In this modern age, we exist and survive in a global playing field. Friendly technologies have made possible the ease and convenience of communication and outreach in the world. The amusing disclosure of remote information has been contributory to better understanding among people. The irony however is that very few have really met and known their neighbors—apart from household maids, hotel service-workers, nannies, most likely college-educated Filipinas. This ubiquitous incidence of Filipina domestics and Overseas Filipino workers (OFW), numbering around ten million, has developed into a mind-numbing and sleep-inducing issue for cynics and skeptics. Scholars have labeled them as modern skilled servants of the global community. The arrival of at least five OFW cadavers/coffins everyday at the Manila International Airport will surely get you yawning with: “What do you expect?” and “Why do these have to happen?”
The global financial crisis that has beset capitalism has made the lives of migrant Filipinas superfluous or disposable. This
commenced in the ‘70s when the Marcos dictatorship, sustained primarily by US and IMF-World Bank, institutionalized the export of “warm bodies” to the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. In the neoliberal global market, the nationality label “Filipino” immediately developed into the connotation of “servant” or “maid” in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and elsewhere. After September 11, the terrorist Abu Sayaf in Mindanao may have eclipsed the OFWs. But with the continual brutalization of Filipinas in Okinawa, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the unsuccessful “Nicole” scandal with many more in jail or awaiting execution, their predicament will persist to haunt the conscience of Church and civic leaders. It may even perturb the siesta of State functionaries and political leaders whose salaries and kickbacks depend on OFW remittances.
The worse is that nowadays, the advocacy for a green world has not sanitized the green thought towards Filipinas a mail-order-brides who are looking for greener pastures.
The global financial crisis that has beset capitalism has made the lives of migrant Filipinas superfluous or disposable. This
commenced in the ‘70s when the Marcos dictatorship, sustained primarily by US and IMF-World Bank, institutionalized the export of “warm bodies” to the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. In the neoliberal global market, the nationality label “Filipino” immediately developed into the connotation of “servant” or “maid” in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and elsewhere. After September 11, the terrorist Abu Sayaf in Mindanao may have eclipsed the OFWs. But with the continual brutalization of Filipinas in Okinawa, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the unsuccessful “Nicole” scandal with many more in jail or awaiting execution, their predicament will persist to haunt the conscience of Church and civic leaders. It may even perturb the siesta of State functionaries and political leaders whose salaries and kickbacks depend on OFW remittances.The worse is that nowadays, the advocacy for a green world has not sanitized the green thought towards Filipinas a mail-order-brides who are looking for greener pastures.
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