Kamote, Kalabaw

Reporter's Notebook (GMA7) featured yesterday the plight of some OFW's in Dubai. One story is about a young woman raped by her employer. She reported this to the authority but she was jailed instead. Another story is about a woman who had to accept jail sentence for giving birth to her child before she could go back to the Philippines. Some of them were victims of illegal recruitment. At the Philippine Consulate's office, many Filipinos file complaints. [Reporter's Notebook: Dubai, by Maki Pulido and Jiggy Manicad, GMA7] Their stories are sad but I wish they had been wiser. Why mortgage your properties and leave your family just to work abroad with a meager salary and live in the same poor condition, if not fatal end? If I were a lawmaker, I would not allow Filipino women to work in a foreign country as domestic helpers.

Olongapo's Grannies Last Monday, I-Witness (GMA7) featured a few women who used to offer "extra personal services" to the American servicemen who spent long nights at the pre-Subic-base Olongapo's red district. These women, now in their 80's, now work either as sidewalk vendors or beggars. These women recalled how happy their lives were living the American dream with their apple-of-the-eye American soldiers. Unfortunately for them, a law had to close (in the late 80's) the Subic Base and send the American soldiers back to USA leaving these women and their Fil-Am children with foiled American dream. The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo then must have agreed with this law. The red district turned into ash-gray ghost town, drying a river, and burying a few towns. Today, that district has risen from its ashes into a family-oriented chain of fastfoods and restaurants. I can't help but feel sad for these elderly women. Not because of their chosen lifestyle in the 1940...

The Kish Island is a free-port tourist destination in Iran. The island is located between Tehran and UAE. No visa is required to enter the island. Filipinos, who need to exit from Middle East before the expiration of their visas, stay on this island while they wait for the renewal of their next visas. The sad story is that some Filipinos got stranded here for the reason that they could no longer afford to pay for their hotels and airline tickets. There are times when a visa takes months before it is approved; thus, the Filipinos will need to stay longer in the island. For the Filipinos who could no longer afford to stay in a hotel, they spend the nights on the beach. There are good Samaritans, however, in the island. There are Filipinos who help their fellow Filipinos. Like Fatima, who works in a hotel, solicit donations from Filipinos aboard the hotel bus each time she brings and picks up Filipino tourists to and from the airport. The money is then used to buy airline tickets for a st...