Out of all the films we’ve watched this semester I would say that the Flor Contemplacion story is the toughest to write about, the main reason being it’s a true story. Whereas the other films are works of fiction based on social observations or documentaries about a certain time period, this film depicts the real life of a Filipino overseas worker. For this reason it is hard to critique and to distinguish between which are the actual facts and what are the director’s use of creative freedom.
Flor is an overseas worker in Singapore who is charged for the murder of a little boy and his nanny Delia Maga. The truth of the matter is that she was framed for this crime. The day the supposed “crime” took place, Flor visited Delia at her employer’s residence to give her “padala” or “send home presents” to Delia since she was about to go home to the Philippines. It is a common practice for Filipinos overseas to send some gifts to their family through a friend or relative who is coming back home. While Flor is conversing with Delia, the kid she was taking care of was taking a bath upstairs and accidentally drowned on a big water drum. Thinking the situation would get worse if her boss sees her there, Delia sends Flor home. Later we see the angered Singaporean father beat Delia up and throws her down the stairs killing her. Being a man of high stature with connections within the government, he puts the blame on Flor for killing the two people. However he told the true story to his brother who also had a Filipina maid. They didn’t expect her to understand Malay and she later on testified on what actually transpired that tragic day, relating what she overheard.
What is really frustrating and caused me anger is the way the Philippine embassy handled her case. They called her dumb just because she came from a poor class. They even suggested not doing anything. To me this is the most annoying part of all. It is one thing to not be able to help because you just can’t or you don’t have the ability to help. But for such an authority to take the low road just to get out of the hassle is plain heartless. If I were present the time they said that, I would’ve gave them a kick to the head just for mentioning it, then repeatedly kick them in the gut for having a rock for a heart.
Was the Philippines to blame for what happened to her? Yes. Both directly and indirectly. It is their fault for not handling her case to the best of their abilities from the start. Also, it is their fault for having her leave the country in the first place. She left because her work while in the Philippines is not enough to sustain her family. Doing the same amount of work in another country would earn her a lot more. She left not because the workload abroad is easier, in fact work is harder abroad. Overseas workers have to deal with cruel bosses and the hassle of expiring visas all the time. Either way, she is still a slave wherever she goes- whether she go abroad or stay home. She still has to work her body to the point of exhaustion to be able to feed her family.
Maids, factory workers, and entertainers are not the only ones who leave the country for better opportunities abroad. Nurses are one of the largest number of people who offer their services to foreigners and leave their country. With low salaries in the Philippines and a high demand abroad, a vast majority of college students are nursing majors. In this mix are also certified doctors who take up nursing because it is easier to get hired as a nurse than as a doctor. As a result not only do the best of the Philippines nurses depart the country but also a number of its doctors, further reducing the number of healthcare workers in an already undermanned medical field. This brain drain is one of the worse problems the Philippines is currently facing.
So what can the government do? How can they keep everybody from leaving to work overseas? It’s not like they want to leave, but circumstances force them to. This is tough to answer. With the current slow economy, misuse of government funding, and a large percentage of the annual national budget allocated to repay debt, there is little money left in the wallet to strengthen any field.
Perhaps the answer is to build the country back from scratch, but then again where can you find hardworking people to do the job? They’ve already left the building.
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asa 5-15-08
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