By Al Poliarco
Quigaman elaborated, "Let me tell you what she is. She is someone who gives more than she takes. She is someone you trust to look after the very people most precious to you - your child, the elderly, yourself. She is the one who has made a living out of caring and loving other people." She ended, "So to those who have typecast us as nannies, thank you. It is a testament to the loving and caring culture of the Filipino people. And for that, I am forever proud and grateful of my roots and culture."
I applaud Quigaman's effort to connect the care and compassion of nannies to the foundation of our culture. Our Filipino values give many of us the strength to do the noble work that others describe as lowly. A katulong, helper, servant, or nanny faces the challenges and risks of working abroad to survive and to help those who depend on them equipped with little more than their culture and values. It is not news that the Philippines is one of the world's major sources of nannies and other low paid migrant workers. It is believed that more than one in 10 Filipino adults works abroad. Filipinas outnumber men, many of them mothers themselves working overseas as nannies, housekeepers, personal care workers, cooks, and maids. They contributed substantially to the $7 billion padala, money sent home, in 2004. It is alarming to learn that the padala is one of the Philippines' largest sources of hard currency, second only to electronics exports. The Philippine government has hailed these overseas workers as heroes, a title that these women and their families have paid for dearly. They are indeed heroes, as their government has given them little in return. They have brought ease if not wealth to the barely surviving Filipino economy, in the form of remittance.
The Philippines is not the only nation depending on the labor of its citizens working abroad. Other developing countries resort to labor exportation as well. The US (as well as countries across Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) benefits from this cheap labor source.
Last year, 40 percent of the 792,000 documented private household workers in the US were foreign born. This figure does not include thousands of undocumented cases.
What is the cost to those lucky enough to make it out of the country to scrub kitchen and bathroom floors or provide child and elder care to wealthy families across the world? The children of overseas workers are left at home without the love, care, and attention of their parents. They certainly lose the chance to develop a relationship with their parent to the fullest potential. Other family members, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, must take on the burden of raising them. Both the workers and their children can suffer irreparable damage to their relationship. The distance between parent and child is more easily recovered physically than emotionally. Like countless others here in Wisconsin and across the world, I know personally what it is to sacrifice being away from my children in order to provide for their survival.
The exodus out of the Philippines in search of alternatives to joblessness and poverty has no sign of subsiding, particularly as the Philippine government is aggressively promoting labor exportation. However, there are no corresponding measures of protection for Filipinos working overseas or their families back home. Who could forget the hanging of Flor Contemplacion in Singapore in 1995? Her story shocked and reminded many of us of the vulnerability, risks, and potentially harsh consequences associated with working overseas. Some suffer violent deaths, sexual abuse, torture, and unjustified detention. Many more experience mental breakdown, family separation and abandonment, and delinquency of their children.
Nannies and other domestic workers deserve no less respect and recognition for their work, and protection of their rights and families than immigrant workers in higher paying occupations. It goes without saying that Quigaman's remarks should remind us all to think highly of the contributions of nannies as they mirror some of the best qualities we Filipinos have to offer -- care and compassion for others. We should expect that they receive some in return.
