International Domestic Workers Day

STATEMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC WORKERS’ DAY, 

16 June 2012 

Ratify and Implement ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers Now! 

Today, as we commemorate the first anniversary of the adoption of ILO Convention 189 (C189) on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, we call on ILO Member States to immediately ratify and mplement C189 as a demonstration of their global commitment made at the 100th Session of the International Labour Conference on 16 June 2011.

Ratifying C189 is important, urgent and a priority! Wide ratifications of C189 would benefit an stimated 100 million domestic workers around the world who for long have been unrecognized,neglected, and forgotten.

We commend Uruguay for being the first country to ratify C189. We are optimistic that this step orward will encourage the rest of the world to follow in particular the Philippines which also committed to be among the first countries to ratify the Convention.

We call on States, employers, recruiters, civil society, religious groups, and the general public to ecome instruments of change and reinvent their views on domestic work. Specifically, we raise ur call to the following:

• Governments to ratify C189 and follow through on their ethical and legal obligations to extend to both local and migrant domestic workers the same rights as those of other workers. 
• Governments are urged to provide an enabling environment that will facilitate respect for rights, provide ample protection and promote holistic development of domestic workers.
•  Governments to include domestic workers in national labour laws and enact provisions that address the specific needs and concerns of domestic workers especially child domestworkers and migrant domestic workers. 
• Governments to repeal policies that disproportionately discriminate and criminalize domestic workers and effectively enforce existing policies that seek to promote the rights and welfare of domestic workers. 
• Governments, employers and the general public to recognize the contribution of domestic and workers to the development of societies where they work and treat them with respectdignity. 
• Recruiters to stop the exploitation of migrant domestic workers through collection of exorbitant recruitment fees which lead domestic workers into forced labor and debt bondage. 
• Trade unions and labour rights advocates to show their concrete support by assisting domestic workers to exercise their right to association and to join or form a trade union
• For trade unions to expand solidarity with migrant domestic workers across borders. Religious groups to take an active role in promoting public consciousness with respect to the culture of inequalities and stereotypes that work against domestic workers particularlwomen domestic workers.
• Religious groups to continue with their role of providing refuge and comfort for domestic workers who have been exploited and abused.
• Domestic workers to organize, speak for themselves and mobilize support for the atification and implementation of C189. 

Domestic Work is Work!
Domestic Workers are Workers!
Domestic Work is Not Slavery!
Ratify C189!

Singed by: 

• ACTFORM‐ Sri Lanka 
• AFL‐CIO Ain O Salish Kendro (ASK)‐ Bangladesh 
• Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL– Philippines unity Development ‐ Bangladesh Association for Community Development - Bangladesh 
• Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines ‐Migrants Center‐ Philippines 
• ATIKHA‐ Philippines 
• Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies‐Bangladesh 
• Cambodia Legal Education Center (CLEC) ‐ Cambodia 
• Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center (CLMC)‐ Lebanon 
• Center for Indian Migrant Studies (CIMS)‐ India 
• Center for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) – Nepal 
• Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA) – Philippines 
•  Coalition for Migrants Rights (CMR) ‐ Hongkong 
• Federasi Serikat Pekerja Metal Indonesia (FSPMI) ‐ Indonesia 
• Federation of Free Workers (FFW)– Philippines 
• German Commission for Justice and Peace‐ Germany 
• Global Network‐ Asia Helpers for Domestic Helpers (HDH)‐ Hongkong 
• Hongkong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) - Hongkong 
• Hope Workers Center (HWC)‐ Taiwan 
• Hsinchu Migrants and Immigrants Services Center (HMISC) 
• Humanitarian Organization for Migration and Economics Delopment (HOME) - Singapore 
• Institute of Social Development (ISD) - Sri Lanka 
• International Domestic Workers Network (IDWN) JALA PRT‐ Indonesia 
• KAKAMMPI‐ Philippines Kanlungan Centre Foundation‐ Philippines 
• Konfederasi Serikat Pekerja Indonesia (KSPI)‐Indonesia Labor Education and Research Network (LEARN) ‐ Philippines 
• Labour Education Foundation (LEF) - Pakistan 
• Legal Support for Children and Women (LSCW) - Cambodia 
• Migrant Care‐ Indonesia 
• Migrant Forum in Asia 
•  Migrant Forum India – India 
• National Domestic Workers Movement‐ India 
• POURAKHI‐ Nepal 
• Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee (PNCC)‐Nepal 
• Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA-Academy) - India 
• Serikat Buruh Migran Indonesia (SBMI) - Indonesia 
• Solidarity Center Sr. Immaculate De Alwis, ACTFORM‐ Sri Lanka 
• SUMAPI‐ Philippines Transient Workers Count Too‐ Singapore 
• Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation, Inc. - Philippines 
• Visayan Forum Foundation Incorporated - Philippines 
• WARBE Development Foundation – Bangladesh 
• Youth Action Nepal (YOAC) ‐ Nepal

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Filipinos

Our gluttonous, do-nothing leaders and languishing countrymen

It's heart-wrenching to read the posting here about the police in S. Arabia arresting officers and members of the support group KGS together with victimized OFWs they were trying to help. It brings into focus the many stories about our languishing countrymen who are in that cruel part of the world just so they can have honest work to better their lives. In this context may I ask what our government is doing to assure that our people have access to law and justice? Has there been a definitive response in words and deeds from Philippine officials concerned regarding the inhuman treatment of Filipinos by their employers and what they have done and are doing in this regard?

Instead, we have the following additional information about a thousand female OFW's who had managed to escape the tyranny of their masters and now congregate in a so-called holding area of the Philippine consulate in Jeddah, which the informant said "is like a manila city jail that is congested and lack of raw and drinking water."

Again, may I ask where are our embassy officials, the departments of labor and justice and foreign affairs. Where are those publicity-seeking presidential candidates who have been harking about their Middle East rescue heroics? For once lets get real angry on behalf of our languishing people everywhere if only to persuade our bloated officials to move their fat asses to help them!

To our globe-trotting leader of a banana republic and her baggage handlers and food tasters who think a million pesos is nothing to gorge about: Here's one more way your excesses may find a worthy outlet and for once get your citizens' gratitude in return.

Subject: [OFW-Texas] OFW DOMESTIC HELPERS BEYOND CONTROL
Date: 8/23/2009 8:12:56 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
From: mario.panlilio@yahoo.com

I just finished helping the rescue of 2 OFW domestic helpers from Taif Saudi Arabia, the 2 is at present in the holding area of the Philippine consulate Jeddah, they are complaining of bad environment at the holding area. They said that it is like a manila city jail that is congested and lack of raw and drinking water. The Female OFW's now in that holding area in Jeddah is around 1000 and it looks like that the Philippine government is running out of control in getting the OFW's justice. Most of them has pending cases against their employers and to me if not remedied soon will keep on increasing until the OFW's become old and sick in this unsanitary living condition.

According to the two almost every other day there are "takas" coming in to the holding area.

The case of the two rescued from taif is supposed to be finished now because during the rescue the Saudi sponsor is caught on the spot and jailed the two did not make TAKAS. The following day the family of the saudi agreed to pay 10,000 saudi riyals each to the two plus one-way ticket to Manila. I am thinking now if there are glitches on the agreement. The case should be followed up from POEA and DFA Manila before its too late. They were in Taif for only 8 Months and complains that most of the time Emilda is being hit in any part of her body and face anytime there is misunderstanding due to language barrier Sometimes avoiding attempted rape. The other OFW is raped 3 times and sometimes orally. They asked help from me to contact the proper people in Jeddah.

This is the info of the two Female OFW's
1. Emilda Alcayde Esiderio = from Capiz, age around 43 yrs old, married with
four childrens 1 college in Roxas city.
Celpon number= 009665-66232509

2. Luz dela Cruz = from Nueva Ecija, age around 30 yrs old, single and eldest Daughter.
Celpon number= 009665-53707541

They were rescued last August 12, 2009, I received the information about Emilda July 20, 2009 , but after that her celpon was confiscated by her madam (arabyana). The madam called me after 3 days and warned me not to inform the authorities about what happened to Emilda.

But August 9, 2009 Luz dela Cruz told me that she is also in the same Saudi family with Emilda and that they are planning to escape while their group with the Saudi Family will spend 3-days in a resort in Jeddah. So that I told Luz to be careful be safe and that it is better to inform the Philippine consulate about the escape.

So the rescue was done properly with the coordination of Saudi Police and Philippine consulate. But the problem now is the proper resolution of their case.

The recruitment agency that processed the two is WAVEX with phone number 0063-2-3026454.

The flood of OFW's coming to Saudi Arabia particularly the domestic helpers keeps increasing everyday and it should be reversed or controlled due to numerous cases now pending her in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. There is a place in Jeddah called GAndara bridge used as standby area for those OFW's runaways and wanted to resolved their case quickly by being deported by the Immigration department. The environment at the Bridge is more worst than the holding areas in the Embassy and consulates.

As an ABP member and an OFW myself this is my contribution for the well-being of our country and people and soon after my retirement I will continue to find solution in preventing the mass inflow of domestic helpers and unskilled OFW in this injusticed country.

See also: OFW Support Group KGS Arrested & Detained in Saudi Arabia

*********************************************************************************

Dionesio C. Grava - Part-time community journalist based in Los Angeles and editorial writer at Forum Asia.

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corruption scandals Filipinos Filipino-Americans Overseas Filipinos Human Rights

OFW Support Group KGS Arrested & Detained in Saudi Arabia

Saudi police raided the safe house of Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS or Brotherhood in the Middle East) a member-organization of Migrante-Middle East where distressed and abused OFW runaways seek refuge. Migrante-ME coordinator John Monterona in a press release stated the following developments:

“We confirm that the safe house of KGS, a member organization of Migrante, where distress and run away OFWs are temporarily seeking refuge was raided by the local police last Friday at about 3:00 p.m.,” said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-ME regional coordinator.

Monterona said KGS was conducting its regular weekly case dialogs and counseling to OFW victims of maltreatment and abuses who ran away from their employers.

Monterona said ten (10) of its officers and member, and 3 service workers have been sent to Bahdiya Police Station in Riyadh for investigation. While the (5) distress OFW women were brought to Malaz Jail.

“KGS Officers and members have been giving advises to run away and distress OFWs before they will be formally endorse to POLO-OWWA as part of its rights and welfare assistance program (RWAP),” Monterona added.

This is very disturbing news indeed when people who cares and acts as support group are treated like criminals for helping their fellow men especially those abused and distressed migrant workers who have no one to turn to in their trying times of despair. Although we cannot ascertain if this is a case of criminalizing good Samaritans I cannot understand why the Saudi authorities have not released all of the "accused" once they learned that they were support groups for distressed and abused migrant workers.

In the latest news reported by Veronica Uy of Inquirer Global nation it appears that the group was arrested on suspicion of violating the kingdom’s “cultural law” prohibiting unmarried men and women from congregating. A quote from Veronica Uy’s report titled OFWs detained for violating Arab culture law:

At the same time, Migrante-Middle East coordinator John Leonard Monterona said three of those detained have already been released to the custody of their employers. They are: Binang Jilhano, a certain Jams, and Eric Jocson, who was arrested with his three-year-old son.

While some have already been freed, the rest continue to be detained without charges being filed against them.

Monterona identified the rest who are still in jail as Mario F. Ben, Mike Garlan, Lito Fedelino, Ronilo Reyes, and Rustico Marcos. He said they are members of Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS or Brotherhood in the Middle East), a member-organization of Migrante-Middle East.

He identified the distressed or runaway workers who were arrested with the KGS members as: Rey Balagtas, Elvira De Guzman, Clemia Corpus, Sarah Gumansing, Rosa Salazar, and Amauri Meris.

As if the news is not bad enough wherein good Samaritans are criminalized it gets worse when you read the response of ignoramuses whose mindset of divisiveness and hatred blaming the victims just makes you wonder what have become of our people in the Philippines. Instead of sympathy and support they blame those who are arrested blaming them for violating Saudi laws without even knowing all the pertinent details of the case. What a sorry excuse of a human being displaying this kind of behavioral aberration that is really disturbing and yet it does not surprise us anymore because this is clearly a manifestation of a sick society brought about by endemic corruption.

In one of the response which I find troubling and I am hoping against hope that this is not accurate because it really shows the ugly side of some people. Why in the name of gourmet pigging out president will a fellow countryman wish their own people to get in trouble with Saudi Police and the risk of incarceration in Middle East jails where horrific experience awaits them? It appears according to Red7’s response at Global nation that a fellow Filipino reported to the police that a “party” was going on at the safe house. Although there was a Videoke singing going on no alcohol was found at the premise, the women were at another room wearing their abaya’s but just the same they were rounded up and hauled to jail. Whoever reported them ought to know better the consequence of their action but then again there are insensitive people not even thinking simply because they are incapable of using their brains if ever they do have one.

This reminds me of a post here at Pedestrian Onserver GB on Men raping Men which I quote below:

In Jean P. Sasson's book "Princess a true story of life behind the veil in Saudi Arabia", we are able to see a glimpse of perverted mindset in a society living in the past with too much money and idle time. This is a society trapped in time desperately hanging on to the tribal culture of the middle ages in the way they treat their women and the cruelty of men against their women. In it we see a society where men can decide to end the lives of their women that are seen as a possession whose purpose in life is to satisfy and give birth in the propagation of their clan.

There is one particular horrible story that was in the book and this is about the maid of the Princess named Marci a Filipina and her friend Madeline. Inspiring tale of courage and daring shown by Marci and Antoine one of the Princess Filipino driver who risked everything in locating a friend in distress. The risk and danger they took is almost good for a suspense movie script but this is one is real and dangerous. You had that yearning for a good ending but this is real life where the ending is not what one expects in a feel good movie.

They found Madeline alright in a dingy villa owned by a Yemeni who abused and used Madeline as one of her sex reliever to satisfy his dog like sex cravings. A family sex toy for the sons, trapped in a hell hole did her best to escape only to be returned by the villagers to her inhumane pervert “master”. Upon learning of her friend’s plight Marci was frantic did everything she could calling up the consulate only to be rebuffed with indifference and acceptance of helplessness. On her return to the Philippines she tried her best to present the problem of Madeline to their local politicians but no one lifted a finger. The sad part is her friend was not on speaking terms with her when her contract expired thinking she was abandoned by her friend. Why did they not complain to the police, the Princess inquired? Truly sickening when Marci replied that the police never listen to complains of Filipinos and a woman in a society where the words of a man is taken as absolute truth the chances of the victim thrown to jail is more likely to happen.

Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi it appears that they have “five runaway maids” (in one of the email from Curtis of streetwisephilippines3 a yahoo group) every week that the consulate has to convert their garage into make-shift dormitory to accommodate the swelling number of abused Filipinas. The best they can do or hope for is to get the employer to pay the woman's ticket home, never mind pressing charges or their salary. In a highly prejudicial society where woman are treated like commodities what more with “servants” and a woman at that has no chance of being heard in a court of law that is male superiority oriented.

Luckily for the professional OFWs as Curtis further stated has not been affected or victimized unlike those in the labor and domestic jobs, is it because they are easy targets in might is right society? What are we going to do about it? What is the government doing about it? How should we respond to all these barbaric treatment of our countrymen?

These are the fate of some runaway thus the assistance of support groups like KGS is vital when police and townspeople returns abused and stressed OFWs in slave like situation back to their abusive predatory employers. Support groups are very crucial in helping distressed OFWs who can’t trust anyone fearing being sent back or worse accused of trumped up charges by guilty employers to cover up for their misdeeds.

*****************************************************************************
Update: 8/24/09

Dennis Carcamo reports Saudi police drop case vs 18 Filipinos, KGS secretary general Mike Garlan and member Rustico Marcos are expected to be released anytime soon who was in prison for 11 days. Runaway OFWs Clemia Corpuz, Rosa Salazar, Amauri Meriz and Reynaldo Balagtas will all be deported while two of the five detained OFWs -- Sarah Gumansing and Elvira De Guzman -- have already been released to their respective employers.

See also: Our gluttonous, do-nothing leaders and languishing countrymen

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POEA MC 04 Resurrected

The change mantra is obviously not working with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s questionable Garcified mandate when in their usual sneaky manner re-imposed the scandalous POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Agency) Memorandum Circular 04. Surprise, surprise, after buckling due to the protest it has been receiving from Hong Kong based migrant groups there it is again to usher in the New Year with shameless resurrection on the ban for direct hiring.

Fools and greed’s galore, as if no one will notice such shameless sinister act on the pretense of “ensuring the protection of the rights and welfare” of domestic helpers when in truth and in fact it only serves to protect the interest of greedy recruitment agencies out to fleece hard working migrants of their hard earned income.

How exactly will the ban ensure the protection of the rights and welfare of domestic helpers when the real problem is the overcharging of agency fees is baffling to say the least? The ban is basically protecting the interest of recruiters and not the domestic helpers where about 74% in the Chinese territory were employed through recruitment agencies according to Dolores Balladares-Pelaez, chair of the United Filipinos in HK-Migrante and convener of the SKRAP coalition, to quote:

Of those who were recruited by agencies, 54 percent paid P60,000 to more than P100,000 as agency fees, according to the survey.

Overcharging of recruitment fees and the lack of government protection and services are the widespread and serious problems we are facing, not direct hiring. Direct hiring is in fact the only recourse we have to get saved from overcharging of greedy recruiters.

Obviously, the ban has the effect of cornering the market boosting their agency fees with additional 26% of unrealized overpricing revenues from those employed through direct hiring. Shame on POEA for resurrecting a policy that creates an environment that encourages milking the cow to death. Like vultures waiting patiently for a dying persons’ last breath to feed on their carcasses but this time they are not waiting but feeding on their victims while they still desperately clinging to life. Feasting time like a fiesta of gluttons with the help of POEA while shamelessly portraying themselves as the savior of OFWs, sad indeed that only shows the irrelevance of a corrupted mindset of people ruining errr running the Philippine government, the real problem according to Dolores Balladares-Pelaez as published at Inq7:

The OFW leader added that placement fees are supposed to have been abolished by the recruitment guidelines of the POEA issued in 2007 but recruiters continue to collect huge amount of fees under the guise of training charges.

“What the guidelines did was to worsen the problem as they removed any legal limitation to what recruiters can charge to migrants. Up to now, no effective actions have been done to stamp up overcharging,” she lamented.

Before the guidelines were issued, the legal limit for a placement fee was approximately P20,000 or the equivalence of a one-month salary, Pelaez recalled.

Pelaez claimed that the conciliation process that the Philippine consulate has been using to resolve disputes on overcharging was slow. The complaints against recruiters are no longer pursued once the complaining OFWs go home, according to Pelaez.

The migrant leader said overcharging has been happening too in other countries. In Taiwan, she said, placement fees for OFWs ranged from P80,000 to P140,000 and paid in cash or through salary deductions. In the Middle East, placement agencies “do not care about the plight of domestic workers and even force a number of them to work with other employers with no or little pay until their loans are paid,” she said.

“Protection will never come from recruiters who are only concerned with how much profit they can get from us. Ban on direct hiring is just the government’s way to pass on its responsibility of providing assistance to the OFWs to the recruitment agencies,” she explained.

You can fool people some of the time but you cannot fool people most of the time and1,000 Filipino migrants responded with a protest at the Philippine Consulate general in Hong Kong according to United Filipinos in Hong Kong-Migrante, where they presented a petition against the ban signed by 12,130 Overseas Filipino Workers.

The insidious ban only strengthened the resolve of Filipino migrant workers to form a new coalition called the Samahan laban sa Katiwalian ng mga Recruitment Agencies at Patakarang Ban sa Direct Hiring (SKRAP, Association against the Corruption of Recruitment Agencies and the Ban on Direct Hiring), composed of 75 Filipino migrant organizations in Hong Kong.

Once again the "geniuses" of the government bureaucrats are showing their true colors motivated not by protecting the interest and welfare of the people but the profits of recruitment agencies, don't you ever wonder why? You may want to visit Lester Cavestany's blog his take on POEA Memorandum No.4 - Worse Than the Malu Fernandez Controversy is worth a read.

Related article:

• OFWs Slams POEA MC No. 4
• Distressed OFW in Unjust Legal Predicament Under Con Gen Ezzedin Tago's Watch
• Saving Kabayan [countryman] OFW Ryan Torres Anievas
• Engaging Diaspora in Development - Lessons Learned, Challenges & Trends
• Undocumented Children Migrants Casualties of Migration & Poverty
• Illegal Filipino Migrant Street Children in Sabah, Malaysia
• Pagpag, A disgusting Glimpse on Poverty
• Bloggers Unite-Against Peddlers of Human Misery & Corruption
• Filipina OFW being Kept as Sex Slave, an RX
• Filipina OFW being Kept as Sex Slave
• Modern Day Heroes or Commodities in Human Trafficing
• Children of Poverty in the Philippines
• Children Casualties of Poverty in the Philippines
  
• Modern Day Heroes or Commodities in Human Trafficking of Slaves?
• Social Cost of Migration for Women OFW
• Men Raping Men
• The Dangers Men Face in Unlikely Situation

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Harry & Paul BBC Comedy Show takes a Farcical Detour

It seems the Philippine government is really taking this “seriously” according to Times Online Alberto Romulo the Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary summoned the British Ambassador to explain why the BBC had broadcast a comedy skit involving Harry Enfield, in which a Filipina housemaid was cajoled into having sex with a British suburbanite. Just how serious are they treating this matter? Serious enough for the Philippine embassy in London to send letters to BBC, the Secretary of State for Women and the Press Complaints Commission, to protest “this slur on our domestic workers” in Britain according to Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Cornejos. Here is a quote from Times Online:

The BBC has made no comment but the British Embassy in Manila distanced itself from the broadcaster by saying the organisation has editorial independence and the views expressed and portrayed by the network “are completely independent” from the Government.

It said Filipinos in Britain “are an important part of British society, making invaluable contributions to our scientific and service sectors, and enriching UK culture”.

The plight of millions of Filipinos working overseas is a sensitive issue for the Philippines, whose economy is aided by millions of pounds sent home by expatriates.

This is big and while I am tempted to join the bandwagon of protest what holds me back is when I see the likes of SiRAUL O. GOONzales stating he will sign the petition. Gonzales the one that never cease to amaze people for continually embarrassing himself in public that the Developmentally Unfit Movement Brigade better known as DUMB has given Gonzales their most coveted award for this statement:

You just want to magnify this kind of story. You want to make Mr. Beltran feel big, like a giant, when he is a pygmy.

Well blow me down and slap me silly the petition was about racism and this nut case wants to affix his dishonorable errrr “honorable” name on this issue. There goes the petitioners’ credibility down the toilet. But then again this is an outburst against satire and absurdity. Of course people will react according to their level of “sensitivity” but on the other hand it can also become a farce in itself when you see the likes of ignorant Philippine officials coordinating the protest movement in Britain. With the likes of siRaulO Gonzales leading the pack, the Harry & Paul BBC Comedy Show takes a Farcical Detour coming to a complete circle into a circus side freak show. The comment section of the Times Online article has some very interesting reactions:

I thought it was very funny but also thought it poked fun at the Northerner and not the maid.

I guess humour is not universal.

Joe, Edinburgh, Scotland

I'd like an apology from Harry and Paul as well. Not because I found it offensive, just because it's not funny...

Sophie, Birmingham

Calm down, calm down! Is an apt Times Online article response to the brouhaha stating what should have been the appropriate response:

"Oi! Enfield!! No!!!" or perhaps "now I do not believe you wanted to do that." Either way, one of Britiain's top comedians has got himself involved in a diplomatic incident in Manila today after Filipino officials failed to see the funny side of a sketch that mocked domestic workers living in Britain.

BBC News article Philippines angry at Enfield show has this statement from the producers:

Harry and Paul is a post-watershed comedy sketch series and as such tackles many situations in a comedic way," said the spokesman, from production company Tiger Aspect.

"Set in this context, the sketch in question is so far beyond the realms of reality as to be absurd - and in no way is intended to demean or upset any viewer.

See, this is devoid of reality that is even absurd so if one is seething with anger or feeling lonesome like me against the world it is really silly and to react in such fashion sanctioned by the Philippine government no less definitely goes beyond absurdity. Connie Veneracion is asking some questions below:

Okay, from what I’ve read, the joke is tasteless. No wonder I’ve never heard of the show before — I don’t watch trashy shows. But violation of the maid’s human rights? Isn’t the maid in question a CHARACTER played by an actress? How can there be human rights violation when the subject is a fictional character? In fact, if the actress who portrayed the maid is, in fact, a Filipina, shouldn’t she be a target of the rage too? She willingly played the part, after all, including that specific scene so there’s a reasonable assumption there that she didn’t feel there was anything objectionable about it.

This is really a comical if not not farcical detour to absurdity and I blame the Philippine left movement in not being clear on who really are the lahing api (exploited) mindset, now we see those in the corridor of political and economic power acting and mimicking as if they "belong" to the real exploited class. Loren Legarda a presidential aspirant had this to say in a privilege spit errr speech, to quote:

There was the desperate attack by the Desperate Housewives on our medical practitioners abroad. And now this BBC's rear of mockery. We must condemn these assaults with resounding assertion of our dignity lest this become commonplace. Our inability to defend the honor of the Filipinos, particularly those exiled abroad as overseas Filipino workers will only strengthen this pattern, this trend and may even give the impression to the world that these insults are true. Overseas Filipino workers are dispersed and constitute a minority in almost all parts of the world. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Filipinos and Filipinas are being physically, sexually, and psychologically assaulted in their places of employment abroad. Filipinos abroad are vulnerable. We must act to protect their dignity. I have proposed Senate Resolution No. 708 expressing the sense of the Senate condemning in strongest terms the demeaning portrayal of Filipina migrant workers in the BBC comedy program which has tarnished the image of Filipinos abroad.

I point to the issue of comity and solidarity which a great country such as the United Kingdom owes to the Filipino nation. It is not too much to ask for respect. We would be remiss in our duties not just as senators, but as Filipinos in whose veins flows the blood of greatness, a race who historically showed the world its worth.

Just because you think that way and easily influenced by silly absurd comedy show it does not follow that the rest of mankind has the same "level" of ignorance errr sensibilities. Just look at how disgraceful, shameless, and silly when we see Dennis Alcoreza that councilor from Manila booted out as the operator of the abattoir marching out on the street as if they belong to the great unwashed and destitute of Evita Peron crying for Argentina errr I meant like a militant activist when they actually belong to the ruling elite is just ridiculous. Oh by the way respect is earned, you cannot demand respect from others especially the whole wide world when they see that you are "militantly" fighting a fictional character.

This response from cornholiogogs speaks loudly:

Are you going to let these guys define your self image? As long as Wowowwee and Eat Bulaga still attract sponsors and very willing studio audiences, I don't want to hear any Filipinos complain about how some external country portrays us badly. We can manage by ourselves in our own soil in that department, thank you very much.

I say amen brother……….. amen. I don't think I have the right nor am I in a position to prevent others from getting their feelings hurt or those who want to voice out their indignation but really, what makes us different then from that Saudi Islamic Cleric who Issued a Fatwa against Mickey Mouse? While the Saudi Cleric issues a death sentence which we don't (thank gawd or Allah) there is that similarity in that we are fighting a common enemy............. a make believe character. The Cleric wanting to kill a cartoon character and the lahing api (exploited) wanting an apology for "racial sexist exploitation" on a fictional character. Really? Now what do you call the producers and creators of those scantily clad Filipinas trying hard to be sexy gyrating on the Philippine idiot box as seen on the likes of that stampede prone Wowowowee or Eat Bulaga?

For whatever its worth the controversy that it generates is actually helping Harry & Paul in their comeback, thanks and no thanks to the Philippine diplomatic officials and politicians who shamelessly ride the tide of victim mentality sentiment that only validates the intended absurdity of the show at the expense of oversensitive people getting into the mix.


Related articles:

• BBC’s Harry & Paul Comedy Show seen as Racist and Infuriates Filipinos (watch the video clip here)
  
• Marichu Baoanan & Lauro Baja’s Diplomatic Immunity
• Mail Order Bride in the House! 'Ching Ching Chang' says H&M Employee
• Marichu Baoanan vs. Lauro Baja Controversy, a case of Domestic Help Dispute?
• Former Philippine UN Ambassador Lauro Baja Sued for Human Trafficking
• The Filipina OFW being Kept as Sex Slave, an RX
• Bloggers Unite-Against Peddlers of Human Misery & .Corruption
• Raping Women and Girls for your Technological Convenience
• Filipina OFW Being Kept as Sex Slave
• Modern Day Heroes or Commodities in Human Trafficking of Slaves?
• Social Cost of Migration for Women OFW
• Men Raping Men
• The Dangers Men Face in Unlikely Situation

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