Stories & Photographs by Jofelle Tesorio

HAARLEM, THE NETHERLANDS – Two Filipina migrants here lived through the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown by helping their undocumented and vulnerable compatriots who do not enjoy the safety nets given by the Dutch government. Bing Molabin is herself undocumented but vows to keep on fighting for the undocumented and domestic workers’ rights in Europe. (Photo courtesy of Bing Molabin) “ Ayaw ko nang i-blur ang mukha ko or walang pangalan ” (I don’t want my face blurred or unnamed). This was  Bing Molabin’s request when I asked about her experience as an undocumented migrant worker in The Netherlands. She is one of the estimated 30,000 Filipinos “without papers,” according to Migrante-Netherlands. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced many countries into lockdown, Bing is among the most affected. “It is difficult. Having an irregular status means you have no protection against the crisis. While all groups of workers have social security under the Dutch labor law, undocu...

There is a war against the poor, not poverty.  The poor are being blamed for polluting the rivers and seas.  They are blamed for the criminality, drugs and other ills of society.  They are blamed for being lazy and uneducated.  They are dependent on government aid in times of calamity and pandemic but they don't pay taxes like the middle class who often complain about having to burden everything but don't get something in return.  And yet, you lucky middle class never blamed the sys tem and the corrupt government who only use the poor during elections and keeping them as poor as possible so they don't have the means and voice to complain. If they complain, they will only be told: "don't eat the hands that feed you, ingrates!" The middle class and the poor don't need to clash. What is needed is little bit compassion and understanding. # intimeofCOVID # poverty # waragainstthepoor # middleclass

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - This is a book especially for ‘Dutchipinos’ or Dutch-Filipinos who grew up or born in The Netherlands and are trying to reconnect with their Filipino roots. The Dutch translation of Jose Rizal’s second novel ‘El Filibusterismo’ (‘De Revolutie: Een Filipijnse Roman’) was launched recently by the Philippine Embassy in The Netherlands and the Knights of Rizal The Hague Chapter. De Revolutie is the first Dutch translation of Jose Rizal's El Filibusterismo. PHOTO BY JOFELLE TESORIO This came after the warm reception of the Dutch-translated ‘Noli Me Tangere’ (‘Raak Me Niet Aan’) where hundreds of copies have been sold since its official launching in June 2019. Translator and publisher Gerard Arp said it was the ambition from the start to make both books available in Dutch, especially the ‘ El Filibusterismo’ , which was never translated in Dutch before. The Noli was first translated in Dutch in by a certain Dr. A.A. Fokker sometime in the 192...

Composite photo of Filipino Miss Universe title holders. From top: Gloria, Margie Moran, Pia Wurtzbach and Catriona Gray. In 2016, I wrote an article and a feature story for Asia Calling about the hows and whys of the Philippines being a mad-crazed country over beauty contests. It seems that watching and (for some girls and boys and gays) joining a beauty pageant is part of the Filipinos' DNA. Last Monday, 17 December, the Filipinos have once again proven that their lives evolve around beauty contests when everyone was glued on television and the Internet to watch the live broadcast from Bangkok. The streets were also empty and public employees stopped serving clients until the broadcast was over. These things happened before when boxer Manny Pacquaio fought. Later on, the interest in Pacquaio's matches has waned but not on beauty contests. The bet, a 24-year-old Filipino-Australian Catriona Gray, didn't disappoint. She was crowned Miss Universe 2018 after being a ...

On June 30, Rodrigo Duterte will take over from outgoing President Benigno Aquino for a term of six years. His main agenda is to eradicate corruption and criminality within six months of office. He wants to bring back death penalty and promises to give dictator Ferdinand Marcos a hero’s burial. “As I have said in the miting de avance, my parting words was that, ‘if you destroy my country, I will kill you. If you destroy the youth of this country, I will kill you’.” This is incoming Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte during a thanksgiving rally in his hometown Davao City. As he sends his message to drug pushers, criminals and policemen who take bribes from drug syndicates, the crowd cheered to their new hero, their David who is ready to slay Goliath. He ups the ante by calling on ordinary citizens to arrest suspected criminals. “Feel free to call us, the police or do it yourself if you have the gun. You have my support,” he encourages. TOUGH LOVE. Incoming Philippine pr...

This is the typical night in a call centre in Manila. A Filipino service representative is patiently giving advice to an American customer regarding car insurance. She is one of the 1.2 million Filipinos employed in the Information Technology-Business Process Outsourcing or IT-BPO. For the last seven years, Maria Aguilar, has been working for an American-owned firm. “We have rotation schedules. Sometimes I work in the night shift and sometimes I work in the mid-shift. That would be from 1pm to 10pm," says Maria. Since most clients are from the West, a regular shift is from 9pm to 6am. The names of multinational BPO companies are displayed outside an office building in Eastwood, Quezon City, Philippines. Jobs at the IT-BPO vary—from making and receiving calls to making animation and accounting services. Jaren Atrero works for a Canadian company. “Basically our clients are some who are dealing with engineering, electric, mechanical kind of thing...

Green activists are facing deadly dangers in the Philippines.  In a 2015 report of the London-based Global Witness, it lists the Philippines as the most dangerous country in Asia for environmentalists. Environmentalist and social activist Gerthie Anda during a forum. Being an environmentalist in the Philippines has its share of perils. (Facebook photo from Gerthie Anda) Ask anyone in Palawan province about the ‘Green Lady’ and the name of environmentalist-lawyer Gerthie Mayo-Anda comes up. She has become the poster girl of the environmental movement here. Amid the mining rush, development and other environmental issues, she established the Environmental Legal Assistance Center, or ELAC, in the 1990s. “It’s basically to utilize my knowledge and skills as a legal professional to be able to help the least of our brethren by focusing mainly on how we can survive as a people, anchoring our survival on healthy ecosystems,” says Mayo-Anda. For more than 25 years, she has de...