workers, fortunate individuals with expensive College Degrees are continuously abandoning ship, leaving en masse for greener pastures.
Despite the billions of dollars given back to our motherland, have our overseas workers been effective catalysts for social change? Hurricane Yolanda proved that Filipinos all over the world will help when needed. Yet it is frustrating to see that despite a huge disaster, the government of our nation mirrors a certain slowness and a shadow of insensitivity towards the unfortunate ones. You have seen Anderson Cooper provide his observation and Korina Sanchez throw off-beat remarks. You probably even have seen the Philippine Military Officer who would not dare to wet his feet on shores, asking another soldier to carry him instead. And yes, why would Binay’s face be at the back of a military truck when he does not own the military? For social change to take place, we need a catalyst. Can you and I be one?