OFWs: Would rather be a TNT than go back home

Last night, I watched an episode of The Correspondents on Filipinos working in Macau. Macau is the Las Vegas of Asia. In this little city, you will find the best casino places in Asia. And in Macau, you can find thousands of Filipinos, legally and illegally, working hard to be able to send money to their families back in the Philippines.

Do you know their sorry state in that place? 15 people living in a house that is intended for 4-6 people. Employers promised a $1,500 salary but they only get $850 because of ‘absences’ that are actually rest days. A handful of them are staying there illegally, waiting for the big break - a job that will help them rise out of poverty.

What caught my attention in that episode is the complaints of fellow Filipinos that the Philippine representative in that place cannot even help them because the rep is claiming he doesn’t really know his role there. My goodness! Our government is really good for nothing! Even representatives sent abroad are incompetents!

A Filipina told Karen Davila (who did the special episode) that she’d rather stay in Macau illegally, working part-time, than go home and starve to death with her family. That’s how pitiful the country’s economy is! When citizens would rather stay in a foreign land and place their hopes there, than go home and trust the Philippine government will do something about their plight.

*For non-Filipinos, TNT means Tago-Nang-Tago, an illegal alien avoiding the immigration officials from deporting them.

Global Warming

Weird what is happening around the globe these days. It’s summer here in the Philippines but we get rain showers every now and then. In some parts of the country, there are even floods right at this very moment. In a province (Calamba, Laguna), there is an outbreak of the typhoid fever. Hundreds of children were taken to hospitals in the area because if this. Unrelated to weather but who knows.

In the news last night, Germany is experiencing heavy winds and a Lufthansa plane experienced difficulty landing because of it. Several other Asian countries are experiencing weird weather as I type this post.

I must admit that when I really think about it, it scares the living daylights out of me. Is this global warming?

Are you also experiencing weird weather in your country? Are you aware of global warming and the steps being taken to help save the earth?

The type of beggars that makes me angry!

If you are passing by an MMDA footbridge or an overpass or any other bridge here in Manila, you will surely notice a mother carrying an infant or a toddler, begging. Both are sporting a set of dirty clothes, most of the time the infant or toddler is naked. Both are dirty. They look like they haven’t taken a bath for quite some time already. In short, they really look like helpless people, it will break your heart seeing mother and child in such condition. They use this scenario to squeeze some change out of people passing by them.

I must admit that I am one of the many people who are being ‘duped’ by this set up. A mother and child begging for change so they could have something to eat… who will not feel like giving when you see this, right? I give money if I have some extra in my pocket or I give whatever food I have with me. But lately, I notice that some are taking advantage of other people’s kind hearts. A mother is using her kid to beg at the Sto. Domingo MMDA footbridge. You will see this mother always eating something while her kid is crying his heart out, probably out of hunger and cold. Whenever I see the child, it is always naked from waist down, and it is lying near the edge of a step. While the mother is busy eating or barking orders at some kids that I assume are her own as well. My dad reprimanded the mother several times already, asking her to go home and not exploit her child. Do you know that she would stand up, adamant, glaring at my dad, telling him to mind his own business? We reported her to the barangay officials already, telling them that maybe they can send the mother and child to the Social Welfare. I don’t know if they listened to us. But this afternoon, there is a new mom and child when we passed by the footbridge. This time, the mother looked like they just dirtied themselves so they would look like beggars. The mother looks fit to work. It just makes you angry at times to see this kind of mother. Exploiting a child, just to be able to have some quick and easy money.

There is another type of beggar that makes me angry… (more…)

Whatever happened this afternoon?

The Peninsula Manila turned into a war zone.

*Source

Accident?

Atty. Rene Sagisag and his wife were involved in a vehicular accident this morning. His wife died while Atty. Sagisag is critically wounded. I just learned of this news right now.

Am I the only one who thinks that this might not be an accident???