Many countries depend on Philippine workers<\/p>\n
Michael L. Tan, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Asia News Network, Manila<\/p>\n
Let's imagine the entire world waking up one day to discover
\nFilipinos have disappeared. I'm talking here about the six or
\nseven million Filipinos currently working overseas in countries
\nwith names that run the entire alphabet, from Angola to Zimbabwe.
\nLet's not worry first about why or how the Filipinos disappeared;
\nin fact, it becomes academic whether it's a day or a week. Just
\nimagine a world without Filipinos.<\/p>\n
Think of the homes that are dependent on Filipino
\nhousekeepers, nannies, caregivers. The homes would be chaotic as
\nkids cry out for their nannies. Hong Kong and Singaporean and
\nTaiwanese yuppie couples are now forced to stay home and
\nrealizing, goodness, there's so much of housework that has to be
\nhandled and how demanding their kids can be and hey, what's this
\nstrange language they're babbling in?<\/p>\n
It's not just the children that are affected. The problems are
\neven more serious with the elderly in homes and nursing
\ninstitutions, because Filipino caregivers have provided so much
\nof the critical services they need.<\/p>\n
When temporary contractual workers are brought in from among
\nnon-Filipinos, the elderly complain. They want their Filipino
\ncaregivers back because they have that special touch, that extra
\npatience and willingness to stay an hour more when needed.<\/p>\n
Hospitals, too, are adversely affected because so many of the
\ndisappeared Filipinos were physicians, nurses and other health
\nprofessionals. All appointments for rehabilitation services, from
\nchildren with speech problems to stroke survivors, are
\nindefinitely postponed because of disappeared speech
\npathologists, occupational and physical therapists.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the hospital administrators announce they won't
\ntake in any more patients unless the conditions are serious.
\nPatients are told to follow their doctors' written orders and, if
\nthey have questions, to seek advice on several Internet medical
\nsites. But within two days, the hospitals are swamped with new
\ncomplaints. The websites aren't working because of missing
\nFilipino web designers and website managers.<\/p>\n
Service establishments throughout the world -- restaurants,
\nsupermarkets, hotels -- all close down because of their missing
\nkey staff involved in management and maintenance. In Asia, hotels
\ncomplain about the missing bands and singers.<\/p>\n
In the United States, many commercial establishments have to
\nclose shop, not just because of the missing Filipino sales staff
\nbut because their suppliers have all been sending in notices
\nabout delays in shipments. Yup, the shipping industry has gone
\ninto a crisis because of missing Filipino seafarers.<\/p>\n
The shipping firms begin to look into the emergency
\nrecruitment of non-Filipino seafarers but then declare another
\ncrisis: They're running out of supplies of oil for their ships
\nbecause the Middle Eastern countries have come to a standstill
\nwithout their Filipino workers, including quite a few working for
\nthe oil industry.<\/p>\n
Frantic presidents and prime ministers call on the United
\nNations to convene a special session of the Security Council but
\nKofi Annan says he can't do that because the UN system itself is
\non the edge, with so many of their secretarial and clerical
\nstaff, as well as translators, having disappeared from their main
\nheadquarters in New York and Geneva, as well as their regional
\noffices throughout the world. Quite a number of UN services,
\nespecially refugee camps, are also in danger of closing down
\nbecause of missing Filipino health professionals and teachers.<\/p>\n
Annan also explains that he can't convene UN meetings because
\nthe airports in New York, Washington and other major US cities
\nhave been shut down. The reason? The disappeared Filipinos
\nincluded quite a few airport security personnel who used to check
\npassengers and their baggage.<\/p>\n
Annan calls on the World Bank and international private
\nfoundations for assistance but they're crippled, too, because
\ntheir Filipino consultants and staff are nowhere to be seen.
\nFunds can't be remitted and projects can't run without the
\ntechnical assistance provided for by Filipinos.<\/p>\n
An exasperated Annan calls on religious leaders to pray, and
\npray hard. But when he phones the Pope, he is told the Catholic
\nChurch, too, is in crisis because the disappeared include the
\nmany Filipino priests and nuns in Rome who help run day-to-day
\nactivities, as well as missionaries in the frontlines of remote
\nposts, often the only ones providing basic social services.<\/p>\n
As they converse, Annan and the Pope agree on one thing: The
\nworld has become a quieter place since the Filipinos disappeared.
\nIt isn't just the silencing of work and office equipment formerly
\nhandled by Filipinos; no, it seems there's much less laughter now
\nthat the Filipinos aren't around, both the laughter of the
\nFilipinos and those they served.<\/p>\n
I know, I know, I'm exaggerating the contributions of
\nFilipinos to the world but I'm doing what the producers of A Day
\nWithout Mexicans had in mind: Using a bit of hyperbole to shake
\npeople up. As their blurb for the film goes: \"How do you make the
\ninvisible, visible? Make them invisible.\"<\/p>\n
As I wrote this column, I did realize I was doing this not so
\nmuch for the Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwanese and Singaporeans and
\nAmericans who don't appreciate us enough, than for us, who as
\nFilipinos, are pretty good at putting ourselves down, at making
\nourselves invisible.<\/p>",
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