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As we were heading out of Central London from Victoria station, the bus stopped along Hyde Park. A woman hopped in and smiled as soon as she saw us. It was an instantaneous, eager yet wistful smile. Then she spoke in the dialect with much excitement: "Kagagaling nyo lang po ng Pilipinas?" My huge luggage was a giveaway. I was caught by her cheerfulness. It was as if she was there to meet me, too. Then she said it's been almost ten years since she went home. There was a brief silence after that. This was one of those awkward moments when I am not sure how to emphatize.
She asked many things about the country. I didn't know if I should just say the nice things. There were a few, come to think of it. She said she has not seen her children since but she's so happy mobile phones and the internet have made their absence more and more bearable. I looked at her hands. She still had her ring on. I said she should make plans to go home soon. A lot has changed in the country and that it would surprise her, in a positive way. She was very excited to talk about her family at the same time yearning to know about any news from back home. There was some sadness and a tinge of "inggit" on her part when I responded that I am not actually in London for the long haul. "Mabuti ka pa," she said.
Then came her stop near a hospital. It was as if we've known each other for a long time. Suddenly I felt so tired and so wanting to go back home. My friend said the number of Filipino nurses in UK is quite significant. Perhaps sensing my loneliness, she said it's quite an experience when you become a recipient of such instant affinity and when they begin to openly talk about their dreams and aspirations.I was actually surprised that I felt surprised. After all, having OFW relatives is commonplace in the Philippines. I read somewhere there's an average of one or two in each household. My family being a very recent addition to that statistic. But it was different seeing them in another country.
What I saw was a different face of an OFW--not the happy, exhilarated "balikbayan"--and made me start looking at our OFW phenomenon with a different set of eyes. Questions ran on my mind. They still do. How come the government never seriously looked at how this phenomenon would shape the foundation of our nation--the family? Many studies have shown increasing incidence of breakups, legal or otherwise. But no study is ever needed to tell every Filipino about the kind of alienation it has created in families all these years.
For all that OFW money, why can't the government develop programs that will mitigate all these adverse impacts? It is hard to even think about this if you're an OFW trying to relieve your family from hand-to-mouth existence. Or if you're a housewife or a house-band left waiting for the next remittance not knowing you've been sharing your spouse's salary with his or her new family somewhere. Or that the spouse has become a totally different person--a stranger who can no longer fit in your family. You'll hear too many of these on AM radio. Most of us just choose to keep a blind eye. Money seem to find all the justifications for what has been clearly a tragic erosion of our society's fiber. Some would argue these are personal matters but I would argue that the welfare of an OFW and his family is a clear public good. The least a government can do is to do something.
I can only hide my disbelief when a top government official recently spoke at the school proudly showing off his charts announcing that on the strength of its diverse remittances alone, the Philippines can actually withstand any major crisis happening in any of the major economies. Tsk. The foreigners in the room were equally incredulous. For a major government officer on a major PR campaign for the country, saying that certainly left a bad taste on the mouth. If our country's future is largely hedged on this, perhaps, I might never see the reverse of Filipino diaspora in my lifetime?
Yes, this is the spectacular London Eye. So massive it takes 30 minutes to complete the turn. I rode on it once on my 30th birthday. And I'd consider it a most wonderful debut to my succeeding journeys... London is a world city, no less. And nothing ever beats a 360 degree view. I knew from then on that on my succeeding trips I should get on another wheel or the tallest building so I can see the whole scene.
London was my first time to leave the Philippine soil. I knew nothing about how things work there. I was only armed with the assurance that there is quite an extensive network of Filipinos and social development workers who would be taking care of me. My colleagues would say: while it's unfortunate to figure in an accident, that's about the fastest way to find a Pinoy in London. Of course, every Pinoy knows the city is teeming with top notch nurses the Philippines used to have. Brimming with excitement and wads of very useful maps such as this...
...I felt completely confident. Thankfully, I reached Victoria Station from Gatwick Airport still in one piece. Hours ago, I had a physically daunting sprint from Dubai immigration to that far-and-away boarding gate while I hear in the PA that my connecting flight was about to take off. I have never ran that fast in my entire life, I swear I had a mild nose bleed. Back at the train station, I was met by one of the most wonderful Filipinos on earth. Then we took the iconic double decker bus to the beautiful suburb of North Finchley.
This trip was among those very few special gifts that came my way partly for being at the right place at the right time-- sheer luck. Some well-meaning friends would say "we just reap the fruits of our labor." I'd say it's all of those reasons put together plus some hear-headed sense of adventure and a never-say-no attitude to a professional challenge. Of course, a chance like this was a no-brainer because it came with the privilege of getting to that side of the earth without having to go through the endless queue at the embassy. Although that is something I can never be very proud of knowing a friend of mine had to endure condescending Q&As to get that elusive seal on her passport. She's still trying. All because of love. And I'm going off the course here :>
But there is one thing I realized -- despite all that, we all eventually get off on the same plane. It doesn't matter who we are or where we come from as long as we don't quite tick off some alarm bells on terrorism. Huh? Unfortunately, the only other Filipino who joined that workshop in London did not have the same peaceful landing as I did. My program partner (he landed at Heathrow on another day) was accosted and was questioned for some time for the sole reason that he was taking some pictures while inside the airport. Were there warnings against it? None. One thing led to the other as the police found he is from the Philippines and from Mindanao, no less.
I also grew up in Mindanao and directly correlating this with some remote connection to terroristic activities would be unfair. Of course, in the world we live in nowadays, these "alarm bells" evidently becomes par for the course. We cannot blame the authorities. It is their role to ensure public safety. Well, my partner survived relatively unscathed. These were really uncertain times as more than a month after this trip, the horrible bombings happened. Not that there is any relation..What was ironic in that "little airport incident" was that we were both invited to London because of our peace-building initiatives in Mindanao.
The picture above was my take of Gatwick.
If there is one photo I would cherish the most in my entire professional life, this would be it. Or until something else bigger comes along. (I'm still young, a lot can still happen in the future :>) Gathered here is a veritable constellation of the social development world. It just so happened that my star has aligned I am somehow thrown into its nexus. This was a fascinating experience. A life-changing one. I always say 2005 was my luckiest year. Despite the challenges of a career change and the husband working overseas, all these events pointed to a positive direction.
