Day Without Filipinos
Let's imagine then, not just California, but the entire world, waking up one
day to discover Filipinos have disappeared. I'm talking here about the six
or seven million Filipinos currently working overseas in countries with
names that run the entire alphabet, from Angola to Zimbabwe .
Let's not worry first about why or how the Filipinos disappeared; in fact,
it becomes academic whether it's a day or a week. Just imagine a world
without Filipinos.
Think of the homes that are dependent on Filipino housekeepers, nannies,
caregivers. The homes would be chaotic as kids cry out for their nannies.
Hong Kong and Singaporean and Taiwanese yuppie couples are now forced to
stay home and realizing, goodness, there's so much of housework that has to
be handled and how demanding their kids can be and hey, what's this strange
language they're babbling in?
It's not just the children that are affected. The problems are even more
serious with the elderly in homes and nursing institutions, because Filipino
caregivers have provided so much of the critical services they need. When
temporary contractual workers are brought in from among non-Filipinos, the
elderly complain. They want their Filipino caregivers back because they have
that special touch, that extra patience and willingness to stay an hour more
when needed.
Hospitals, too, are adversely affected because so many of the disappeared
Filipinos were physicians, nurses and other health professionals. All
appointments for rehabilitation services, from children with speech problems
to stroke survivors, are indefinitely postponed because of disappeared
speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists!
Eventually, the hospital administrators announce they won't take in any more
patients unless the conditions are serious. Patients are told to follow
their doctors' written orders and, if they have questions, to seek advice on
several Internet medical sites. But within two days, the hospitals are
swamped with new complaints. The web sites aren't working because of missing
Filipino web designers and web site managers.
Service establishments throughout the world -- restaurants, supermarkets,
hotels -- all close down because of their missing key staff involved in
management and maintenance. In Asia , hotels complain about the missing
bands and singers.
In the United States , many commercial establishments have to close shop,
not just because of the missing Filipino sales staff but because their
suppliers have all been sending in notices about delays in shipments. Yup,
the shipping industry has gone into a crisis because of missing Filipino
seafarers.
The shipping firms begin to look into the emergency recruitment of
non-Filipino seafarers but then declare another crisis: They're running out
of supplies of oil for their ships because the Middle Eastern countries have
come to a standstill without their Filipino workers, including quite a few
working for the oil industry.
Frantic presidents and prime ministers call on the United Nations to convene
a special session of the Security Council but Kofi Annan says he can't do
that because the UN system itself is on the edge, with so many of their
secretarial and clerical staff, as well as translators, having disappeared
from their main headquarters in New York and Geneva, as well as their
regional offices throughout the world. Quite a number of UN services,
especially refugee camps, are also in danger of closing down because of
missing Filipino health professionals and teachers.
Annan also explains that he can't convene UN meetings because the airports
in New York , Washington and other major US cities have been shut down. The
reason? The disappeared Filipinos included quite a few airport security
personnel who used to check passengers and their baggage.
Annan calls on the World Bank and international private foundations for
assistance but they're crippled, too, because their Filipino consultants and
staff are nowhere to be seen. Funds can't be remitted and projects can't run
without the technical assistance provided for by Filipinos.
An exasperated Annan calls on religious leaders to pray, and pray hard. But
when he phones the Pope, he is told the Catholic Church, too, is in crisis
because the disappeared include the many Filipino priests and nuns in Rome
who help run day-to-day activities, as well as missionaries in the front
lines of remote posts, often the only ones providing basic social services.
As they converse, Annan and the Pope agree on one thing: the world has
become a quieter place since the Filipinos disappeared. It isn't just the
silencing of work and office equipment formerly handled by Filipinos; no, it
seems there's much less laughter now that the Filipinos aren't around, both
the laughter of the Filipinos and those they served.
I know, I know, I'm exaggerating the contributions of Filipinos to the world
but I'm doing what the producers of "A Day without Mexicans" had in mind:
using a bit of hyperbole to shake people up.
As their blurb for the film goes: "How do you make the invisible, visible?
Make them invisible."
As I wrote this column, I did realize I was doing this not so much for the
Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwanese and Singaporeans and Americans who don't
appreciate us enough, than for us, who as Filipinos, are pretty good at
putting ourselves down, at making ourselves invisible.
Fr. Jess E. Briones, SVD
Superior
Delegatus Argentina
Oficina: Calle Mansilla 3865
Residencia: Calle Paraguay 3901 - Tel.: 4824-0270 ext 43
celular: (011) 15-5024-0751
