Remembering My Halloween

"This tradition of remembering the dead is already ingrained in our culture which is uniquely Filipino and that makes it a part of our identity."

As a kid, I did not know exactly what my mother was up to. At exactly six at dusk, she would light each of the twenty four candles on two opposite rows at twelve each. A pair of neatly cut fresh banana bark served as holders for the candles. In between the rows were different kinds of speciality dishes offered to the souls. (And there is tuba too, a fermented sap collected from a lopped-off tip of coconut trees which is mildly alcoholic.) Everytime she lights each candle, she would utter a name as though she is summoning a spirit. Each candle is assigned to a dead family member from both my maternal and paternal side. (Till now, I'm still puzzled at the figure, what if there is more than twelve dead relatives from both sides, certainly jealousy and envy exist among the dead for the favoritism, hmmn...) And whenever a moth gets to land on the offerings, my mother would tell us, "that's probably one of my dead sisters or one of my relatives!". Yuck!

My mother of course is not a witch or a sorceress (before you let fly of your creepy imagination), she just follows tradition inherited from her ancestors. Every eve of first November, the rituals are ever present and really exciting. I remember rescuing one of her 'relatives' helplessly bulldozing its way out of the sticky suman that I accidentally de-winged it. I screamed rushing to the kitchen and told my mom of my supposed botched rescue effort. "Your relative must be dead again!" I was only five or six that time and a very scheming mind. Of course we would see our supposed moth-relatives coming in a whisper and seem to be enjoying every bit of the feast but not the foods per se but the bright lights that torched most of them. (Stupid kins!)

Early morning of first November, every home in our place is abuzz with their own preparation for "Fiesta Minatay" or Feast of the Dead. Local folks do not bother as much whether it is the All Saints Day or All Souls Day. As long as it is first of November, it is a feast in every sense of the word. This day has been a great tradition that everyone believes it is an obligation to offer foods to the dead so that the living gains approval from them and receive more blessings the entire year. This same day is rather sobering if you think pig is cute. The sounds of them wailing in unison in every neighborhood punctuate the atrocious porky appetite of these 'dead souls' who supposedly demand swimming in oily humba  or valenciana come visiting time. Even as a kid, I never liked watching these poor pigs being butchered. "Why can't the souls eat just suman and drink tuba?"

If you think everyone dresses up for the occasion, no we do not. There is no Halloween costume parade just like in the US or any parts of the West. First off, our place is one of the unfortunate spots on earth where electricity fears to tread, (there were attempts before but blame it on thieves and the NPAs that those with good intentions just spontaneously shy away from thinking over), so nobody ventures outside deeper into the night. If in the US they have the ubiquitous 'trick or treat' at night (albeit an eve earlier), unconsciously we too have our own version. We would make improvised torch using kerosene to go house to house and ask for ibos, (a sticky rice cake cooked in coco milk and wrapped in coconut leaves), for which the hosts willingly oblige, and cluster them around our waist so that when we get home we have a bunch of them. Sometimes we would hear scary sounds from the rows of sugarcane fields and run as fast as we could. Bigger kids would make fun of the 'pale-balled' little ones howling in fear. Others could get stuck  in  dirt mud while trying helplessly to salvage a doomed pair of slippers.

Time has changed since but tradition remains. Over the years, man's perception of life could also change. As for our family, we still celebrate the occasion but no more offerings for the dead. The dead do not come back in the form of a moth or any other insect just like my mother told me. (My mom has already repudiated her old-aged belief of the dead coming back on the eve of Halloween.) This tradition of remembering the dead is already ingrained in our culture which is uniquely Filipino and that makes it a part of our identity. Whether it is appropriate for Christians to celebrate Halloween is a matter of one's own conviction. As I said it is a tradition identifiable to certain cultures that gives honor and in remembrance of dead loved ones. There is no right or wrong answer why Halloween is celebrated by those who have found the truth. At the end of the day, one's own conviction must be individually sought, independently found and personally followed. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

New Rules For Hiring Maids: Take It Or Leave It

"If the Philippines can pioneer  unshackling this evil bondage through its very own, the world will be on its feet, then other third-world countries will likely follow suit."

It is as easy as one plus one - if you cannot protect your guest workers then do not invite them to come over. The same is said of the Saudi government's seemingly desperate attempt to get Philippine counterpart to have a change of heart towards the latter's stance on the hiring of Filipino domestic helpers. This early, the Philippine government has stiffened its conditions set on hiring of domestic helpers - which the Saudi government finds absurd - because the prerequisites set by the labor-exporting country do not conform to the whims of the indolent and masochistic culture existent in the Saudi society.

In order for a Saudi family to acquire rights to hire a Filipina domestic helper, the Philippine government sets forth the following criteria:  The basic salary of the worker should be pegged at SR.1,500 - lower than that is deemed illegal and unacceptable. The head of the family should have at least a monthly basic salary of SR.9,000. - to ensure he is capable of paying his 'servant' (the term they label their household helper). And the prospective employer should attach a detailed map of his residence, for easy access of their whereabouts should an abuse is committed against their worker. If you see, the rules constitute protection of the worker but what the Saudi government fears about is that - its citizens are not yet ready to be bound by such rules.

Obviously if the Philippine government holds firm to its stake, the rampant abuses of Filipino domestic helpers in Saudi Arabia will be a thing of the past. And that is what their Saudi counterpart is keen to neutralize - in their favor. If this is the best way to teach Saudis a lesson - moral and diplomatic that is - then the Philippine government should remain firm to its advocacy.

If human rights wathcdogs will have their say,  Saudi Arabia will always be classified as a dangerous country for unskilled workers where there is no assurance of protection given to them . Most of them are household workers who exist at the mercies of their employers. Countless of documented and undocumented cases of abuses happen everyday in all corners of this country. They're lucky if they get to find way to escape from their abusive employers. Some of them have also found their ends here. Scores or sometimes hundreds of these distressed workers crowd temporary shelters inside Consulate in Jeddah and embassy in Riyadh awaiting months or years before being repatriated. And the bad news is - government's fund is slowly drying up for the cost of their subsistence and repatriation.

Acting the role of 'good and desirable' hosts, the Saudi government is not slow to sweet-lemonize the standoff between two governments saying there are domestic helpers from other countries waiting in large numbers offering their services to their nationals. There you go! If so, why bother to get Philippine officials to a dialogue hoping the rules set by them could be bent in mutual favor? The truth is, simple and fair the rules may sound, yet they are not willing to comply with it because they cannot guarantee the safety and protection of the worker inside a Saudi household.

How servants are being treated by them? In most instances, a servant is being enslaved by the whole clan. Her 24-hour day to day existence is offered to her masters. She is on-call even at the most unlikely of hours. She does not take offdays. After she finishes her work in her master's house, she is also being offfered  to serve in another house with the consent of her master. If she is thought to be pretty, she will be locked up in the bathroom by the wife before the husband comes. She could even end up a sex-slave by her male masters. If her masters are also monsters she could get a battering everyday. Even kids join the orgy by showering her with their spittle. ( I don't stereotype all Saudis, but my over a decade of stay in Saudi Arabia could attest to real stories of this kind, they're aplenty you would regret arguing with me.)

If the Philippine government plays its card smartly, I don't think this development is a bane to overseas employment for our household workers. Given that Filipinos are still the most preferred household workers for obvious reasons, good Saudis with penchant for quality skills possessed by Filipinos will be unperturbed by the rules. But those majority that raises the alarm are those inclined to be abusive, financially constraint and wanting  only to 'possess' a slave to flaunt to their ilks. If they cannot afford to give decent pay to their 'slaves' then it's about time that they move their asses off and wake up from their couch and start to declog their arteries because 'owning' a slave comes with responsibilities...and risks.

The astronomical cases of abuses to domestic helpers in general across the Arabian peninsula has been at the forefront of human rights groups' agenda all over the world. Various media and independent entities have documented the atrocities done to these poor individuals and how abusive employers get the luxuries of not being prosecuted for their crimes. From Lebanon and Jordan to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, records of abuses and deaths are dizzying that calls to end this modern-day slavery are mounting. If the Philippines can pioneer  unshackling this evil bondage through its very own, the world will be on its feet, then other third-world countries will likely follow suit. And if this trade persists to exist, it is because better reforms have been put in place. Now I put my stake on the strength of the Philippines' stand. If they stay firm (which I still beg to doubt), then it's about time to bid abusers goodbye, or one more time, "take it or leave it"!