Dito ako Lalaban
Noong nakaraang taon mayroong isang paksa na tinalakay sa intranet forums ng PNB ukol sa pagmi-migrate sa ibang bansa. Doon, napakaraming tao ang nagsiwalat ng kanilang kanaisang makapunta at manirahan sa Estados Unidos bilang imigrante. Ito ang aking naging tugon, na inaasahan kong hindi sasang-ayunan ng higit sa nakararami…
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Iginugol ng aking lolo at lola (mga magulang ng aking ama) ang kanilang buong buhay sa mithiing maipadala sa Estados Unidos ang kanilang apat na anak.
Nagtagumpay sila sa tatlo maliban sa aking ama. Maraming beses tinangka ng aking ama na dalhin kami sa US, subalit ang naging pangunahing suliranin ay ang aking ina. Hindi nila malaman kung bakit sa dinami-dami ng consul na hinarap at karami-raming papeles na inayos ng aking ina ay lagi pa rin siyang itinatanggi (denied) ng consul.
Isang guro ang aking ina sa Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas noon, at mayroon namang naghihintay na trabaho sa kanya sa isang hayskul sa New York. Dahil dito, naiwan ang aming pamilya dito sa Pilipinas sa isang panahong puno ng kawalang-kasiguruhan; noong mga huling taon ng rehimeng Marcos.
Lubos na nanghinayang ang aming mga kamag-anak noon, lalo na ang aking ama, sapagkat iniisip nilang napakalaking kawalan ang kabiguang makapunta sa Estados Unidos. Wala na kasing pag-asa ang Pilipinas.
Iyan lang ang laging bukambibig ng karamihan.
Lumipas ang mga taon. Hindi man nakalipad ang aking ina sa Estados Unidos, bumusilak naman ang kanyang karir: nalipat siya sa Pamantasang De La Salle, naging Pangalawang Dekano (Associate/Vice-Dean) doon, natamo niya ang kanyang PhD, nakaikot siya sa Pilipinas bilang tagapagsalita sa iba’t ibang lektyur at seminar. Mula noong gitna ng dekada nobenta, marami siyang narating na lugar; ang Japan, Hong Kong at Austria ay iilan lamang. Ilang beses din siyang nakapagbalik-balik sa iba’t-ibang bahagi ng Estados Unidos (maging sa East coast, West coast at Hawaii), minsan upang magbakasyon, pero kadalasa’y upang magsaliksik o umatend sa conference.
Marahil iniisip ng iba na lahat ito’y nagawa niya sapagkat may salapi, subalit iyan ay hindi totoo. Ang aking ina ay ipinanganak at lumaki sa Tondo, hindi kalayuan sa Divisoria, at naulila sa ama noong siya’y nasa hayskul. Nakakuha siya ng mga iskolarsyip sa UST upang makapagtapos ng Batsilyer sa Edukasyon, at noo’y iniisip niyang magiging guro lamang siya sa pampublikong paaralan. Subalit sa pamamagitan ng sipag at tiyaga, at dedikasyon sa kanyang propesyon, siya’y nakaangat sa buhay.
Lahat ito’y nangyayari samantalang ang isa sa aking mga tiya’y nahirapan nang husto sa pamamalagi sa Estados Unidos. Nakakukuha man siya ng trabaho’y hirap siya sa pagtustos sa pagpapalaki ng aking limang pinsan. Ang iba ko namang tiyo’t tiya’y nakaangat sa karir, subalit masyado namang nakahiligan ang mahjong at casino. Ang aking lolo’t lola’y lumipad doon sa pagtatapos ng dekada otsyenta, at doon na sila inabutan ng karamdaman at nahimlay, kamakailan lamang.
Ngayon, ang isa sa mga isyung tinatalakay ng aking ama at ng kanyang mga kapatid ay ang pagbebenta ng mga lupang pagmamay-ari ng aking lola (pabahay ng gobyerno noon sa mga guro, sapagkat guro din ang aking lola). Tinatalakay nila kung paano paghahati-hatian ang salaping makukuha sa pagbenta ng lupang iyon, at paano ito ipadadala sa Amerika.
Kakatawanan, sapagkat maliit na property lamang ang pinaguusapan na hindi hihigit ang halaga sa ilang libong dolyar lamang.
Saan kayo nakarinig ng pamilyang nagre-remit ng pera papuntang Estados Unidos?
Maraming beses sa ating buhay, ang nakikita lamang natin ay ang mga hirap na ating dinadanas, samantalang hindi natin kinikilala ang mga biyayang ating naitatanggap. Napakarami na akong naririnig na taong nagsasabing "kawawa naman kami, hand-to-mouth existence ang buhay dito sa Pilipinas. Kaya gusto na namin mag-migrate sa States." Ngunit kapag ika’y pumunta sa kanilang tahanan, ang makikita mo’y isa o higit pang kotse, mga kasangkapang mamahalin, at mga kagamitang hindi naman kailangan. Maging ang mga taga-skwater dito sa Maynila ay mayroong cellphone, karaoke, at DVD player. Iyan ba ang tinatawag na hand-to-mouth existence?
Binibigyan tayo ng Panginoong Diyos ng maraming pagkakataon sa ating buhay, sa mga paraang hindi natin naiisip o nakikilala. Mapalad ang aking ina sapagkat taglay niya ang kakayahan na kilalanin ang mga bagay na kaya niyang gawin dito sa Pilipinas, imbis na magreklamo sa mga bagay na gusto niya sanang gawin pero hindi niya magawa dito.
Nais kong tularan ang aking ina. Tulad niya, kung saan ko natagpuan ang aking sariling nakadapa sa kahirapan, doon ako babangon at magtatagumpay.
Dito ako sa lalaban sa Pilipinas.
April 22nd, 2005 at 9:34 pm
What I enjoyed most about reading this is hearing in your words what genuine admiration and respect you have for your mother. You and I have that in common; I too hold my father in such esteem. And so I hope you will understand why I feel compelled to set the record straight on what appears to be a misunderstanding. To prove the point that, despite having not set foot in the United States, your mother went on to accomplish a great deal in her career, you contrast her to my father, who, despite having much success in America, fell victim to gambling. That is simply not true; my father does not even know poker from black jack. His only addiction is to his family.
You then go on to make it appear as if money is being sent to us here in America. Again, you are mistaken. It is solely because of my parents’ hard work that my sister and I graduated from college; it is solely because of my parents’ sacrifice that we continue to pursue our masters’ degrees. Not a penny of our grandparents’ money was used. Not a second did we wait for money to be sent to us from the Philippines.
Reading between the lines, it appears that the point you are hoping to make is that America does not equate with success and that one can achive greatness in an impoverished country like the Philippines. Indeed, your mother is a shining example of just that. I admire your mother for all of her accomplishments, and I would never say or write anything to detract from it. I ask you to afford the same respect to my father. Though he does not travel the world giving lectures and though he is not the dean at an ivy league university, he has accomplished just as much. It was not with a loan from our grandparents that he created a life for us in America; it was solely with hard work, humility, and sacrifice that he raised two daughters and loved a wife. Please do not tarnish his success with your half-truths and false assumptions.
April 22nd, 2005 at 9:42 pm
Salamat sa inspirasyon na iyong ibinahagi rito. Marami pa rin talagang mga kababayan natin ang hindi mulat sa isyu ng migration.
Many do not see the social cost of migration. I hope that the realisation would come sooner, the realisation of the social and psychological pain of the millions of Filipino families. This realisation would usher in a sense of solidarity in the Philippine society. Thanks for sharing one of the contradictions in migration - that is, a Filipino family based in the Philippines sending remittance to their family in the US.
There is also another important realisation for recipients of remittances in the Philippines - that is the idea of ‘investment’. Of the billions of US dollars being annually remitted by the more or less eight (8) million OFWs, only a handful goes to investment. The remittances must be invested, and not just go to consumption. What I see is that rather than investing in small and medium enterprises, for example, remittances are spent in shopping, buying of appliances, re-modelling of houses (especially in the provinces), etc.
I always believe in the process of realisation. It takes time though. At nararapat na samahan ng pakikibaka ng mga mulat na mamamayan.
Bonn
http://agoodgame.blogspot.com
April 23rd, 2005 at 4:10 pm
Maria,
I sincerely apologize if I have hurt your feelings, and consequently I apologize to our cousins if they’d feel the same way (which I expect them to), but this is simply my opinion on the thorn stuck to our family right now. I couldn’t do anything if you hate how I feel about things.
I may have wrongly worded (and yes, somewhat generalized) some of the details, but I didn’t want to go into too much details because this was (then) written for a limited public audience. No, your father wasn’t and is not and I doubt if he’ll ever be interested in gambling. I apologize to your dad; I owe it to him to spare that detail.
As for the issue of the property and the remitted money, it wouldn’t be proper to clarify those issues here, but no, money wasn’t being sent there until recently, but they are being sent there once in a while these past couple of years. And no, none of you depends on that money for survival — which makes it feel even weirder than usual.
And finally, no, you don’t owe your house, your properties, nor your education to that money, nor to our grandparents. But ultimately that whole branch of the family being in America(my father’s case being the “unlucky” one) was our grandparents’ design.
Perhaps, it was a mistake to take that piece out in the open, but then again I’ve been quiet on these things for long enough, and I’ve heard enough of people telling me that America is the solution to their problems.
Once more, Maria, I apologize if I had hurt your feelings.
Congratulations on your recent engagement.
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