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Batas Mauricio

DON’T look now but it became quite clear to me two Saturdays ago that President Duterte would not be the only source of rightful pride among residents of Davao City nowadays.

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Even a simple van-for-hire driver like Manuel Toniacao is making Davao City truly proud, not with grandiose positions or fabulous wealth, but with a delightfully humble and sincere heart that is willing to sacrifice just to keep the integrity of his work and his customers satisfied.

You see, a friend of his arranged that Manuel would be acting as the driver of the van that would take us to a wedding and to the subsequent reception which was supposed to be participated in by President Duterte, no less. We agreed with Manuel’s friend that I would be charged P1,100, for transporting me, my wife, Judge Angelina Mauricio, and our daughter, Atty. Luisa, from our hotel, to the church, to the reception, and then back to the hotel.

Unfortunately, the reception took all of four hours to complete, which, unknown to me, was way, way beyond the carbarn time for the van. When Manuel was taking us back to the hotel, his bosses called him, and told him that I should be made to add P1,400 more as our fare (or a total of P2,500) for the length of time he and the van waited.

He asked me to talk to his bosses, and, of course, I insisted on paying only the amount that I agreed to pay, which is P1,100. The bosses refused to accept my payment, compelling me to say I am not paying the added amount. A few minutes later, Manuel received another call from his bosses, where I heard him talking in Visayan.

I did not fully understand what he was saying, but I got the drift: to avoid further complications, Manuel decided that he would be the one to shoulder the additional P1,400, certainly a big amount for him, which he would be able to pay by appropriate deductions from his 13th month pay in December.

When I asked why, he said that although he was supposed to return the van at 5 pm, he did not do so because my family and I were still at the reception. He chose to simply wait for us. “It was my work at stake,” Manuel said. All the while that he was talking to us, he was calm, respectful, without raising his voice one bit.

When I fully understood what he was trying to do, something snapped in my heart. I thought then that a good-hearted and dedicated worker like him should not be penalized for upholding the dignity of his work, and for looking after the comfort and welfare of his customers.

Then and there, I handed him P3,000 to cover the transport fee, plus a little extra for his display of his beautiful character. When he tried to refuse the added money, I told him, it was my way of thanking God, because He showed me, by his example of humility and willingness to sacrifice, that there is still much good left in the heart of many Filipinos.

If you are travelling to Davao City, it may be worth your while to call Manuel, so he can be your driver. His number is 0946 006 0299. Thank God in the name of Jesus.

The case of Laida Hajan, the 36-year old mother of seven children from Kapian, Indanan, Sulu who died in her sleep almost a month ago and whose remains remain unepatriated and left in a freezer in a morgue in the Kurdistan in Iraq, is truly devastating.

Not only because it would seem her children and her husband have no one else to support them now, and not only because her remains could not still be returned to Sulu even after 30 days since she died in her sleep, but more so because the recruitment agency that brought her to Iraq, illegally it would appear now, even refused to report her death to the Philippine embassy in Kurdistan.

The agency was the sole link of Hajan to her country, and, because it earned, according to Iraq Charge d’Affaires Elmer Cato, thousands of dollars from her Iraqi employer, it was responsible for at least notifying Philippine embassy officials of her death. It appears now that the agency was informed by the employer of Hajan’s death right away, but it kept this matter a complete secret.

What is more, Cato reported in his Facebook post  that Hajan was a victim of human trafficking, since she was made to leave Mindanao illegally, even using someone else’s name, and later was reouted to Iraq when her supposed overseas job was to be in Dubai or Turkey.

Cato pointed out that, at present, there is even a ban on deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Iraq, in view of ongoing skirmishes in that country. “Like many trafficking victims, the woman in the freezer used an assumed name in applying for a job abroad. Along with several others, she was offered a job in Dubai or Turkey by illegal recruiters in Mindanao. She took a perilous boat ride to Malaysia and eventually ended up in Iraq…” Cato added.

Filipino officials learned about Hajan’s death only when her Iraqi employer notified the embassy about her case. The employer said he was sorry that the remains remained frozen in the morgue.

How many more of our countrymen who similarly sought employment abroad to escape poverty and want in the Philippines would suffer the same fate as Laida Hajan? I am sure there will be more, given the continuing deprivation of many our countrymen, and given the greed of many Filipinos who treat their compatriots as objects of commerce from whom financial gain could be achieved.

What is more important to remember, however, is this: this kind of sordid fate or ill fortune of our people–having to go abroad to earn a living, and then meeting one mishap after another that either maims them for life or kills them–was predicted to occur by a book known as the Holy Bible.

If we no longer sincerely listen to, or carefully obey, God, we shall see our chidren given to other nations, where we will be unable to do something to help them when troubles come afflicting them. I suggest Filipinos should read their Bible more thoughtfully now, because its predictions are coming true in our own time!

 

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com

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