send in the clowns (updated)

(reposting with quotes at the intro and a youtube video of friends allegedly greeting atty. gigi reyes on her fiftieth birthday; first posted on october two, two thousand and twelve)

“i believe what the public really hungers for is the truth about the officials they elected and how their money is spent or wasted. the people now believe that the senate stinks." -- senate president juan ponce enrile’s chief of staff, jessica “gigi” reyes.

'when you have a plagiarist, acknowledge womanizers, fugitives, then your organization most likely stinks. now add all the corrupt practices, waste, fraud, and abuse and you have a senate that is guaranteed "stinky." the problem is none has had the courage to challenge these senators, and it had to be a senator "fighting" another that led to these events. if something good happens as a result is yet to be seen. ms. reyes is part of the problem and hers are just empty threats." -- 4wd commented on a philippine daily inquirer article published on january twenty six, two thousand and thirteen titled "gigi reyes: time to look for source of senate stink."

“why is there a double standard? if it involves an ordinary public official, the one involved is detained and penalized. why is it that if it involves them, no one is raising the issue?” -- senate minority leader alan peter cayetano, who first exposed the power of gigi reyes in the senate in a privilege speech

"it was all right to screw the Filipino people, but it was not all right to screw some senators." -- winnie monsod. for her insightful column on the brouhaha, pls click here.

^^^^^^^^^^

there it was, said beautifully, even poetically by the headline: "circus comes to comelec."

only this time, most of the those in the audience are not happy. they are not clapping their hands. they are not getting their money's worth.

on the opposite side, the clowns never had it so good - you can see it in their eyes, dreamy, shiny, lyk  debutantes waiting for their princes to take them to their first ball.

the picture that accompanied the story showed most of them beaming, smiling, some waving, giving a thumbs up. they were a mixture of everything that had gone wrong in the country,  the recipe for a bleak future, so a lot of comments that accompanied the news item said. most of the commenters were indignant, angry, even hopeless. no doubt decent people, most of them are, trying to make a living, breaking their backs, sweating blood, so to speak, just to give their families a decent life, send their children to school, ensure their bright future. simple, basic, nothing grande.

in contrast to the lifestyle of the clowns, or at least most of them - countless mansions in and out of the country, several mistresses and children out of wedlock, expensive cars, shares in the biggest philippine companies, travels overseas once, twice or three times a year. and did i mention the precious pork barrel and the perks that come with power?

*********

they all ask.

why does the circus continue to come, boding ill for the rest of us?

when will the clowns stop laughing and the audience cease crying?

until when can the audience turn a blind eye and accept this new (or old) normal?

%%%%%%%

last sunday, while i was walking from my flat to central, i overheard a chinese woman (a local) berating a group of filipinas in front of the hsbc headquarters. the chinese woman, dressed elegantly lyk a taitai, was shouting at the three stunned filipinas. when the woman saw me approaching them, she immediately left. i asked the three filipinas what happened.

one of them said the woman was scolding them.

why, i asked. was it because they were practicing a dance number on the street? was it the loud music?

no, she said.  the woman simply told them to go back to the philippines.

what's wrong, why? i asked, hoping to get some more answer.

another one said the woman told them that instead of dancing on the streets of hong kong, the filipinas should be fighting corruption at home so that they don't have to work in hong kong and in other countries as maids.

i didn't know what to say.

all i said was, don't worry about it. maybe she was just having a bad day.

the filipinas smiled and said, it was nothing. they were used to it.

how sad!

*******

the incident really haunted me. i couldn't keep it out of my mind.

last year, another reporter at my former employer told me that she was hiring a new maid from the philippines. but she was a bit wary because apparently the filipina was a former teacher in the philippines and that her english was way way better than her. (she was always insecure about her english, even if i had assured her that it was fine.)

i asked her, what's the problem?

she said she couldn't bear (i know the feeling) to have a maid who was better educated than her, who can write and speak better english than her.

she asked me why she was applying as a maid in hong kong when her academic background was impressive. i told her that because of the low salary in the philippines, most professionals prefer to go overseas working as maids or any other  "menial"  jobs even if they have college diplomas.

she gave me a sympathetic nod.

in the end, she didn't hire her. she thought she should look for a better job in hong kong.

&&&&&&&

i wish our politicians and government officials will take time to visit  hong kong on sundays and public holidays. instead of enjoying the luxury of the six star hotels, they should walk in central and see how their "modern heroes" spend their holidays in this former british colony. they gather in over and under pass(es), in parks, parking lots and in every vacant lot, sitting on cardboards, playing cards, gossiping, cleaning nails, singing accompanied by guitars. doing anything just to ease the loneliness of being separated from their love ones.

and all for what?

just so they can send some money to pay for their mortgages, send the kids to school, put food on the table, or save some cash for the future.

^^^^^

then at night, these politicians and officials should drop by at wan chai. see how more filipinas are working as "entertainers" in clubs so that they can, again, send some cash to their families back home.

^^^^^^^^^

oh they should listen to their stories. their woes. these are the stuffs made of telenovelas.

on a flyt to manila last march, one woman told me that she was forced to go home after three months in hong kong as advised by  a doctor. apparently, she collapsed while ironing the clothes of her employers.

it turned out that she barely slept at night, she wasn't given enough food. the wife would wake her up at  five or even four in the morning to take care of her baby. then after that, prepare breakfast, wash clothes, clean the house, go to the supermarket, cook, iron clothes, take care of the kids. she was not allowed to go to sleep unless she finished all her chores. and that's already around three in the morning.

on the third month, she collapsed out of exhaustion.

the doctor told her employers she needed to rest.

the employers sent her home for fear that she might sue them.

%%%%%%%%%

these are the stories and the sights that politicians and government officials should hear and see.

and if there is still some humanity left in them, if they still have a conscience, then they can at least do something to alleviate their plight. they are not asking for too much. they are not asking for a share of their (mostly questionable) millions, and in the case of some of them, billions in the banks.

i am not going to enumerate here what the government and the politicians have to do to help these hopeless filipinas who are struggling in this city; battling loneliness, intimidation, discrimination and sometimes cruelty just to give their families back home a decent life, which is what every human being deserves to have - a roof, food, access to education and health services, safety and an honest living.

northing more, nothing less.

is it too much to ask?

^^^^^^^

(unfinished.)