APRIL - JUNE 2005
Featured Stories The Yaya Sisterhood By the World's Bedside A Yearning for Rice The One who Stayed Trained to Care Out of the (Balikbayan) Box Special Delivery Digital Filipinos Men as Mothers Educating Melanie Physicians of the People The Philippines is in the Heart My Arabian Nights Necessary Journeys iFacts
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Sheila S. Coronel
Chit Estella
Candy Quimpo Gourlay
Danilova Molintas
Avie Olarte
Luz Rimban
Photos by Luis Liwanag
Jose Torres Jr.
Alecks P. Pabico
Vinia M. Datinguinoo
Yvonne T. Chua
Susan F. Quimpo
Jose Torres Jr.
Cecile C.A. Balgos
CHARLIE JAMERO
IS MR. Torres' article his own account of his experience and as a writer of some bored and lonely OFWs doing what most would considered immoral and indecent espceially those who are married, or is this a generalization of OFWs who most bear the the loneliness and boredom of working months and even years away from home while commiting themselves to total sacrifice for the sake of their love ones??
Being away, one can not avoid such happentance, even in such places where consequences of such actions are unimaginabe to the liberal minded. We are all aware many a broken homes, marriages already caused by long separation and infidelity. And Mr. Torres article, without caveat or even warning that the story was based on account of his experienced, put every OFWs on the supect list and it does not help the very people who does the most sacrifice for the country and their families. His account maybe true but to generalize, without telling his readers that this perhaps is a very small minority in very few places. I suggest to anyone who read this article to be very objective as this reflect only the author's account and experienced recounted from years ago.
I'VE READ your article on filipino life in saudi arabia. and i cannot but help to agree to some extent. dismal it may be, and to some distasteful (even to me), there is still the bright side for filipinos working in a mideast country. right now i am working as a nurse tutor in the sultanate of oman and am aware of some of what you had experienced among filipinos here. there is, however, religious freedom here as catholic churches can be accessed in some prominent regions of the sultanate. we are able to proceed with a healthy religious life because of this by choice. i say by choice because some of us may opt to enjoy worldly pleasures.
the bright side? we have good paying jobs which, unfortunately, the philippines cannot afford to pay us. we are able to send the much needed cash to families back home so they could eat three square meals a day. but of course, we know that already. that is why we are here.
then what's the point of this comment! the sad thing about your article is the message that some of us act like beasts out of reign. judgmental, perhaps but, as a female filipina working in a rich purely-muslim country, the generalizations built from the not-so-secret unacceptable activities of some of our countrymen puts most of us to risks of harrassment and ultimately crime victimization. we look for our own doom. and this overshadow whatever great accomplishments some of us had ever done in these countries. it puts to light our lack of self-discipline and perhaps our loose morals. should'nt we prove otherwise though?
of course, gleaning from history of OFW experiences, we cannot say that all of the horrific abuses done to some of the filipinos working here were of their own making. i do believe that bad people are splattered to all races but host countries will not believe that of themselves specially a muslim country. it will always be blamed on the victim.
as a nurse tutor here, i am teaching psychiatric nursing and am exposed to patients who find their way to the "looney bin". I saw some filipina who had succumbed to mental illness because they were unable to cope with the rigours of OFW life. and i personally grieve for their fate. many wishful thoughts also run through my brain as i watch them suffer but of course the ifs and whens and the blames are useless when matters like this occur.
i would like to repeat that reading your article had left a distasteful feeling within me and i feel ashamed that i am a filipina. but that shame spurted me to write my opinion, (of which i normally do not do as i am more of a passive person) and i'm glad that i had. and that same shame would like to bring forth the message that we can be better than we are. let us help our countrymen restore whatever self-respect they ever had when they left the country to look for better paying jobs (or a job which they never had in our country).
OFWs had been celebrated as heroes but can we truly be called heroes when some of us behave like beasts! Is sexual gratification the only alternative to a lonely life! Don"t these illicit alliances between married filipinos destroy our culture more than anything because they have to satisfy a "need for intimacy" to however nefarious an extent as can be? Are we really helping the economy when we leave broken families in our country in exchange for an illicit relationship abroad? Should we allow ourselves to suffer our childen to become fatherless/motherless because of this? What happened to our Christian virtues, in the first place? It seems we really had thrown it to the wolves.
thank you very for this opportunity.
THIS IS an excellent article written by a good journalist. I'm writing from the US and as far as I'm concerned, we should have attacked Saudi Arabia right after 9/11 and it is there we should be fighting the war on terror. Our leaders in Washington are in bed with the Saudis and I doubt that that will ever happen, though.
A great article, just the same!
I REALLY like your article about Arabian Nights.
Majority of what you have said is true, Filipinos here almost everything just to escape the 'loneliness' here in K.S.A.
I've been an avid fan of PCIJ even before, keep up the good work!
I ENJOYED browsing Mr. Torres' My Arabian Nights. Although he depicted his personal experiences loud and clear, I didn't like the sound and added imagination he presented Saudi Arabia and the OFWs lifestyle. Believe it or not there was that sensationalism in his journalistic attempt to show to the Filipinos how bad it is to work and live in Saudi Arabia. In my own experience and opinion it's far from reality and facts.
Let me elaborate farther. We should all accept, as Mr. Torres did, that Saudi Arabia is a 100% Islamic country. Meaning its way of life is founded, based and bounded by the Holy Quran. In that concept we should view the life, culture and thinking, way of life of the Saudis, its countrymen, government, and its guests (OFWs, pilgrims,etc.). I know for a fact that like me Mr. Torres is a Filipino, Christian and a journalist who loves to view things in his own perspective. But journalism has its objectivity. Subjective observations and interpretations of what the journalist sees and feels are personal which must be taken with a grain of salt. And not a credo! Subjectivism sometimes maligns the truth of what is real and factual. Although it adorns the presentation of what is written, it should be limited to something personal. But it seems Mr. Torres generalized his personal experiences and observations for all OFWs working and making a living in Saudi Arabia. This kind of generalization is tantamount to heresy, an unforgivable sin and deserves condemnation.
May I remind Mr. Torres that if not for the OFWs in the Middle East, the Philippine economy is doomed to wallow in mud and sinks to the deepest seas. Thanks to the sacrifices and heroism of the OFWs, our country is surviving and moving inspite of the difficulties and problems she is facing here and now. Mr. Torres scrapped and threw this issue/part of the OFWs to his forgotten memories.
MARIANNE CASTILLO
ANTHONY FLORES
RICCI SANTIAGO, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
MOHAMED ESTOLANO, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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