SIRvice

"the filipino is worth dying for" - benigno aquino jr, father of current president benigno aquino III (whom i refuse to call noynoy, or worse p'noy, because i'm annoyed by the mockery of politics embodied by infantilization of filipino politician's names)

"the filipino is worth hiring"- roland m. dimaya, awesome blogger

so following the tradition of filipino linguistic ingenuity, i'm calling this entry SIRvice, pronounced 'service.' why? because this is what i'm called everywhere here in the Philippines. although their pronunciation is a bit elongated. 's' hissed like a snake, 'ir' pronounced like a long 'errrrrrr.'

walk into estarbucks. "hi sir, welcome to estarbucks"
walk through a department store. "hi sir" "welcome sir" "sir, would you like to try..."
get out of the car. "good evening sir" [or even more spicy - "hello boss" "boss, kain na tayo"]

i guess this is where i can clarify what i previously described as living at a bus terminal. my family historically owns and operates a bus line, traveling from manila to the northern province of ilocos. in recent years, things have gone downhill for various reasons which i find useless to discuss or even think about. (awkward silence....). anywho, attached to the main bus terminal is where my family lives, in a pseudo-apartment complex. the family cars obviously park in the terminal and since the bus drivers and conductors know my face, they call me 'boss.' ('boss' is usually used as a term for someone you don't know anyway, kinda like 'amigo') now again, i'm not tooting any horns, but i find it interesting that men old enough to be my grandfather are calling me 'boss.' last i checked, i was in no way involved in employing, paying, or interacting with you. in some ways, i feel guilty. here are men that i presume were hired by my grandfather or my dad and by transitive property, work for me.

i know, i know, that sounds like some mighty horn tooting. but i think one thing that i've realized and i've acted on, in silently nodding and smiling as they call me boss, is that they don't work for me. in some ways, this is possibly the difference between my actions and those of say, my family here in the philippines. (horn tooting!)

extrapolating this 'sir'vice to the greater country is something that i think i can attempt to do. as i said, here are these men, who work in various capacities driving, collecting (and most likely, pocketing) money, fixing engines, some for 40 years, some for 4 days. this is their lifestyle, this is their job. part of this job, is clearly showing some type of respect for who they assume to be the 'owners' of the business. again by transitive property and simple observation, as i walk to the car every morning, door opened for me, laptop and belongings carried down for me, they refer to me as 'boss.' this little punk ass kid who farts and burps at the same time, watches mindless vh1 reality shows when bored, and has no clue of the operation of this bus business is defined as their boss? well, sir, i think not. you can call my dad 'boss,' i'm just a douche living here for the summer.

what it is though, is an assumed hierarchy, a title-less caste system the extends beyond the dingy bus terminal and is seen all over the philippines. an assumed sense of entitlement among few and an assumed sense of obligation and subservience among the masses. in this filipino mindset, the masses cannot subsist without these few, an twisted mentality not unlike the aliens in the 'fifth element' - kill the leader, the soldiers cannot operate.

how does this manifest in everyday filipino life?

ubiquitous street beggars, usually children or disabled elderly

a more blatant example of sex tourism, it's usually 'a bit' more discreet with a clothed female (age ~17-23) with an older white man sitting at a restaurant

the most sought out jobs for filipinos, domestically

and my personal favorite, an image of an oathtaking ceremony for filipino nurses.

'come on, roland. you can't blame filipinos for the fact that there are street beggars, sex tourists, and migration for work.' one may say.

point taken. i actually agree. i can't blame every filipino for these phenomenon that are usually common for developing countries. what i can blame though, is the filipino mentality of service, of obligation to a higher power (and i don't mean Jesus - see this post for that discussion).

it's this sense of owed service that's killing this country, that filipinos wait for work to be provided, they don't create it for themselves. in a warped conception of entitlement, the filipino looks for a job to serve, not one that can serve themself.

i was particularly inspired by a meeting with an administrator from the nurse sector here in the philippines:

'trabaho hinahanap, trabaho hindi ginagawa." [work is looked for, work isn't created]

back of the envelope calculations show the current filipino nurse pool: (and in no way are these verified)

150,000 Filipino certified nurses current unemployed
+37,000 Filipino nurses that just passed the board exam in November
+10,000 Filipino nurses now unemployed after the temporary NARS program
-----------
197,000 Filipino nurses
+ ~40,000 that may pass the exam currently being scored
-----------
~230,000 unemployed/other industry Filipino nurses

why unemployed? because the country can only absorb 60,000 nurses in hospitals and the US/UK have closed migration.

why other industry? because of 'lack' of job openings in hospitals or ability to migrate, these nurses work at call centers, retail, other non-healthcare industries

230,000 nurses. potential primary care providers. instead, helping you with your cable bill or selling shoes. why? because the job of a Filipino nurse is limited to a hospital.

while the country boasts the global provider of nurses, it doesn't realize or advocate for the abilities of nurses as primary care providers. instead, the filipino nurse is mass produced (in the interests of foreign employment) to understand their exclusive abilities in a large hospital, as the link between patient and doctor, as a sponger, a bedpan cleaner. and because these functions aren't open due to economic restrictions, a full four years of education and clinical skills go wasted.

the philippines has yet to tap into the abilities of nurses to manage home care operations, to provide private service, the idea of a 'nursing home' is non-existent.

nursing 'service' has shifted from the patient, to their 'boss,' either a nurse manager here in the philippines or a foreign employer. there's no concept of nurses taking charges and utilizing their abilities to, for example, start a nurse cooperative, erect (haha) a private nursing home, develop a contractual nurse service to provide home care. there's no inspiration to create for oneself with one's abilities, instead, it's a passivity. it's an acceptance of the status quo - embodied by quite possibly the most aggravating saying "ganyan talaga ang pilipinas" (that's just how it is in the philippines)

and this isn't limited to the nursing industry. filipinos seek jobs as yayas (nannies), (errand) boys, call centers, and abroad as caregivers, human resource managers. maybe its a cultural aspect attributable to the idea of respect for elders and providers. maybe its the perpetuation of the vicious cycle of pursuit of highest paying jobs. maybe its just a just a blatant observation of supply and demand at its best (and worst).

regardless of my ruminations and wikipedia-based fact inclusions, the root of this problem is the mindset of the filipino. there needs to be a mindshift, a real mindshift. not some bullshit campaign to resurrect remnants of 'people power' and fighting against corrupt powers, so popularly resurrected by new administration. there needs to be a realization that the filipino is capable of more than just service, the filipino needs to realize that he can't just take the easy way out, the filipino needs to elevate beyond her current situation.

until the filipino can realize the 'sir' or 'maam' that exist in themselves, the filipino won't be worth dying for, they'll only be worth hiring.