Airport aggravation

During my recent visit to the Philippines, STAR publisher Max Soliven and some other influential people made it possible for me to meet many movers and shakers of the country – including President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Vice President Teofisto Guingona. On the occasion of the 15th year anniversary of The STAR, a private lunch at the Phil-Am Life Tower was held. It was an experience that not all balikbayans would ever experience. However, I was also fortunate to talk to many people on the other side of side of the socio-economic spectrum, the so-called C, D, E and F crowd – the masa that make up the majority of Philippine society.

There were farmers, nuns, priests, professors, students, politicians, small entrepreneurs, real-estate developers, insurance executives, travel agency operators, struggling business people, would-be entrepreneurs, some of my STAR editors and fellow columnists, hired managers or executives of the Makati’s elite. It was life’s education at its best – one that could never be acquired by just reading the books in a library.

I believe that what people read in the papers and/or see on TV programs – full of political talk, bickerings and innuendos among the politicians – is not the real Philippines. Politicians and the wealthy families live comfortable, hedonistic lives and seemingly do not feel the burden and anguish of the poor as a thick yet invisible wall separates them from the masa, the Great Unwashed.

Witnessing the pangs of poverty from Batangas to Baguio, I am reminded of the pungent first stanza of the immortal poem of Edwin Markham (1852-1940), "The Man with the Hoe" when he lamented: "Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans/Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground/The emptiness of ages in his face, /And of his back the burden of the world."

The vast majority of Filipinos neither read the newspapers nor watch, much less discuss or analyze, the political talk shows – they cannot even afford to buy the daily newspapers or a TV – as they are pretty much pre-occupied with putting food on the table. What’s happening in Manila or in the global marketplace does not really affect or concern them directly – until the prices of basic necessities, especially transportation fare – jump up. Food, shelter and clothing are the daily concerns, not politics or the melt-down of the dot.com companies in Wall Street.

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Upon my arrival in Manila, my exciting and psychological adventure in the Philippines started. Well, it actually started at the luggage carousel area of the airport.

My very first observation was that there were so many airport workers trying to help us, the new arrivals, by touching or holding our baggage boxes with overt or implied requests for tips for coffee or breakfast (it was just past 5 a.m., you see). When you are super-tired, that kind of physical or psychological encounter is like trying to avoid unwanted flies hovering around you. Everything can get quite annoying, and will definitely leave a lasting impression on anyone, especially if it’s his first time to set foot on Philippine soil. To add insult to injury, these young airport helpers even follow you up to the restroom after "politely" opening the restroom doors for you as you clutch your hand luggage. Without sense of shame and devoid of any ounce of self-pride, these uncultured helpers have the temerity to ask you for a couple of dollars for "coffee or merienda." Tipping is way of life in America, but it is done in appropriate places like restaurants – not the restroom! With mixed emotions, and to be charitable to such "pleas for a handout" a la mental ransom, I gave (in retrospect, possibly the wrong decision) a dollar or two – not realizing that after you give one helper 10 others will follow. There were also a group of young emaciated children around the parking lots selling sampaguita leis by putting them around my neck without permission. This was a lamentable but true experience during the first hours after landing in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport New Terminal on July 21 at 5 a.m. To Secretary Lina and to DOT Secretary Gordon, help us balikbayans help our homeland!

That is the least the government can do for us to enjoy our occasional well-deserved vacation so that we can spend our dollars without regret in our homeland!

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One of the primary reasons why our delegation of US-based business people went to the Philippines was to participate in the "E-Commerce, Outsourcing and Entrepreneurship Seminar" at the Asian Institute of Management which was attended by many CEOs, entrepreneurs, technical managers, government agency managers, academicians and business people from as far as Davao and Cebu. As one of the US presenters and lecturers during this seminar, I too enjoyed the lively interactions and sharing from all the participants. I truly learned a lot from them and I can empathize with their shared frustrations, struggles as well as hopes for a better economic opportunities in the country. I told the participants that adversity presents great opportunity for those who see the silver lining and are willing to pay the price during these times of upheaval. Two or three years from now, many entrepreneurs in the Philippines will be millionaires. It will be difficult – but not impossible.

Our California-based Asian Pacific Recruiting Agency specializes in the recruitment of medical practitioners – nurses, physical therapists, pharmacists and doctors – for a huge chain of hospitals in the United States has also made connections with an established POEA-licensed recruiting company in Manila. Beginning late this year, we hope to recruit medical personnel from the Philippines or Filipino nurses in the Middle East to help alleviate the acute shortage of nurses in America.

The seminar that was sponsored and hosted by a California-based IT computer guru, David Paraiso, Jr. of Intergrated Technology, was so successful that the participants were asking us when we would be back for more seminars and training. The mission of these series of seminars is to contribute to the so-called "brain gain" – to curb the tide of more human export to the US and other countries. One of the objectives of the seminar is to sustain some world-class training of IT professionals so that they can be globally competitive and thereby capable of doing the work that is being outsourced to the Philippines from the United States.

The gratitude and encouraging responses of the participants at the conclusion of the seminar and fora rewarded us with fulfillment as we Filipino expatriates, and our American partners, did something to contribute in the education and training of the participants as we also sprinkled some rays of hope and encouragement to those who took time to attend this week-long seminars. We believe we have sown hundreds of seeds. With care, we hope and pray that in the very near future some of these seeds will grow and bear fruit.

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You can e-mail this writer at: pmafounder @emailko.com or [email protected].