Search PinoyPress                                                                                                                                                       Subscribe       Follow us on

July 05, 2009                             Manila, Philippines
LATEST POSTS & UPDATES    |    NEWS & FEATURES    |    OPINION & ANALYSIS    |    SPECIAL REPORTS    |    PHOTOGRAPHS    |    VIDEO    |    PRESS RELEASES
Politics & Governance   |   Economy   |   Business   |   Human Rights   |   OFWs & Migration   |   Environment   |   Insurgency   |   Entertainment   |   Lifestyle   |   Technology

The Usual Can Be Criminal

PUBLISHED ON August 6, 2008 AT 8:58 AM ·

By Ninotchka Rosca

NE YORK — We Filipinos needed to re-calibrate our understanding of what’s usual or normal, the instant we began to move out into the world en masse.

Unfortunately, that has been difficult, because of the re-feudalization accompanying migration, particularly for women. The necessary re-definition of relationships – from the most basic (family relations) to the most complex (labor relations) – has been frustrated by the very nature of the work into which majority of exported Filipinas are funneled.

Household work has been historically women’s slave shackles, rendering her a service unit in the family power structure, stunting her growth and development, erasing her sense of self.

It is much more so when one works in a foreign household. Here, one’s needs, one’s hopes, come absolutely last – after the father’s, the mother’s, the children’s, the pet’s, the guest’s… Here, one is told what to do every minute of the day, how to look at events, what to think … One is forever a junior member of the household, isolated even while ensconced in the family bosom.

I had to tell a friend who had been an organizer, an activist and a former political prisoner to quit being a nanny when she turned out to be the only one among us who could finish the “I’m a teapot short and stout” song. Your brain has turned to oatmeal, was my reaction.

The irony is that most Filipinas who leave the country do so with a vision of achieving an Angelina Jolie-Lara Croft personality: self-sufficient, independent, adventurous, treasure-seeker… Many do have adventures galore but there’s hardly ever a treasure at the end; only drudgery and the black hole of a demand for money that becomes the family they left behind. The de-skilling of nurses and even doctors, of those holding degrees and doctorates in various fields, of artists and writers, is tragic to watch.

In an effort to re-calibrate the essence of household work, we call our women domestic workers, so that work standards may be set, employer-employee relations may be modernized and even the processes of entering into such relations brought into congruence with modern labor standards. As a consequence,, we miss the essentially feudal and patriarchal nature of this work into which we send millions of Filipinas.

The women have to be maintained in a docile state, beholden to a patriarchal system of power and obligation. Domestic workers are prime targets for religious recruitment by fundamentalist sects and cabals of all kinds. Whenever a domestic worker visits, she leaves behind inevitably a pamphlet or two about this-that charismatic group, the crudeness and inanity of which can take your breath away. Who’s this so-called prophet with a keyboard around his neck, singing in the worst voice possible?

But we ignore what it means really to tie women to kitchen and bed and children. And in a 30,000 year tradition, we accept that as normal and usual.

Hence, Marichu’s adversaries can make such claims as she was recruited in accordance with normal procedures, hence no trafficking was involved; or she’s filed a complaint against a man with an astonishing curriculum vita, more’s the pity he will be sullied on the word of only a maid…

Well, an intern’s word and a blue dress nearly impeached the president of the U.S., remember that.

We should remember that:

If one recruits for one category of work and substitutes another — that is considered fraud and deception and will land one in the realm of trafficking.

Trafficking is not limited to the sex trade; it includes labor – as in slavery and peonage, and even debt bondage.

These definitions we Filipinas helped create, through the 11-year Purple Rose Campaign of GABNet.

They do not go far enough in bringing us to a thorough understanding of re-feudalization and the patriarchal surge that accompany the sale of women as domestic servants.

Yes, I know, that phrase is not the correct one. I use it deliberately, in the hope that we will come to a comprehensive understanding of the nature of this unconscionable situation into which we place roughly half a million Filipinas every year; and having come to that understanding, we can take full cognizance of all the issues and problems attendant to it.

As a Canadian reporter said to me, what Marichu underwent, this is normal treatment of servants in the Philippines, no?

Yes, I said to him; but this is not limited to Filipino employers. Something happens to the human psyche when one has control over another human adult. I was thinking of the Stanford prison experiment (see www.prisonexp.org) wherein students fell into their roles of guards and prisoners.

Unfortunately, for lack of radio time, I couldn’t develop my thesis: that having a household servant impacts even the employer who slides into this semi-feudal role of patriarch and patron. I hope others will seriously develop a political economy of housework. A serious one.

Please note: The U.S. GAO report on the abuse of “private employees” by diplomats was revelatory in what wasn’t said. Of the top ten countries bringing in household staff for diplomats (“A” visas for employees of foreign embassies, consulates and governments; “G” visas for employees of international organizations like the World Bank) — four are likely to use Filipino domestic workers: Manila, of course, which leads the pack with 1,775 visas issued; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (558); Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (509); and Doha, Qatar (502). And although only 42 cases of abuses have been reported and hence, documented, like most cases of abuse and violence against women, it is likely that only one in ten reaches the ears of authority.

(Visit the author’s blog.)

  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • del.icio.us
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • LinkedIn
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • MySpace
  • NewsVine
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • Print this article!
RELATED STORIES

Post-Moment

Gazing On Gaza

A Night with Ninotchka Rosca

Leave a Comment

PinoyPress will delete comments that contain abusive or offensive language. That means you cannot call people names or use expletives or profanity.

MUST-READS
Political Bloodbath Continues: Widow of Slain Activist Shot Dead
New Wave of Protests Against Charter Change Set in April
Comelec’s Automation to Worsen Election Fraud — Watchdog
2008: Another Bad Year for the Philippine Press
‘Unemployment Figures Wrong; Number of Jobless Higher’
‘Nicole Is Not the Enemy’
‘Nicole’: ‘My Conscience Bothers Me’
Why Globe Broadband Sucks Big Time

USEFUL STORIES
Is the Call Center Industry a Bright Spot for New Graduates?
6 Great Ways to Vent Your Frustrations
Eating Dirt Is Actually Good For Children
Australia Offers 150 Scholarship Slots for Philippines, Asia-Pacific
Why Globe Broadband Sucks Big Time

RECENT COMMENTS
Australia Offers 150 Scholarship Slots for Philippines, Asia-Pacific (160 Comments)
    shara joy parayno: can you help me…? i want to continue my study.. i’m graduating this year and i want...
‘Nicole Is Not the Enemy’ (7 Comments)
    josé miguel: Our nation has also been continuouly raped by the continuous invasion of the Americans. How Nicole...
‘Buko’ Juice from Aromatic Coconuts Gets Boost (6 Comments)
    Atty.Charmaine Fajardo: Please email me if you are selling these Thailand AROD coconut dwarf variety or any other...
Cory Aquino’s Betrayal (5 Comments)
    Jurisprudence: I do hope God will grant her a miracle! http://hubpages.com/ hub/Cory-Aquino-The- Real-Score
LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES
‘Martsa Kontra Cha-cha’ Set
What Are 1109, 9006, and 9369 in Arroyo’s Agenda?
Environmentalists Slam Arroyo’s Sellout of Lands to Foreigners
Recruiting Militants in Southern Thailand
New Round of Oil Price Hikes Hit
Greenpeace Water Patrol Dismantles Blockade
It’s Battle of Good Vs Evil, Church Leaders Say of Cha-cha Fight
Satur: Nograles to Blame for Dispersal of Peasant Camp-Out
Philippines: A Journalist on Army Target List, Another Shot, Possibly by Soldier
In the Philippines, Targeting Journalists
MULTIMEDIA

"Sampayan ng Bayan". During its Third Congress on March 27-28, 2009, members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-US Chapter staged protest actions against RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement through a "Sampayan ng Bayan" where a clothesline with painted shirts spelling out "JUNK VFA" was wrapped around General MacArthur's statue in Los Angeles, California. (Photo courtesy of Bayan-US)

CANDLES FOR BILLANES Members of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) and other multisectoral groups held a candle lighting activity on March 13, 2009 at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani to denounce the increasing number of extrajudicial killings in the country; the most recent was environmentalist and anti-mining activist Eliezer Billanes. (Photo by Kalikasan-PNE)

Goodbye, Rebelyn Thousands joined the funeral march for Rebelyn Pitao, the daughter of a top Communist leader, in Davao City on Saturday. The protesters demanded justice for the schoolteacher, who was brutally murdered allegedly by military agents. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan)

PROTEST OVER REBELYN. Hong Kong human rights groups condemn the abduction, torture, rape and killing of Rebelyn Pitao in a picket protest held on March 11, 2009 at the Philippine Consulate General. (Photo courtesy of BAYAN-Hong Kong)

BERDUGO. Posters accusing the 10th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as "berdugo" (butcher) are posted in major streets in Davao City. The New People's Army (NPA) accused the 10th ID to be behind the killing of 20-year old Rebelyn Pitao, daughter of NPA rebel leader Leoncio Pitao. (Photo by Ruby Thursday More/AKP Images)

Around 10,000 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) gathered at the football field of Agro-Industrial Foundation College of the Philippines in Davao City on Saturday, March 7, 2009 for their 3rd Grand Summit Gathering with MNLF founding chair Prof. Nur Misuari. Some of the MNLF members traveled from as far away as Zamboanga provinces just for the half day gathering. (Photo by Keith Bacongco/AKP Images)

Teachers Demand Better Wages. Dozens of public-school teachers take to the street of Manila to demand better wages. They also criticized a proposed law that would give soldiers better salaries than those in the civilian bureaucracy. (Photo by arkibongbayan.org)

Beach Boy. A taho (soybean custard) vendor plies his trade in a seemingly desolate landscape, which is actually a beach in Opol, Misamis Oriental. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/PinoyPress)

Lumad Protest. Some 200 indigenous peoples coming from different parts of Mindanao staged a protest at the gate of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Eastern Mindanao Command in Panacan, Davao City, on Monday, March 2, 2009, to denounce the human-rights abuses allegedly perpetrated by the military in the indigenous communities. They also called for the repeal of the Mining Act. (Photo by Keith Bacongco/AKP Images)

Ban Balikatan. Activists from the group BAN Balikatan in Bicol held protest rallies on Feb. 25 to denounce the holding of the US-Philippine Balikatan exercises in the region. They criticized President Arroyo for being a "puppet" of Washington. (Photo courtesy of arkibongbayan.org)

NO to BNPP. Members of the Network Opposed "NO" to Bataan Nuclear Power Plant Revival ask members of the House of Representatives not to support House Bill 4631 which calls for the revival of the mothballed nuclear plant. Environmental and Civil society groups question the safety of nuclear power plants and instead call for the full implementation of the recently passed Renewable Energy Bill. (Photo by Gigie Cruz/AKP Images)
Back to Main Page | About PinoyPress | Contact Us | Advertise | Archives | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Credits
Copyright © 2008 PinoyPress | Manila, Philippines | Hosting & design by Web Host Philippines