HermieGarcia.net

April 2, 2009
(The Philippine Reporter, April 1-15, 2009, http://philippinereporter.com)

The recent Toronto Star series of articles about unscrupulous recruiting agencies preying on Filipino caregivers has triggered a public outcry that sent politicians and public officials singing a chorus on protecting these vulnerable foreign workers and vowing to go after these greedy recruiters.

A private member’s bill has been filed in the Ontario Parliament that intends to curb this practice by setting up a registry of agencies, banning the charging of fees on caregivers and penalizing those in violation of this bill.

Hearing the stories of the caregivers on how they were milked thousands of dollars for often non-existent jobs has provoked public anger. Those responsible deserve to be charged with fraud and brought to justice. Victimizing foreign workers who have already spent a fortune for government fees and who are willing to be separated from their families just so they could support their siblings, parents and spouses, is like sucking the blood of these poor people. There’s no doubt about it, these predators need to be exposed and made to answer for their crimes.

But I am a bit uncomfortable with how this is turning out to be. These unscrupulous recruiters need to be punished for sure but to me they are like vultures feeding on the miseries of the caregivers. They bring the caregivers here for a scandalous fee, which is absolutely wrong. But what we forget is the already unjust and outrageous terms and conditions under which caregivers and all foreign temporary workers find themselves in are what allow the unscrupulous recuiters to extract their huge fees.

These caregivers and other temporary workers come from poor and lower middle class families in poor countries like the Philippines. They couldn’t find decent jobs there because of both the unwillingness and inability of the government leadership to provide decent employment. As the country reels from crisis after crisis amid everyday reports of scandals and mind-boggling corruption in high places, people lose hope and in desperation go overseas where life looks better.

The government of the sending country is interested mainly or solely in the billions of dollars these overseas workers remit home, in the case of the Philipppines, about U.S.$18 billion a year. These desperate people are pushed to work overseas as cheap labor without the necessary protection. In Canada, for instance, caregivers under the Live-in Caregiver Program are like indentured slaves tied to their employers who know that they are desperate to escape from poverty in their home country and many wouldn’t mind being exploited working 12 hours or more without overtime pay doing chores not specified in their contracts. Besides, the carrot at the end of the 36 months, after they have worked live-in for 24 months - eligibility to apply for permanent residence status - is too attractive to resist.
That is not available in most other countries.

The stories of abusive working conditions, physical, verbal and sexual abuse, cheating on salaries and tax deductions are too common to be ignored. That’s why, it’s revolting when some consular staff used to say that these are nothing compared to what OFWs experience in the Middle East. That may be true but it doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.

So you have desperate poor people who would grab the first chance of working abroad and would accept any terms of employment rather than have their family go hungry.

The receiving country, Canada, knows these are desperate people so it imposes working conditions it wouldn’t normally impose on its citizens and immigrants who have rights and privileges that couldn’t be taken away easily. These caregivers are treated like second-class workers and in practice indentured slaves who are “willing” anyway to bear their miserable conditions since their life here is much better than where they came from. Besides, again, there is that light at the end of the dark tunnel, permanent residency and being able to sponsor their family, which is becoming illusory now, judging by the numerous cases of deportation or “removal”.

Now comes the public outcry to crucify the unscrupulous recruiters who are like vultures feeding on the miseries of the desperate caregivers. Those who caused these miseries in the first place escape the blame and join the chorus to go after the heads of the vultures.

To me, it’s like the classic comparison to rounding up some drug pushers on the streets while letting the drug lords and their protectors in law enforcement do business.

So what is the solution to this seemingly complex problem? Since the root of the problem is the unjust impositions on the caregivers, then remove these chains that tie them to modern slavery. Let them come to Canada with permanent resident status so there is no carrot that is dangled to them as a prize for accepting slavery. Remove the live-in requirement so they are not treated like they are owned by their employers who can make them work on demand 24 hours a day. Let their workplace, their employers’ home, be subject to labor standards and their work conditions and wages be like those of Canadian workers. Not only treat them like ordinary Canadian workers are treated. Treat them like human beings with dignity who deserve respect. After all, they make life comfortable to countless families who have kids, elderly and ill persons in Canada.

The Philippine government should stop sending them as desperate cheap labor bound by onerous work conditions but as workers with rights and benefits accorded to regular workers in modern society and who while still Filipino citizens should be fully protected by their government wherever they are in the world. If and when this happens, no recruiting business will be able to extract blood from caregivers with impunity.

March 13, 2009

On page one of this issue are photos of four people whose lives have become meaningful to others beyond their own personal circle of friends and family. Each had either chosen to take initiative to make a difference for others or by force of circumstance, suffer and in the process expose man’s inhumanity to man.

Francis Magalona pioneered as a rap artist in his country. His legacy, however, was more his message than his art. Although his art was his medium to highlight his ideals to his legion of fans and followers, his passion and pride for his national identity distinguished him from other artists of his generation.

Thus his signature “Mga Kababayan,” “Tayo’y mga Pinoy” and “Man from Manila”. But more telling was his seething criticism of corruption, greed and callousness in high places. No performing artist at his level of popularity was willing to unleash such rage against the powers that be, if ever they felt his rage.

In the process, his fans grew far and wide in the country and even in north America where culturally disoriented Filipino youth felt his pulse and warmed up to his performances. For decades, he was the Rap King of the Philippines so that when he died last week, the whole entertainment industry and its legion of fans, especially the youth, mourned their great loss.

Juana Tejada, a live-in caregiver stricken with cancer in Canada, had to leave and stay away from her husband, siblings and parents in the Philippines so she could lift them from poverty. She came from a country where the lower middle class and the poor working class have no hope for decent livelihood unless they go abroad.

She was away for nine years without ever having the chance to visit home. She was denied twice of a chance to get permanent residency in Canada due to her illness because Immigration authorities said she would be a burden to the health system. When advocacy organizations and fellow caregivers, with the support of the community, rallied to her support and pressed the government for a reversal of its position, she was granted her wish.

In her statements before audiences and the media, she consistently took the cudgels for the other caregivers whom she knew were in the same situation. She asked them to be brave and come out because the community and other groups were there to support them. And with the help of her lawyers and supporters, the campaign for the Juana Tejada Law was launched for the removal of the second medical test for caregivers when applying for permanent residency. Her death symbolizes the extent of suffering her people are subjected to in this age of labor migration.

Rebelyn Pitao, a 20-year old teacher in Davao City, met a violent death after being abducted, tortured and probably raped by armed men who didn’t bother to conceal their crimes. Rebelyn’s only “crime” apparently was being a daughter of an alleged Commander of the New People’s Army, Leoncio Pitao.

That her uncle, Danilo Pitao, was similarly abducted and murdered in June last year in Tagum City, indicates a pattern of “punishment” being inflicted on the family of suspected armed rebels. Upon learning of her death, her mother blamed the military.

Church groups, lawyers groups, legislators, women, labor, youth and other groups from her country and overseas are rising in protest to condemn the unspeakable crime against humanity.

Rebelyn would not have comprehended why she had to be subjected to mindless cruelty by her tormentors but torture and summary execution have become common in her country where almost 1,000 extra-judicial killings have been reported in recent years.

Rebelyn’s life is gone but her name will always remind everyone that the armed guardians of power will stop at nothing and can be ruthlessly cruel in preserving their masters’ rule.

Eulogio “Tay Gipo” Sasi, Jr., a native of President Roxas, North Cotabato, discovered a new pest-resistant rice variety and was honored by the Norwegian government for this achievement.
The Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food Lars Peder Brekk cited him “for upholding diversity through indigenous knowledge on crop conservation,” said a news item.

Eulogio died days before the event where he would have received the citation. The story further quoted a Mindanao leader on community empowerment, “He reminded all of us that the seeds being deposited in the Global Seed Vault and all the genebanks are products of generations of farmers’ knowledge and innovations across the world that are entrusted to this generation and for the future generation.” It’s ironic that Tay Gipo’s work is recognized by a government of another country and not his own.

Four Filipinos passed away in the past weeks and what they’ve done or what happened to them have touched many other lives to an extent they would not have known. Someone said the significance of one’s life is measured not in the power one wields or in the possessions one acquires but in how it has impacted other people’s lives.

March 2, 2009
(The Philippine Reporter, March 1-15, 2009, http://philippinereporter.com)

IT WAS LONG in coming. I’m not talking about the 20th anniversary of The Philippine Reporter, which is this month of March 2009. I’m talking about the awakening of the Filipino youth in Toronto as indicated by what transpired in the State of the Filipino Union (SOFU) forum last Thursday, Feb. 26, at William Doo Auditorium, University of Toronto.

The event was organized to serve as a dialogue between the youth and some of their elder community leaders to probe the important issues and concerns the youth have found disturbing. Issues like the fragmented state of the community, the gap between the newcomer youth (FOBs) and the “bacons” (Canada -born youth), the lack of a cultural identity among the youth and their alienation from the mainstream Canadian youth.

For sure, most of these issues have been raised and discussed among a few youth and student groups in Toronto since a few years back. But the SOFU event extended the sense of concern to youth of diverse political, cultural, student and religious groups and persuasions.

The panelists consisted of 17 youth and students and 16 elder community leaders and personalities, including Consul General Alejandro Mosquera. Each one was given two and a half minutes to articulate his or her issues of concern and experiences regarding the Filipino community, racism, cultural identity, ethnic youth alienation from the mainstream society, and similar topics.

Myk Miranda, one of the organizers, set the tone with a fiery speech presenting the predicament of the Filipino youth who feel neither Filipino nor Canadian. His obviously angry tone and his profound longing for an explanation to the Toronto Filipino youth’s strong sense of cultural alienation could be a jarring wake up call to the older generation present in the forum. At one point he said his elders imitate white people and the youth, in a form of reaction, imitate black people. He said it’s not easy to be a Filipino in Canada.

But he expressed hope that from that day on, with the dialogue that’s being started between the youth and their parents’ generation, all these would start to change.

The youth panelists, most of whom come from cultural groups and professions, a few from migrant support groups and student associations, spoke with candor along the same themes. A few said they were once ashamed to be Filipino but later became proud of it when they understood more about their culture and heritage.

For the elders who were present, especially those who were hearing this for the first time, it was an experience totally different from the community events they’re used to, where speakers mouth motherhood statements about being Filipino, unity in the community, charity and love for everything Filipino, and integration to Canada, their adopted country, and helping the poor in their beloved home country.

As a caveat, many Filipino associations and groups have genuinely and generously helped the poor and victims of disasters in the Philippines and many are doing it on their own personal initiative. But these new voices from our youth bring a new insight into the reality of immigrants’ lives in a foreign land.

It is not only about immigrants having good jobs and prospering in the new country, and many or even the majority do not even experience this. It is not only about sending kids to good schools, and these so-called good schools do not even treat our youth equally with Canada born white youth.

Now it is more about whether our youth feel accepted in society given the color of their skin, their cultural background, their accent, the food that they eat and their initial shyness because English is not their first language. It is about our youth understanding their history and feeling good about their cultural identity so that they can feel proud about it while relating with the youth of other backgrounds.
It is a tremendous responsibility for the parents and the elders in our community to understand the sense of cultural disorientation among our youth. It could be difficult for them to profoundly feel what the youth are saying since the elder generation grew up in the Philippines and there’s no mistaking their identity. In fact, maybe their cultural arteries (or attitudes) have hardened so much, many of them would not attempt to understand or tolerate other cultures. But since the youth have spoken, and in a passionate and organized manner at that, they cannot say now or in the future that they have not been forewarned.

On other hand, maybe there is also a need for our elder generation to start some kind of a cultural and historical education to be able to correctly orient our youth. If you look at most of the major events in our community, you will see how the leaders see our culture and our history. I couldn’t forget a Filipino parade where one wore a Gen. MacArthur costume beaming the victory sign reminiscent of the “liberation” of the Philippines by the Americans. And the independence day festival where a huge mural portraying the Christianization of the Philippines dominated the stage. Need we say more?

AT THE TIME of this writing, it looks like Canada will have another Conservative minority government under the steely watch of Stephen Harper. Which means more of the same. The same right-wing economic and political policies skewed to favor big corporations and banks over the poor and working classes including the vast majority of immigrant population and foreign temporary workers.

I attended a National Ethnic Press Council roundtable a week before the Oct. 14 elections where Liberal leader Stephane Dion was the speaker. I asked two questions: 1. Would you sign the UN Convention for the Protection of the Rights and Welfare of Migrant Workers? His answer: Yes, if there are no technicalities involved. 2. What would you do to help foreign temporary workers? His reply: I will fast track their becoming Canadians.

If Dion were to be the next Prime Minister, we could hold him to his words. But that may not be happening soon. We’re stuck with Harper who was next to impossible to meet during the campaign because he was just not accessible except to top editors of the dailies or to CBC’s Peter Mansbridge.

Besides, it’s apparent that the main plank of the Conservative program on labor is to pack the country with foreign temporary workers (translation: cheap labor) without labor rights and benefits and send them back to their home countries when they’re no longer needed.

But let’s see what happens next after the dust has settled in this election. For sure, the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois will be bickering intensely against one another while the Tories will have more power to implement their Bush-inspired agenda. It was a sad spectacle to watch NDP’s Jack Layton and Liberal’s Dion during the campaign attacking each other with passion as if either was the main target of the opposition. What they achieved was worse (for them) than the pre-election power equation in Parliament: more seats for the Conservatives.

This looks like a reverse of what’s happening in the U.S. where Democratic candidate Barack Obama is much favored by the polls than the Republican John McCain. I can’t wait to see, though, how a Harper-Obama chemistry would look like. A supposedly liberal-leaning U.S. superpower leader meeting with a Canadian version of ex-prez Bush. Would Obama really work for pulling out U.S. troops from Iraq while Harper would tend to send more Canadian troops to Afghanistan?

For sure, a second, stronger minority government for Harper would give him more reason to rule like a majority. That’s what he said.

* * *

On page five of this issue (Oct. 16-31, 2008, The Philippine Reporter) there is an open letter of appeal to GTA outlets of Filipino newspapers to help in preventing the theft of bundles of newspapers. The suspect is a publisher of another paper.

We in the local community media know who this person is. It’s been reported that he (or his delivery person) was seen by a storeowner pick up a bundle of another newspaper and brought it to he only knows where, most likely the garbage.

In one instance, a store owner specifically asked this guy not to pick up a bundle of newspapers. When the storeowner turned her back to him, he nevertheless carted away with the bundle.

Obviously, his intention was to reduce his competitors’ circulation so it would appear his paper had a bigger circulation.

I am reminded of the days when the Marcos regime bought bundles of the newspapers We Forum, Malaya, and other anti-dictatorship publications in Manila in the early 80s when the so-called mosquito press started to irritate Marcos.

But that was suppression of dissent and press freedom. The struggle then was in the political realm. What we have here locally is motivated purely by profit. And it is nothing less than low life.
According to another Filipino editor, while he was in a restaurant with colleagues, he witnessed how within minutes of delivery, a bundle of newspapers disappeared and on its spot appeared a bundle of this guy’s paper.

What do we do to stop this nefarious practice of a person occupying a prestigious position in our community. Do we need to expose him in print? Do we need to call the police? Maybe if he apologized to us and commit to mend his ways, there will be no need for this. (The Philipppine Reporter, Oct. 16-31, 2008)