Our sociable nature seems to have put us in trouble.
Filipinos in Macau are now required to take COVID-19 tests --every freakin’ day. And why? No, it’s not because we are so innately attractive that the med techs want to see our faces every day. It’s not because some lovelorn Macau billionaire wants to search for his Tinder match. It’s just because we are social beings.
According to health official Leung Lek Hou, us Filipinos “tend to have more gatherings, like meetings among friends. … It’s likely that (Filipinos) have more interactions within their own ethnicity so we need to find out where there are hidden sources of infections among them via frequent testing.”
As Maleficent once said, “well, well, well”. Do we like the rationale of the Macau government?
Filipinos, who number approximately 30,000, reportedly comprise 9.5% of Macau’s current COVID-19 case load. And this supposedly high percentage, combined with our easygoing nature and tendency to clump together, have justified the new government policy.
The Philippine consulate general, tasked to enforce and protect our human rights, seems to be have responded to this issue, shall we say, quite diplomatically. No bombast, no angry statement. Instead, in a calming statement addressed not to the Macau government, but to us Filipinos, it urged residents not to make the Macau policy a political one. Instead, this was merely a health issue that would achieve Macau’s goal of eradicating COVID-19.
In an apparent bid to defuse the situation, the consulate also noted that in any case, Macau had previously subjected Nepalese, Vietnamese, and Burmese workers to mandatory testing. So what was the big deal? (cue for Maleficent, enter from stage left).
A Filipino lawyer based in Macau, Paulo Carochas, beat me to it. He is reported to have countered the consulate with a sizzling riposte: “...saying it has been done before doesn’t mean it’s right. It was racist before and (it’s) still racist now”.
This mandate from Macau is a race-based government policy (or shall we say nationality-based), so it’s immediately suspect. Constitutional law experts will tell us that for any race-based policy to survive a court challenge, the bar is set extremely high. The justifications offered would be something so innately unique to Filipinos, some trait no other nationality would have it, that would necessitate the promulgation of a policy targeting Pinoys, and only Pinoys. Something so attractive to the virus, perhaps, that we have to be tested every day.
Is this the day when our being “Marites” (gossip girls) have finally gotten us into trouble?
I would posit that it’s not. Even if we were rumor mills personified, that wouldn’t, couldn’t, and shouldn’t justify this policy. Congregating in social groups isn’t unique to us Filipinos (do I need to even point this out). It’s not as if other races don’t like chit-chat, small talk, and gossip (we shall avoid naming and shaming other nationalities at this point, for fear of being accused to be likewise racist).
What is truly disappointing is the lack of protection we see from our diplomatic representatives in Macau. Instead of even a gentle note to its counterpart, reminding them of basic notions of equality, it chose not to rock the boat. Not a peep, not even a whimper. It even asked for cooperation from Filipinos in their daily humiliation!
I’m not even asking for a diplomatic protest, or an angry missive. A sweet note verbale (sufficiently publicized) might have sufficed. Or perhaps, an encouraging gesture to the Pinoy workers to say that the consulate was working on having the policy revised. It would have been nice to just see a little bit of spine. So much for protecting the plight of Filipinos abroad.
This is when we need the Marites mob. The chatter on the disappointment, the humiliation, the blowback, the attitude of other nationalities, the differing treatment --the enormity of the impact of this seemingly innocuous policy-- should be channeled towards the Foreign Service. Let those complaints swell all the way back to the capital.
That feedback might be enough to keep our diplomatic service on their toes, and remind them that service to us, and not to their foreign hosts, is what they are there for.