Recently I met two sisters from the provinces who have found work as domestic helpers in Manila. The older one is 22; the younger is barely out of her teens. They belong to a brood of nine; the youngest sibling is only about two years old.
Their mother is in her late 30s; she had her first child when she was not yet 18. Eking out a living in their mountain village is difficult. The older child dropped out of school after ninth grade to help her parents. The younger girl stopped at sixth grade.
The girls told me that the language of instruction in their school was their dialect, as it should be under the native tongue requirement. But English language lessons were never introduced at any point in their formal education, they said. They imbibed some English words in their math and science classes, but until now, their proficiency in English is rudimentary.
Both are reed-thin; proper nourishment is difficult when there are 11 persons sharing the food on the table. Both also have bad teeth – the result, according to the younger one with an upper front tooth missing, of a fondness for sugary food and beverages and scrimping on toothpaste.
Bad teeth are often an indication of poverty. Salt is used in lieu of toothpaste and dental floss is a luxury. Regular prophylaxis and root canals are so expensive that teeth are simply pulled out even for minor decay. Corrective braces and implants are out of the question. Buckteeth and badly aligned teeth are pulled out and replaced with dentures.
When a village elder asked their parents if any of the nine children could work in Manila, the parents sent the two girls.
They are among a still considerable number of Filipinas who are unaware that today is a special day worldwide for women, that March is a special month for their gender, and that the country has some of the best laws to promote the welfare of women and girls.
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Among the first things that the two girls’ employer did, aside from trying to get the girls to eat more, was to send the younger one to a dentist. Now her broad grins come quicker, with denture filling the gap of the missing front tooth.
She immediately relayed the good news to her family back home. If she and her sister send more positive news about their employment in the coming months, this could encourage more people in their village to seek jobs if not in Manila, then at least in nearby cities.
In underdeveloped rural areas, daughters have long been important family breadwinners. They can easily find jobs as domestic workers, where certain skills are desired but not necessary because these can be taught on the job. Boys, on the other hand, need training and experience even for most types of blue-collar work. And if male blue-collar workers want jobs overseas, those with certificates from vocational schools have the edge.
There is often no such requirement for maids, although a certain level of education is of course preferred as well as some proficiency in English for working overseas. The average Filipino student usually has these requirements by ninth grade in the K-12 system.
As with the two sisters, however, this is not always the case. The skills lack may prevent them from working overseas, but it won’t prevent them from finding employment in the country’s urban centers.
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Across the country, there are many other women and girls like them, busy earning a living, with low awareness of the rights they enjoy under the law in terms of protection against harassment, gender discrimination and violence.
This is the persistent problem in the state of women’s rights in our country. Gender parity is the one area where the Philippines has consistently ranked among the top 10 best in the world. But millions of Filipino women and girls who are unaware of those laws continue to be subjected to various forms of abuse and violence.
The two sisters at least got the job that they were promised, and so far they have no complaints. But there are many others who have been duped into becoming sex workers, whether in the Philippines or abroad. Others have ended up with abusive employers, kept as virtual prisoners in their workplaces and turned into modern-day slaves even in Metro Manila.
Within the country and abroad, female victims of human trafficking have been raped and some have been murdered. Last year, the body of domestic worker Joanna Demafelis, missing for a year, was found in a freezer in Kuwait, in an apartment abandoned by her Yemeni and Syrian employers.
Despite the Philippines’ high ranking in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index – in eighth place last year, from 10th in 2017 – Filipino women are among the biggest victims of human trafficking. Jean Enriquez, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific, is taking a closer look at the data in the Gender Gap Report.
There is also a persistent culture of old-style machismo in our country, typified by President Duterte and his crude remarks about women that elicit laughter from his audience.
In observing International Women’s Day today, women’s groups will be marching to denounce Duterte’s remarks that critics such as Enriquez say smack of misogyny and encourage violence against women.
Emmeline Verzosa, executive director of the Philippine Commission on Women, which is under the Office of the President, told The Chiefs this week on Cignal TV’s One News, in so many words, that Duterte’s attitude is typical of Pinoy men of a certain period. Verzosa also stressed that promoting the welfare of women cannot be left to one person alone.
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day celebration is “think equal, build smart, innovate for change.” The emphasis is on innovation and technology for empowering women on the road to attaining full gender parity by 2030.
Millions of Filipino girls, such as the two sisters from the provinces, are too busy with mere survival to think about technology-related innovation.