Proud Filipino: AKO!

“Ay ang cute! Kano ba ang Daddy nya? (How cute! Is his Daddy American?)”

 “Hindi po. (No, Ma’am)”

“Ahhh…siguro Inchik. (Ahhh…He’s Chinese, I suppose.)”

“Hindi po.(No, Ma’am.)”

“Ha? Eh anong lahi ng Daddy nya? (Ha? So what’s his Daddy’s race then?)”

“Lahing Pinoy  po. Chinitong Ilonggo. (He is a Filipino. Chinese looking-Ilonggo.)”

“Eh, nasaan ang Mommy nya?(Where’s his mom?)”

“Anak ko po! (He’s my son!)”

I have had it with that woman! It’s a good thing that the elevator doors opened that very moment or else we could have exchanged some not so good rebuttals. Plus, we got to left her behind –children or babies on prams first! She’s mistaken me for a nanny? I may not have worn any make up on a relaxing Sunday but that classless woman!…and how impossible can Filipino parents produce a good-looking kid? Poor madam. Gosh!

Sharing another faith.

Thinking about this mall incident, I looked at both sides of my station. On my right is a Thai guy. On my left it’s a Viet girl. In front of me, Chinese - Oh Shi Liu why did you cut your own hair!? The top part is okay but the sides? Waaah! LOL! Behind me is a row of Viets, Chinese and Korean combo. The next Filipino employee is seated 15 meters away from me. We can endorse the United Colors of Benetton – Asian edition. What have I got in line next? Training new Cambodian employees. See you soon, Angkor Wat!

I have acquaintances, friends and families from all over the world. From time to time, we exchange our

Bangkok, Thailand: working with a foreigner - Supphatra Kiawsungnoen.

stories and experiences in working with foreigners. Some say good, mostly say bad. Most often, I hear them say that these people treat Filipinos as inferior, subordinate and as breathing mechanical slaves. Less do I hear that they are being uplifted or even equally treated. It leaves them not so much of a  choice. Being immigrant workers they have to be submissive to keep their jobs and avoid deportation. For this reason, subservience is considerable. Nobody wants to be the next Flor Contemplacion, right? Being treated in the same way in your own country is another story.

Lately, I’ve been dealing with such issues. I went back to work after a 60-day maternity leave, and of course, I have heard the “gossip”:  No more Filipinos are to be hired in our department.

So discriminatingly racial.

There goes I, stabbing every foreign soul in the building with my insulting remarks, threats of deportation and wagging my horns as tails, too. How can one’s right to employment be curtailed in his own country? Would we be subservient to other races on this? For once, we can speak English way, way better than they can! My mind was clouded with reviewing the Labor Code, thinking about gathering the evidences and arms ready for an anytime upheaval.

Adorable Viet coffee lover. Ngo Trinh Quyn Nhu - thanks for those afternoons!

Came my day off and while babysitting, I realized:  Everyone is created equal. No one can govern you without your consent, as it was said and written. In practice, we were taught subordination as a part (and will always be a part) of our advancement in the corporate ladder. There are bosses to deal with and in my case, they happened to be of different nationalities. I thought about what made them think ill about Filipino employees in general, despite the fact that they can save cost on the payroll.

I needed the reinforcement of his Daddy’s video clips to lull Biscocho to sleep. When he is off to his dreams of swimming in a pool of milk and fresh new  diapers (I suppose that’s what babies dream of), I took a peek on some of my work and checked the QA data dated back to the days that I was on leave. OMG! There goes the reason for the downfall of the Filipino team in our department. Bad cheetah! I have to do some clean up on this mess. When I got to work, there I go taking out the weakest links. Y’know. Sad but some must  go. 

Indolence at work has made Filipinos very ineffective, thus leading other races to lead. We can be at par, or

Merdeka Square, KL - a land not mine

even better. Working with them in our own country have all its advantages. We have all the reasons to be proactive, even if subordinated we must never be subservient. Many of them does not like me for I am starightforward – far from being unassuming, naïve and not so questioning as they see us to be, but I am in my best efforts to be indispensible. Besides the fact that I have a mouth to feed, it makes me so proud to show the rest of the world that Filipinos can get away from the label of “inferior manpower” (as I have heard one boss describe it – duh? Inferior? Manpower? How can such power be inferior? Both words stand on the opposite sides of intensity. A little diction check please, Inchik! Hmpf…).

Delivering more quality work, integrity and knowledge, they now seldom tell the tale. When they say something negative about my people and my country, for sure they do it at night when they are all huddled in their condos, but not in my presence. I say no more about them, except that I treat everyone in the respect that they deserve. I am loyal to my job and I can say that as a Filipino, I do it best.  After all, I still desire to be a friend to everyone after work shifts are over. Sometimes, I need one and it doesn’t matter – foreign or not.

in Cambodia where children gather to ask for food.

Many times, I too, had been a foreigner. I have stayed on lands not mine. I had been with people who do not speak my language, do not look like me and do not believe in the same advocacies, not to mention having contrasting faiths with mine. I have been to cities cleaner and more industrialized than my own country, and I too, have seen poorer situations than our own. This opened my heart to equality – made my heart one with the world – and made me proudest to be a Filipino than ever before.