THEY find no strangers here; only friends they have yet to meet. Hence, from Tokyo to Paris, from Jerusalem to Moscow, they gave and they give: cash and an ear, printers and running shoes.
And, thus, by sending these back to the Philippines, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) took the concept of “community pantry”—”From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”—to a higher level.
“Sa abot ng makakaya lang; kung magkano yung nalikom namin,” 53-year-old Leah Ale of the Moscow-based nonprofit group Filipino Mustard Seeds in Russia (FMSR), said. “Kung marami talagang makipag- cooperate sa amin, it depends talaga sa cooperation ng mga kapwa naming Pilipino na nagdo-donate.” [It really depends on how much we can do, on how much we can collect. If many really cooperate with us… it really depends on the cooperation of our fellow Filipinos here.]
Ale, one of several FMSR members, is just one of many Filipinos working overseas who have gone into what codifiers describe as “charity” or “philanthropy.” Ale and Filipinos like her care less about semantics and more about the Filipino value of “pagtutulungan,” or “helping others” in a more profound way.
“The most [that we can do] is charity talaga: we give to the poor, to the least [accommodated] people,” Ale said in an interview via Zoom. “Kahit ano sila, kahit ano ang religion. Basta nangangailangan siya ng tulong, tutulong kami.” [Whoever they are, we don’t discriminate; even if they belong to different religions. As long as someone needs help, we will help.]
According to Ale, the FMSR has been sending donations to the Philippines after the Philippine government imposed lockdown measures against Covid-19 beginning the second quarter of 2020. She said they sent money instead of packages as the latter takes too much time as transportation and logistics services were disrupted.
“Wala naman talagang impossible kung gusto mo talagang tumulong nang bukal sa iyong kalooban,” Ale said. [Nothing is really impossible if you really want to help out of the goodness of your heart.]
Moscow love
THE FMSR has sent cash donations to families in various provinces, mainly in Ilocos and Abra. Ale said they have also sent equipment like printers to public schools. Coordinating with Philippine-based groups through the Internet, the FMSR has also helped organize feeding programs for children in rural and remote areas, she added.
Ale explained that members of the FMSR contribute either money or a few of their belongings and match the needs of public school students, orphans and street children.
She said they have been using connections in orphanages, schools and convents. These institutions reach out to them and FMSR members open their pockets and wallets in response.
“Kung ano yung mai-donate mo, kailangan bukas sa puso para maipabot din namin dun sa nangangailangan,” Ale said. [Whatever you donate should be voluntary.] But she clarified they can’t just jump off their seats and ask for things not needed by those in the Philippine, like clothes.
“Hindi rin kami basta-basta nanghihingi dito kung di kakailanganin kundi kung ano yung kailangan nila (sa Pilipinas),” she added. [We don’t ask for things that are not needed by those in the Philippines.]
“Yung may mga school na nangangailangan na printer, kahit ano yung pangangailangan sa Pilipinas, binibigay namin,” she added. [When schools said they need printers, we provided them with printers.]
Organized tours
ACCORDING to Ale, the FMSR organizes tours to raise additional cash to fund feeding programs and other charity works in the Philippines.
“Bumibisita kami sa ibang lugar dito sa Moscow. Kung magkano ma-earn namin doon, iyon yung itinutulong sa mga nangangailangan sa Pilipinas.” [We organize tours to areas within Moscow. Whatever we collect through that is what we use to help those in need in the Philippines.]
She said that while Muscovites and Filipinos were not immune to the impact of the pandemic and affected by restrictions, life appears normal in Moscow.
“As long as you wear a face mask and as long as you have vaccine, parang normal lang ang life dito,” Leah said. [As long as you wear a face mask and as long as you have a vaccine, life here seems to be normal.]
Ale pointed out that there are many Filipinos who are generous, especially to fellow OFWs.
“Lalo na pag sinabi na Pilipino ang nangangailangan. At ramdam naman natin yung hirap, kung paano yung hirap sa Pilipinas. Kaya ganon kami kasigasig tumulong.”
[This is true especially if those needing help are Filipinos because we are aware of their hardships as OFWs and having lived in the Philippines. This is why we are highly-motivated to help.]Donating ideas
EMONG Heresano, FMSR founder and adviser, said that besides donating money and basic needs, they also offer life advice to those who have had it tough, mental health-wise, as they and governments grapple with the pandemic. Heresano explained that besides the Philippines, they reach out to poor communities in other countries as well but on a case-to-case basis.
But he said all their efforts are concentrated on the Philippines.
“Ang pagtulong namin naka-focus talaga sa Pilipinas dahil sobra talaga ang epekto ng pandemic sa atin,” he said. “[Pero] hindi lang naman pera ang itinutulong namin, nagbibigay din kami ng mga advise; hindi lang pera ang kailangan na itulong.” [We don’t just help with money, we also give advice; money is just one form of help.]
Heresano said in an interview last December they planned to continue with their donations by February where barriers and restrictions would be a little more lenient than the previous months.
“Meron kaming plan; ang problema magkakaroon kami ng lockdown dito,” Emong said. [We have a plan;, the problem is we will have a lockdown here.]
Engaging Covid
DEPUTY Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, who heads Russia’s state coronavirus task force, was cited by an Associated Press story in November as saying that restrictions on public places will take force on February 1, 2022.
The official portal of the Moscow Mayor and Moscow Government says that “Muscovites of risk groups (aged 60 years and older and those with chronic diseases) shall stay at home or in the countryside.”
“They can go out to the store, for a walk, to see a doctor in the clinic and in other cases of emergency,” according to the portal.
The portal added that until February 25, the minimum 30 percent of Moscow enterprises staff shall operate remotely as well as all employees aged 60 years and older and those having chronic diseases (except those vaccinated against COVID-19 and those recovered after this disease).
“Hindi lang member namin ang pwedeng tumulong; kung kailangan na tumulong, magbibigay po kami,” Heresano said.
He explains that their members have also individual initiative to undertake charitable works for their own hometown.
Regardless of payback
FMSR’s counterpart is one Filipino woman in Tokyo, nearly 7,500 kilometers away from Moscow: Cherry Amor Yap.
“I think those who were severely affected by the Covid pandemic in the Philippines” were those who lost their jobs; those who didn’t have what are called safety nets, Yap, a researcher on migrant philanthropy, said in an interview through Zoom from Japan.
According to her, the decision to help is based on the philosophy of community pantries, food banks organized by private citizens that give and accepts basic commodities sans payment.
“It’s really more of recognizing that if you have the capacity to help then I think you take that opportunity to do something in return, regardless whether or not the person you helped can pay back or you be recognized,” Yap said.
Yap said that donations are coursed through “conduits” who get to identify certain beneficiaries, depending if the needs match to what she can provide. She added there are no certain families or cities as beneficiary.
“It’s really more of the need, hindi naman tinitingnan kung saan, it’s more of ano ang kailangan,” she said. [It’s really more of the need, not looking at where: it’s more of what is needed.]
Needs-based
YAP cited an example of one donation.
“When the contact reached out to us for a donation, for instance, it resonated to me personally because that time my son was playing soccer,” and then she saw pictures of child athletes in the Philippines wearing rubber slippers.
“‘Yung mga bata naka–tsinelas at syempre kinakailangan pag naglalaro ka, as athletes, dapat maayos,” she said. That not only affected her but also, upon sending cash donations, confirmed that “those who are asking for donations do not have the necessary equipment to play soccer.” [The kids were wearing rubber slippers and, of course, it’s necessary that when you play, as athletes, your gear must be good.]
This is why Yap said children who are less privileged strike a note in her and prompted her to put her energy on this pursuit.
“I think there’s the truth to it that the simplicity of the reason makes it more clear,” she said. “You don’t have to or make any fuss about the action. You just act; you just do something.”
Do good, be blessed
AS if the pandemic isn’t enough, the Philippines also had to grapple with an average of 20 typhoons in a year. And as the country was entering the second year of the pandemic, Typhoon Odette arrived.
That didn’t escape Israel-based Filipino caregiver Ador Alryt Tucay.
According to Tucay, he has been reaching out to vulnerable communities in the country since the pandemic started, sending home cash for groceries, clothes and appliances.
“If you do good, you’ll get blessings in return,” Tucay, 45, said in an interview via Zoom.
With his savings and some little money he earned from his sidelines, Tucay was able to raise 3,000 shekels or $48,000 for the donations given to the typhoon-affected communities in Tomas Oppus, Southern Leyte.
“Nakakalungkot kasing isipin na habang maganda ang kalagayan ko dito sa Israel, yung mga kababayan ko, naghihirap. Yung iba nawalan pa ng tirahan at pamilya,” Tucay said. (It is sad to think that while my situation is good here in Israel, others back home are suffering. Some lost their home and family.)
“So ang sabi ko, tutal may natitira pa naman akong pera, why not i-share ko na rin sa kanila?” (So I told myself I still have some money left, why not share it with them?)
Agorot, food
LAST year, Filipino labor migrants in Israel initiated a fund-raising project called “Your Agorot, My Food.” The agorot are the smallest Israeli coins, just like the American’s penny. The project involves caregivers and other foreigners contributed whatever amount of money for the elderly communities in Cebu City.
Michelle dela Rosa, head of Sugbuanon Israel (Cebuano Israel), said that when Filipinos started to bombard her with messages asking for food and other necessities, she knew exactly what she had to do.
“I told my friends “Guys! We need to do something! If we don’t, then who will do it?” dela Rosa said.
From there, she initiated a fundraising campaign in social media where she disseminated the information to all the Facebook groups of Filipino migrant workers in Israel. That caught the attention of many.
As her message gained traction, Dela Rosa started to receive donations ranging from 10 shekels to 2,000 shekels, either from Filipinos or other Israel-based foreigners.
“Kahit yung mga Pilipinong nawalan ng trabaho (sa Israel) ay mas pinili pa ring magbigay ng tulong kasi alam nilang walang wala talaga yung mga kababayan natin sa Pinas,” dela Rosa said. [Even Filipinos who lost their job in Israel chose to give help because they know that our countrymen are penniless.]
Yielding for others
DELA Rosa admitted the path to gather donations had a rocky start.
Since it is the first time that a philanthropic initiative will be organized within a huge Filipino community in Israel, dela Rosa said many Filipinos were hesitant to give donations at first.
“At the start, I would ask help from our caregivers and they would reject me, but it is okay,” she said. “Then I started posting on social media relief packages; and then suddenly they were approaching me, offering their help.”
All in all, dela Rosa’s organization was able to acquire 3,200 shekels or around $50,000, the biggest that a Filipino organization in Israel ever received.
That spirit of philanthropy is also present within Filipino communities in Israel. A spirit is exuded by persons like Juliana Flores who wore her heart on her sleeve for a fellow Filipino.
“Hindi ko kasi kayang makita na lahat kami ng flatmates ko may work and siya wala,” Flores said in a virtual interview. (I hated to see all my flat-mates have jobs while she doesn’t have one.)
All of her nine flat-mates chipped in for their fellow caregiver, collecting an amount of 1,500 shekels or almost $26,000, some of which were sent to her family back to the Philippines. After a month, their flat-mate was employed.
Helping others
FOR Maricel Ilustre, her way of showing support to unemployed fellow Filipinos is buying an additional sack of rice and foods whenever she would go to the grocery.
“I will always try to include her in my list of expenses because I know how she exactly feels,” said Ilustre who went through the same experience having been laid off from her previous job as a caregiver.
Ilustre, who also lives in an apartment with other Filipino caregivers, shared that even her other flat-mates who stayed in their job also contributed to the expenses of their fellows who were unemployed during the pandemic. She said it was “very nice” to see that “bayanihan” even among migrants is still alive.
“Ang mga Pilipino kasi rito, kapag may problema—problema rin ng lahat,” Ilustre said. [Here, one Filipino’s problem is everybody’s problem.]
“Pero kapag malaking problema, wala na ako diyan,” she said bursting into laughter. [But if it is a big problem, I am not part of it.]
Maricel and her flatmates were able to raise 5,000 shekels or around $81,000 for two months. She said that her fellow caregiver was able to spend half of the donations by sending it to her family in the Philippines while the other half she used to search for jobs.
Enthusiasm to give
THE increase in salary of caregivers during the pandemic could be one of the reasons why they chose to donate more, said Winston Santos, president of the National Alliance of Filipino Communities in Israel.
“Lumaki kasi yung binabayad sa ating mga caregivers ngayong pandemic since they’re required to stay in their employers’ houses until na matapos yung kontrata nila,” Santos said, noting that caregivers will spend more time working for their employers. [The salary increased among Filipino caregivers during the pandemic since they’re required to stay in their employers’ houses until their contract ends.]
Filipino caregivers during the pandemic can earn a salary of as low as $1,500 to $2,000 a month to as high as $76,533 to $102,045 monthly.
With the surging population of Filipino caregivers in the country, Santos believes that labor migrants are more enthusiastic about sending additional money back home.
“I know some who were able to provide cash for their families and also for the vulnerable communities in the Philippines,” he said.
Santos added that Filipino caregivers were able to earn from sideline jobs for other Israelis during the pandemic.
“Oftentimes, caregivers are also hired to wash the clothes and dishes of other Israelis; with permission from their employers,” he said. “This way, they could make additional cash.”
Remittances surge
ISRAEL is home to nearly 70,000 migrant caregivers, including 30,000 Filipinos who work in different parts of the country, commonly in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
However, the number of Filipinos deployed to Israel (not just caregivers) at the start of the pandemic plunged by 77.8 percent to 1,717 migrants from the previous estimates of 7,748 in 2019, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
Yet, the number of aspiring Filipinos who will join migrant caregivers starts to increase this year as the Israeli economy loosens up to expand caregiving jobs for migrants.
The first batch of migrant workers, comprising 48 Filipino caregivers, was deployed to Israel in the second quarter, the POEA said in a statement in July last year.
Additional batches of Filipino workers, the agency stated, will be expected after the Population and Immigration Authority of the State of Israel intended to recruit over 5,000 more caregivers by the year-end.
Filipino migrant workers transmitted $89.9 billion to the Philippines in 2019. And even with the pandemic, Filipinos were able to transmit $97.4 billion to the Philippines, as provided by the data of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Last year, the BSP recorded higher remittances that were transmitted to the Philippines within eight months. From January to August, Filipino migrant workers in Israel sent a total of $84.8 billion to their families in the origin country.
Organizational strength
FILIPINOS’ love for their compatriots is shared in the City of Love: Paris.
One organization expresses such love in style by organizing donation caravans.
“Ang pagtulong kasi nakatatak na sa ating mga Pilipino. Iba din kasi yung blessings na naibabahagi mo sa kapwa mo,” household help Marilou Reyes said. [Helping others has been stamped in our hearts. There’s also the feeling of being blessed when you share with your neighbors.]
Reyes said the organization helps children unable to study.
Marilou Reyes, 65, and a member of a Couples for Christ community in Paris, says that some Filipinos can give during the pandemic since most of them still receive 80 percent of their salary.
Reyes considers herself fortunate that her employer was kind enough to understand the crisis everyone was on and still give her salary. In one of Reyes’s initiatives, her family was able to set up a donation caravan for almost a hundred families in Caloocan.
Reyes said she bought several cavans of rice that volunteers repacked in 5-kilo bags for those families.
Empathy for others
STILL, the last two years were one of the hardest for an OFW like Reyes: her son battled Covid from a hospital bed.
“Talagang naawa ako sa mga taong may ganun kasi mahirap pala talaga: nakikita ko anak ko sobrang hirap na hirap huminga,” she said. [I really feel sorry for people like them because it’s really hard: I saw my child having a difficult time breathing.]
Her son was fortunate enough because, according to doctors who attended to him, had they been a few minutes late, her son would have been dead.
Her son’s hospitalization tied her hands temporarily from donating. Reyes, nonetheless, promised to return to the donating circuit, planning to launch another caravan.
“Katunayan niyan gusto ko pa ulit magbigay kaso nagkasakit lang ang anak ko kaya hindi ko pa maisagawa, pero siguro pag umokey na gagawin namin lalo ngayon nagpasko at magbabagong taon, makapagbigay man lang kahit papaano sa mga nangangailangan,” Reyes on her plans on establishing another caravan.
As a member of a Christian organization, she said what got her through the crisis were prayers and her relationship to God.
State, citizens
IT was the same with Leonora Pineda, also an active member of the Couples for Christ community, who said one of her motivations is her faith.
Another reason for her giving—clothes for children and materials for the church—is the view that the state has been remiss in its role to lead the campaign against the pandemic.
“Marami na rin kasing mga Pilipinong umaasa, eh pwede naman tayong magkusa. Pwede namang magsipag at tayo mismo ang humanap ng paraan para makapagpatuloy pa. Pero ayun nga,” Pineda said. [There are as many Filipinos hoping, eh, we can take the initiative. We can work hard and we ourselves can find a way to continue. But that’s the way it is.]
She noted that Filipinos still experience hunger during the pandemic. She noted that Filipinos should start going into urban farming to ensure food is available.
Reyes and Pineda believe that Filipinos will always stick together and rise from challenges that put them down.
“Kahit pa sabihin ng iba na hindi mo na rin kailangan tulungan yang mga yan kasi may mga pamilya naman na yan. Marami talagang Pilipino ang talagang inuuna ang pagtulong sa pamilya. Natural na sa atin yan; culture na natin yan,” Reyes said. [Others may say you don’t need to help people anymore because they have their own families. Yes, many Filipinos really prioritize helping the family. It’s natural for us, it’s our culture.]
If Yeats were alive, he would be proud of Filipinos.
Image credits: BM Graphics: Job Ruzgal