Another Pathetic Story From Home

I just found this circulating among my Facebook friends and I am posting it here to help spread the word. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/175402/blog-about-rotting-relief-goods-at-dswd-warehouse-sparks-cyberspace-queries

If this link does not work, try this one: http://mabuhaygirl.multiply.com/

If this true, which I am more inclined to believe, then heaven help us! My knees are weak just thinking about the callousness of the officials involved here. Thousands of typhoon and flood victims have gone without basic necessities and there they are storing all those donations and allowing them to rot in the warehouses.

Please spread the word, people. Let us do something about the blatant neglect of the Philippines government in almost all aspects of governance. Let us harness the power of the internet and show the President and all local government officials that they cannot just sit down in their jobs anymore and still expect our respect.

Bahay Kubo by Foreigners

I must admit I hate it when a song is bastardized. I would ask my hubby to stop singing a song when he changes the lyrics to make it sound funny. But when I saw this, I wanted to post it here. I don’t know why they chose to sing Bahay Kubo. Whatever, watch it and enjoy…

I am making sure that my two boys, who are growing up in a foreign land, will never forget their native tongue. My youngest son, who is turning eight years old soon, has already mastered counting one to 10 in Filipino. I let him do it sometimes so that he will not forget. It’s a tall order to maintain their knowledge of the Filipino language, given that they are always exposed to English in school, in the media, etc. but I know, in the future, it will pay off for them if they will grow up knowing it.

Arnel Pineda

So Pinoy in looks, so different from his bandmates, but oh! so standing out from all the rest!

After being so impressed with Charice Pempengco, I’m sure Oprah is now totally convinced that Filipinos are amazing singers. Watch her facial expressions as Arnel hits the high notes.

Enjoy and be proud, Pinoys!

Ondoy

It is with a grieving heart that I post about Ondoy. I saw the devastation the typhoon wrought upon the Philippines and I could not help but weep helplessly while watching cars floating like plastic bits in the flooded streets of Metro Manila.

A friend of mine here in the UK is flying home tomorrow. Her children were trapped on the second floor of their house in Pasig and she cannot think straight just knowing that the kids are almost without food now. She applied for an emergency leave, which luckily, was granted. Her older brother attempted to swim to their house at the height of the typhoon to bring the children to safety but he decided to turn back after he saw bodies floating around him.

Of course, hundreds or thousands more were similarly affected. I do not even want to know the death toll anymore. I think about our fellow Filipinos who are without homes right now, or food and clean water. I think about how ill-prepared the Philippine government is to tackle disasters of this magnitude – how helpless its people are when they need support the most.

I think also about the brave and selfless people who, in one way or another, have done something to help those who needed them. I think about them and I am praying that, together with all the victim, they will be blessed and that they will all be able to recover from this catastrophe.

image source: extracted from an email from a friend

Proud to be Pinoy

Recently, I saw a photocopy of a news article that appeared in our local paper.

It is not very common to see something like this in the hospital where I work so I read the whole thing and I went away with my heart singing with pride. What really pleased me was this:

I just love those words: “born into a culture which creates the love, care and expertise that they possess…” Yes, in the Philippines, we look after our own kin. We do not just send our grandparents and parents to a home where they wait for their time to go. We include them in our own families and look after them. We know that without their care and devotion to us when we were younger, we would not be where we are now.

It is this kind of set-up that Filipino nurses were born to and look, the whole world is benefiting from it! Anywhere that there are Filipino nurses, there is this kind and caring service for the sick.

Just last Sunday, we met some elderly churchgoers who told us that a lot of older patients here prefer to be nursed by Filipinos because they are patient and caring. The smile on their faces while they were saying that showed that they really meant the compliment. It was heart-warming.

To all Filipino health care workers here in the UK and around the world, kudos!

Balikbayan Box

the boxes still being lovingly filled

One morning last month, as I was walking home from work, I met this big, British guy with this equally big smile on his face. He is more on the senior side age-wise. I smiled back and then he stopped to converse with me.

big guy: “Hi! I think I know you, have we met before?”

modernmariaclara: “I don’t think so.”

big guy: “My wife is also a Filipina like you. You are very lovely.”

modernmariaclara: “Thank you.”

Then I mumbled something about how wise of him to have chosen a Filipina for a wife.

big guy: “do you still send money back home to your fmaily?

modernmariaclara: “Why, of course! We Filipinos love our families, you know.”

We made small talk for two to three minutes more and then we went on our separate ways.

I mentioned this because sending money and gifts to our families back home is really a trademark of Filipinos wherever they are. Our families are the reason why we want to go look for greener pasture and for most of us, once we find those greener pastures, we never forget to be a channel of blessing for our loved ones as well. For this, I am mighty proud to be a Filipino. Now, I can perfectly understand why even back in my elementary days, we were taught about having close-knit families as one of the things we should be proud of as a people – because it really is very noteworthy in our culture.

The big guy knows very well that Filipinos send money and everything else they can to their loved ones. He knows because he sees it in his wife, who, in spite of being here for many years, is still sending support to her loved ones. For someone coming from a society like Britain, that is something very significant. Here, they do not have the same fierce love and connection with their family. Oh well, they do love their families, no doubt. But they are so concerned about their independence and privacy that their connection is somewhat weaker when compared with ours.

They have the option to put their elderly in nursing homes and they have the government to help them look after their family (in various ways) when they are hard up in life. When they are sick, they have the National Health Service (NHS) to run to for free medical attention and hospitalization.

For us Pinoys, we can’t rely on government for any help, not even for creating jobs for us so that we need not leave for greener pastures in the first place. That is why we imbibe this strong concern and protectiveness for and over our families. It is this same familial concern that urges Pinoys around the world to not forget where they come from and who they have left behind.

Thus, the Balikbayan box. It is known worldwide as a Filipino invention. Wikipedia even includes an apt definition:

“A balikbayan box (literally returnee to one’s homeland box) is a ubiquitous cardboard box containing any number of small items and sent by an overseas Filipino known as a “balikbayan“. Though often shipped by freight forwarders specializing in balikbayan boxes by sea, such boxes can be brought by Filipinos returning to the Philippines by air.”

In every balikbbayan box sent home,  one can find the love, compassion and hope of  OFWs and Filipino migrants who care enough to fill these giant boxes for months and send them. Every pay day, they go shopping for cheap deals and bargains, car boot sales or charity shops and then lovingly pack and re-pack them all in the box. There is no hard and fast rule when filling the box. Anything that fits in is alright to be included – canned goods, goodies especially chocolates, nuts and biscuits, clothes (brand new or second hand), shoes, toiletries, cosmetic products, books, condiments and spices, electronic products – whatever! You name it, as long as it fits in the box, Pinoys send it home.

When these precious boxes reach home, the recipients gather to open it and it becomes almost ritualistic. The children are shooed away from the big box while the able-bodied male members of the family position it at the centre of the living room where everybody waits in silent awe. The whole family or clan form a circle around the most revered box. Then, one person is assigned to open the box and out comes the contents. What happens next after that depends upon the temperament of the family – it can be a mad scramble for whatever they can grab inside, or an orderly and systematic distribution of the goods.

I am writing about this because after more than three years here (more than two years for me and the kids as my hubby arrived here a year ahead), we are sending home a Balikbayan box next month, or when it gets filled. The boxes (one jumbo and one bulilit) are almost filled already. Slowly, we have been filling it with anything that we think our loved ones need. I hope and pray that it will reach them (as some get lost on the way) and that they will be blessed by the items we put in there.

a few more items to fill the jumbo box

Two more weeks, perhaps, then my packing and re-packing will soon be over and our Balikbayan box, which is filled with our love and concern, will soon be sealed and sent home. It is a wonderful feeling to be doing this.

Is This a Fraud (Reminds me of Some Governors in the Philippines)?

My friend, who is currently based in Dubai, stumbled upon the website of  Visa Governor, a company that promises easy entry to the UK through student visas. At first, we tried to verify the authenticiy of the company. Their website looked “authentic”. They have business addresses in London and supposedly legitimate phone numbers. I tried calling their office from Luton, Bedfordshire but there was no one answering the phone.

I told my friend about it but it did not raise alarm bells in our silly heads. So, she went ahead and sent the money they required for them to mail her all the sponsorship documents that my friend needed like a sponsorship letter, their bank statement, school and work documents, etc – to which I agreed. Their way of doing business, according to how we understood their instructions is like this: they screen each online applicant based on the details the latter gives. Once they are satisfied, they inform the applicant that they are qualified to apply for a student visa.

Then, they ask the applicant to send them 48 sterling pounds for the mailing expenses of the documents the applicant allegedly needs to submit to the British Embassy wherever they are in the world, for visa processing. My friend and I were very excited. Alas! it was not to be that way for long.

When a letter came from Visa Governor, all that my friend saw inside the envelope was a 3-page incomplete bank account statment and nothing else. How in the world will my friend apply for a student visa with that document? She was supposed to apply as a student, with an assured school placement and job placement arranged by this fraudster of a company!

My friend has joined some social networking sites where she exchanged notes with other Visa Governor applicants. So far, none among the Filipinos who applied that she “met” in these sites have been successful with Visa Governor. There are at least two who said they were successful but they did not share how they did it. I think they were just planted there to contradict the complaints, but in reality are not successful applicants.

My dearest friends and kababayans, please be very careful. Even if we say that coming here to the UK through a student visa is very common nowadays, look for the right agency. If you have money, you can even apply by yourself, just look for the right school for you. You will save a lot on agency fees.

By the way, I checked Visa Governor with two business verification sites to check if the addresses in their website (two London addresses were cited there) are actually legitimate. In both instances, the addresses are true and correct but VisaGovernor did not come up as one of the businesses in any of these two addresses.

If Visa Governor turns out to be a legitimate company, then I am prepared to apologize. I would be very happy if they can prove me wrong – by actually making good on their promise to their clients, that they will help and sponsor them to come here.

Adobo and Vegetarianism

I am a vegetarian and has been one for a decade now. Except for taking iron and calcium supplements, vegetarianism is not at all burdensome to me. In fact, I feel that I am healthier, more fit and less prone to sicknesses now that I rely more on plant foods for sustenance. I don’t miss eating my favourite tocino and longanisa and the pork fat in sinigang na baboy.

But the other Sunday, I was so tempted to eat meat that I myself was surprised. And more surprisingly, it is meat that I myself cooked. Yes, you guessed it right, adobo it is!

Adobo is an all-time Filipino favourite. In fact, it is the national dish of the Philippines, and rightly so, because it perfectly represents everything that is Pinoy. From its simple yet savoury flavour to its deceptively unappealing appearance, it is truly Filipino.

For one, it is a dish that evolved in the same manner and at the same pace as the nation itself. It started as a dish that was simply cooked in salt and vinegar. But the influences of the Chinese, Spaniards and Americans all converged to make the Filipino adobo into what it is now.

Even a mile away, when a Filipino smells the distinctive adobo flavour, he would know what it is that tantalizes his nostrils. The unique blend of the meat (pork and/or chicken), soy sauce, vinegar and the spices, create a scent that evokes the happiest of memories about home and the families we Filipinos in foreign lands left behind.

Tempting, Tantalizing Adobo

And so that particular Sunday, I cooked adobo for our churchmates – the best yet that I ever cooked of this dish. For more details, you might want to read it in HotMomma. And so it came to pass also that day, that I was tempted, for the first time in 10 years, to eat meat. Maybe because it was adobo.

…the harder you fall

the left that sent Hatton down to the canvass

This is a long overdue post about the Pacquiao – Hatton fight but my issue is not about recency of the topic. I am after the significance and the lessons that can be learnt from the mistakes of others.

Two weeks before the fight, Hatton was saying: “I am too much for Manny.” We all know now that that was all air and nothing else. Mayweather Sr. even said something like “I don’t care if they carry him out on a stretcher” referring to Manny and of course, we also know that it was Hatton whom they almost carried out on a stretcher given that he was out for a good few minutes.

down and out

It was the cockiness and arrogance of the Hatton camp, particularly the fighter and his trainer, that brought upon them their shameful and devastating defeat the entire world cannot stop talking about. Both the fighter and his trainer laughed off Freddie Roach’s claim of a knock out. Had they taken their opponent more seriously,  had they given him even just an ounce of respect and not calling him “little man” (when in reality, Pacquiao was only an inch shorter than Hatton), they would have stood the chance of at least lasting a few more rounds, or walking out of the arena with their dignity intact. They would have trained harder and not left anything to chance – if they only acknowledged half the power of their opponent.

humbled

Then, I think about how humble Manny was – not even saying anything derogatory or belittling his fallen opponent, how he concentrated on training and not taking the power of Ricky Hatton for granted. Just the fact that he did not leave any stone unturned in his training indicates Manny’s humility and his capacity to respect the men he fights, even those less worthy than him. I am not about to canonize Manny. He has his own faults and shortcomings. But at least, if he did some taunting, he did not make it public. He did not call his opponent names and he remained a gentleman in the ring. At least, as a boxer, he is respectful of his co-boxers.

Here in the UK, we Filipinos were extremely proud of that moment when Manny won, not to mention happy because a lot of the men bet on him to win. But win or lose, I will personally take pride in our own fighter who is a lot better in character (at least as a professional boxer) than most men who have donned gloves.

In his previous matches, I have seen how Manny approached the fighters he subdued after each match. But with Hatton, he did not. Maybe it was his way of telling Hatton he failed to get Manny’s respect.

When a man boasts and puts himself higher than he should, it shall be a hard fall for him. Not only will he lose his face but also the respect of those who matter in his life. It will be a hard fall indeed, like the man in this photo.

Photo credits: all from Google images

A Dilemma and a Question of Child Cruelty?

My husband and I are in a dilemma right now. We want to send our eldest son back home sometime in July til August when they are on summer break from school.

But why him only, you might ask. You see, traveling back home as a family is almost impossible if not impractical in these dark financial times. Not only do we need to shell out money for the fare of four people, there are also the expenses to incur while travelling from place to place in the Philippines to make the most of the trip. Then there’s also the question of “pasalubong”, or those gifts from “balikbayans” that our family and friends might expect from returning OFW’s like us. And what about the shopping for things and items we “need” to bring back here in the UK.

Luckily, we have some friends, a couple actually, who are scheduled to go home in the summer with their two children, the eldest of whom is a former classmate and a close friend of our boy. We can easily arrange for him to go with them and then ask my sister to take charge of him once he arrives in the Philippines.

Our fear is that it’s his first time to be away for that long. He’s been to France with his schoolmates and teachers but only for a week, and it was just across the English Channel. Also, we are not sure how he will take to the heat, after living here for two years. He is asthmatic and a slight change in the weather gives him the sniffles already. How much more a rise in the temperature for more than 10 degrees? We are still weighing everything. We are also hoping that we can save for our fare until early next year so that we can all go together. So, at the moment, it’s still unsure.

We want to send him back home for that all-important rite of passage that every young boy should undergo. They do not consider circumcision here as a matter of great importance. In fact, there are those who are opposed to the practice and who label the procedure as child cruelty. Now, we don’t want social service staff to come round our front door because of that, do we?

In the Philippines, there is stigma attached to being uncircumcised and we do not want our two boys to be ridiculed or taunted because of “negligence” on our part to see to it that they go through this rite of passage into manhood. Especially because we intend to keep our “Pinoyhood” no matter how long we need to stay here. In fact, our two boys are still very fluent in Tagalog and we want them to grow up knowing their language, their heritage, the culture, Filipino values and traditions and their citizenship (yes, dual citizenship is our target).

Anyway, we want our son to have it done in the Philippines because we can get the services of a really good surgeon at a fraction of the price if we had it done here by a private practitioner. We also have more confidence in our own people there who do this procedure all the time. I remember back when I was still with the Department of Health, our Rural Health Unit  or Provincial Health Office staff would conduct “Operation Tule” in the summer months of April and May. I remember them really very good at it, even performing the minor operation on a table set-up under a shady mango tree or a makeshift shelter. A politician might also include circumcision in their Medical Mission services during campaign season.

During these outreaches, the local village boys get their procedure for free. I can vividly see in my mind their ashen faces as they waited in the queue and their rather awkward gait when they walk home gently led by their mothers, the fear gone and replaced with expressions of pain. But beneath those grimaces on their faces lie bravado and that cocky expression because at last, they have gone through that rite of passage that they have waited with anticipation and dread in equal measures.

Now, we need to pay tens of thousands of pesos to have it done on our son. Hmmm, how about that?