Amateur heroes

What’s Plan B for Kuwait?

There are about 250,000 overseas Filipino workers there. A vast majority of them are in the service industry, holding positions that have little hopes of equal bargaining power. Some are barely a step higher than slaves, what with the reported abuses they suffered.

It’s always a good idea to lend a hand to our compatriots, especially trafficking or abuse victims in a remote country with little or no support services. Bail them out when needed. Take daring action. Be bold and brave. No issue there as far as I am concerned.

But did we have to milk our inherent “goodness”, video those impromptu rescues, and then publicize how heroic we are?

With the recent faux pas involving the clandestine operation to rescue Filipinos enduring abuses from their employers, and then upload the videos for the entire social network to ooh and ahh over, and the resulting fallout where first, our lead statesman gets assurances from the Kuwaiti ambassador that all is forgiven, but a few tumultuous hours after, our ambassador to Kuwait suddenly gets kicked out, it may soon transpire that our compatriots will be left with even less protection.

What do they do now? If the ambassador has been kicked out and his staff has been arrested, where’s the support system? Should OFWs leave Kuwait and go home to bloat the unemployment figures? Become the burden to those they previously supported? Or do they take their chances, hoping their employers don’t morph into monsters and leave them chilling in the freezer to be discovered months after?

What was the point in beating our chests and getting those brownie points? Was this publicity stunt the advice of social media influencers, who only think of more ways to generate clickbaits? Whose heads are filled only with ideas of how to get more supporters, likes, and hearts? Or was this just the idea of a hitherto ignored public servant who wanted to shine?

Well, sorry dears. This one backfired. Really, bad idea, as one especially verbose North American president likes to stress.

Imagine, smearing a host nation’s face in mud! How would we feel if another country spread the rumor that we are so ineffective in curbing sex tourism that they have to send the FBI, Interpol, and Scotland Yard over to arrest pedophiles? (Okay, fine, they “cooperate” with us, but because our technology is so infantile and our resources so depleted, I doubt we could bust the rings without their presence.)

Of course our hosts would feel insulted. Did we not understand or anticipate that when we ourselves get insulted? Even hearing an amusing reference like “Filipino cookies” makes us a slavering mob. And yet we announce to the world that our hosts do nothing in the face of migrant worker complaints, painting them out to be a nation of abusers?

Have our diplomatic corps in Kuwait never heard of face? This is such an Asian concept, of how to save face and the importance of letting the other person retain their dignity despite defeat or ignominy. But our diplomats apparently weren’t schooled in the delicate skill of face saving and the art of navigating state relations. So, adieu.

With our diplomatic presence severely compromised, and in fact, with threats of diplomatic ties being completely severed, who’s going to play Darna in the streets of Kuwait now?

Well, certainly not me. Even if Alan Cayetano himself offered the ambassadorship to me on a silver plate, no way. The scrutiny one would have to face. And the endless lectures one has to suffer!  Not something even a seasoned diplomat relishes.

The bright boys in the foreign service better think of something, fast. Or we could see a very real socio-economic disaster on our hands.