(UPDATE) Poe also calls for probe into #TanimBala; more than 22k sign #LaglagBala petition

Senator Grace Poe has joined fellow 2016 presidential aspirant, Sen. Miriam Santiago, in seeking a legislative probe into the rash of #TanimBala cases at Philippine international airports.

In a press release, Poe also sent a message to Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Jose Angel Honrado, “to put an end to the proliferation of ‘tanim-bala’ at the country’s airports within a week or quit.”

Poe gave the statement as members of the House of Representatives pushed for the resignation of Honrado, who is a relative of President Benigno Aquino and a confidante from his younger days.

Reports of “planted bullets” have angered many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and netizens, who see the cases as schemes by some unscrupulous airport personnel to milk locals and foreign nationals passing through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Vacuum-packed luggage of OFWs at the Dubai International Airport Terminal 1. Photo by Peachy Rallonza-Bretana

As Filipino netizens posted photos of travellers wrapping their luggage in layers of plastic, all in the hope of not falling prey to #TanimBala, the petition calling for a probe into the alleged scandal continued to amass signers, hitting the 22,000 mark mid-afternoon.

Nervous OFWs are taking extra efforts — and paying additional costs — to ensure they do not fall victim to #TanimBala. Photo by Peachy Rallonza Bretana, taken at the Dubai Int’l Airport

READ: OFW BEHIND PETITION TO PROBE ‘LAGLAG BALA’ SAYS SCAM REAPS COLLECTIVE SHAME FOR PH 

Poe’s press release said:

“The number of cases where passengers are being detained for allegedly concealing bullets in their bags have grown exponentially like there’s a deliberate plan to victimize poor, unsuspecting passengers for extortion.  This is unacceptable, and Mr. Honrado should be able to stop this within a week,” Poe said.

Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, filed Senate Resolution 1636 to look into possible abuses of security personnel and failure of airport officials to stop these. Two other resolutions have been filed with the Senate to probe the alleged extortion racket.

The senator also urged the creation of a special task force of law enforcers to replace the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) personnel in the airport as a first step while additional cameras are being put in place and the investigation is ongoing.”

Ednalyn Purugganan, who started the change.org/laglagbala petition with her children (in stripes and blue shirt) and their cousins). Photo courtesy of Ednalyn

The President, meanwhile, summoned to separate meetings officials of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the agency that supervises the X-ray equipment handlers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) , as well as the Philippine National Police aviation command.

Adding fuel to the anger was the disclosure by a choir musical director that a teenaged choir member had also missed their flight  because of a #TanimBala incident. The intriguing parts in the story involve:

One policeman allegedly replacing the live bullet found in the girl’s bag with a smaller, empty one; and cops’ disclosure of a feud with the airport security force.

Vargas said that amid the commotion, police told Rachel that even if they release her, she would not be allowed to board the flight because the police are “not in good terms” with the NAIA’s security guards.

“Nagkaroon ng komosyon doon e, tumakbo iyung ilang singers ko. Nalaman na nung roving security guard nung airport doon pagpasok sa boarding gate, iyung mga nangyari doon sa bullet. Sabi nung pulis, kahit i-release kita ngayon, hindi ka pa rin papasukin doon. Parang ang dating sa usapan nila, they are not in good terms with the security guards. ‘Iyang mga yan, sipsip iyan,'” Vargas said.

Upon Rachel’s release, police also allegedly remarked that the security guards should be “slapped” with the incident.

“‘I-release na iyan, isampal na iyan sa mukha ng mga security guard.’ Sabi ng pulis,” Vargas said.

He said the SWAT member stayed with Rachel until her mom arrived. He said Rachel had to book another flight with her own money to follow her choir to South Korea.

Strange reports kept social media users in a tizzy. A 65-year old woman bound for Singapore to attend a grandchild’s soccer tournament was also arrested and slapped with criminal complaint — even though she had padlocked her bag, wrapped the openings with plastic and even had a pocket sewn shot. A wheelchair-bound Filipino-American likewise almost missed her flight to California after two bullets were allegedly found in her suitcase. An American missionary is seeking release on a similar incident. 

The cases have aroused a complex mix of feelings among Filipinos, anger and shame the strongest.

Even children have taken notice of the scandal. Mary Jane Reyes posted on Facebook a conversation with her child, who suggested taking the cases to the United Nations.

HANNAH:
Oh. But are they doing something naman? Super dami na kasi ng victims. I heard even this teenager got victimized and was almost unable to join a prestigious competition abroad. Then some OFWs and now even a 65-year old grandma. What’s the government doing?

ME:
Well, they said they have installed or will install a help desk at NAIA and they intend to add more CCTV.

HANNAH:
That’s all?

With so much disappointment on her face and after few minutes of silence, she exclaimed:

“Mommy, since there was a Japanese citizen & also an American citizen who got apprehended & jailed recently because of alleged possession of 1-2 bullet/s and were likely also victims of this tanim-bala, and since it seems to me our government is not doing enough or is not really capable of putting an end to this menace, is it possible for you to please contact UN (United Nations) now and ask them to please intervene already?”

November 2, 2015November 2, 2015 by Inday Espina-Varona Categories: accountability, CONTROVERSY, corruption, Crime, Filipino diaspora, OFWs, PETITIONS, social mediaTags: #Halalan2016, #LaglagBala, #LaglagBala petition, #TanimBala, Change.org Philippines, Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Grace Poe, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), MIAA General Manager Jose Angel Honrado, miriam santiago, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, overseas filipino workers, Peachy Rallonza Bretana, PNP Aviation Command, President Benigno Aquino III Leave a comment

OFW behind petition to probe ‘Laglag Bala’ says scam reaps collective shame for PH

Like many overseas Filipino workers, Ednalyn Purugganan uses social media to keep in touch with her family and follow events back home.

Ednalyn with her children (in stripes and blue shirt) and their cousins). Photo courtesy of Ednalyn

Ednalyn’s Facebook page, one of the many millions from the world’s social media capital, is sprinkled with inspirational quotes (today, from the Dalai Lama), photos of her children, aspirational shots of the latest models of bags and shoes and, of course, selfies: Doing yoga in the mountains, playing with her employer’s huge dogs and relaxing with kin and friends.

Signing animal petitions on Change.org, the world’s largest petition platform, was the extent of her social, political advocacies. Then came Mary Jane Veloso, the hapless Filipino OFW sentenced to death by Indonesia after airport authorities there found heroin in her luggage.

Mary Jane Veloso: The power of social media partly helped her win a stay of execution.

Ednalyn identified with Veloso, also a mother of two. She could relate with the feelings of fear and helplessness, and having to deal with authorities of a country with a strange language and culture.

Most of all, Ednalyn says in a Facebook Messenger interview, she, too, knew the slow burn of anger when government officials treat you like a burden or a cross to bear.

All those permits, those quizzing at airports, the frustration of having to prove you are innocent and not out to break the law, of learning to swallow the slights and just focus on the tasks needed to get out to greener pastures.

The domestic worker from Lantau Island joined the 447,747 other signers — many of them Indonesians who also identified with the risks faced by migrant workers — to #SaveMaryJane. 

Indonesian President Joko Widodo granted Veloso a stay of execution following dialogues with his country’s migrant rights activists.

“Ang sarap. May nagagawa din pala pag nagkakaisa.” (It’s a good feeling, knowing we can change something if we act together.)

OFWs in Hongkong active in churches. This is Ednalyn’s Catholic church choir.

She soon settled back into her weekly routine, including singing in a Catholic Church choir and bonding with mother and sister and brother and assorted relatives, all also working in Hongkong.

“Angkan kami ng OFWs,” says Ednalyn. An uncle is in the US, an aunt in Finland; other cousins are in Canada. Many of her Facebook photos are of the clan’s children, vacationing in Hongkong during class breaks to catch up with parents who can go home only once every two years.

Ednalyn recalls seeing the first stories of “tanim bala” or “laglag bala” two months ago. The terms refer to what victims and critics say are schemes to plant a bullet or two in the bags of tourists of OFWs at the country’s premier airports. The goal: forcing them to cough up bribes or lose their places on flights bound for precious jobs.

“Mga foreigner yun.” (Those were foreigners they nabbed.)

“Naisip ko tuloy, parang nakakatakot nang umuwi ng Manila. Baka ikaw ang sunod na mabiktima. Laglag bala tapos hihingan ka.” (I got scared. Going home to Manila suddenly became a scary prospect. You might be the next victim. They’ll plant a bullet and then fleece you.)

After some victims claimed they were forced to shell out bribes, and heat was trained on the X-ray machine handlers and aviation cops, law enforcers turned to harsher tactics.

 Ednalyn felt her world fall apart with the arrest of 56-year old Gloria Ortinez, also a Hongkong-based OFW, who has served the same employer for decades.

“Kami na yan,” she points out. (She is one of us.)

Ednalyn fell back on a familiar weapon – a petition asking Senators Miriam Santiago and Grace Poe to investigate the “Laglag Bala” incidents and surface the truth.

Read: Online petition seeks probe of ‘tanim bala’ at NAIA

TOGETHER AGAIN. Children of Ednalyn’s largely OFW clan visit Hongkong during holidays to catch up with parents who can only come home once every two years.

“Ang batas dito sa Hong Kong napakahigpit. Walang sira ulong mag dadala ng alam nilang bawal na ikakapahamak nila. Si Nanay Gloria, 30 years nang nagtratrabaho dito sa Hong Kong at nagawa nyo paring biktimahin. Paano naman po kaming, sa mga dekada na ang inabot dito, tawag sa amin baguhan parin. “

(Hongkong has strict enforcement of laws. No one would be mad enough to even try to bring in or out something against the law. Nanay Gloria worked for 30 years here and you still managed to victimize her in the scam. What about us, who are still treated as newcomers?)

Ednalyn speaks to truth with power. Hers is an authentic voice that manages to condense in four paragraphs the angst of OFWs, called “new heroes” in the Philippines because they prop up the national economy, allowing some pressures of a social volcano to escape.

“Nagpapakahirap po kaming mag trabaho dito at pangalagaan ang pangalan namin at ang pagiging Filipino namin, para lang sirain ng mga taong walang magawa sa buhay.” (We toil here and keep our name and the reputation of the Filipino clean, just to have these torn down by people who have nothing better to do in life.)

“Dito sa Hong Kong ang liit na ng tingin ng mga tao sa Filipino, paano pa pag nalaman na ganyan ang ginagawa nila na mismong kapwa namin Filipino ang nanamantala sa amin?” (Here in Hongkong they already look down on Filipinos, how much more if they find out our compatriots are the ones exploiting us?)

Zeny, another Hongkong-based OFW, can recite almost verbatim the lines that brought her to tears.

“Lahat po kami sabik na sabik makauwi sa Pilipinas, mayakap at mahagkan man lang ang mga mahal namin sa buhay kahit sandali lang, Pero sa nangyayari, mas mabuti na daw magpakatulong, kumayod nang kumayod at magpakakuba dito makuntento nalang daw sa skype at tawag sa telepono kaysa sa kulungan ang bagsak pag uwi sa Mahal naming Bayan.”

(All of us yearn to go back home, to embrace and kiss our loved ones even just for a short time. But with these happenings, we might as well just slog it out as servants, labor until we are hunched over, falling back on Skype and phone calls because what we might end up in jail in the country we love.)

Ednalyn launched the petition on Oct. 27.  In a few days, more than 21,000 – many of them OFWs — signed the petition. The top countries according to Change.org Philippines senior campaigner Christine Roque: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, US, Singpore, Qatar, Hongkong, Canada, Australia and Kuwait.

“Tulungan nyo naman po kaming ipa-hinto ang nangyayaring modus operandi ng lag laglag bala sa NAIA. Maawa naman po sana kayo sa aming mga OFW. Di po namin pinaghihirapang alagaan ang pangalan namin para lang sirain ng mga gahaman sa isang iglap lang.”

(Please help us to stop the laglag bala scam at the NAIA. Give some mercy to OFWs. Our hard work, our clean names can vanish in an instant because of these greedy people.)

Senator Santiago has written directly to Ednalyn, saying her petition prompted her to file a resolution seeking a probe into the ‘laglag bala incidents.’ Santiago responded via a platform tool for decision makers. Ednalyn is waiting for Poe’s response.

Some fellow OFWs worry for Ednalyn, fearing she might incur the wrath of the mighty.

“Hindi ko naman iniisip na may mangyayari sa akin. Ang isip ko lang makauwi kami ng tahimik.” (I don’t think about bad things happening to me. All I think of is how we can go back home in peace.)

Ednalyn is happy with Santiago’s response and amused by complaints that her petition sounds like a campaign aid for the two women presidential contenders.

She ticks off some of the comments thrown her way: Why Grace and Miriam? Why not Bongbong Marcos as he beat them to the draw? Why didn’t you just address it to Pnoy?

Ednalyn says the elections never entered her mind. Then she points out the two women are rivals in the presidential race.

“Babae ako. Naisip ko sila because most of us OFWs here are women. I chose Miriam because of old articles that depict how she tried to help OFWs.

She is gracious with her critics. “There are many Ilocanos here, like me.” Besides, she adds, many of them eventually got around to signing the petition.

Overcoming differences for an important cause is victory, says Ednalyn.

A safe homecoming, without having to dodge vultures, is the least the government owes these modern day heroes.

**Full disclosure: The author used to be campaigns director of Change.org in the Philippines.

November 2, 2015November 2, 2015 by Inday Espina-Varona Categories: UncategorizedTags: #Halalan2016, bongbong marcos, Catholics in the Philippines, Change.org, Change.org Philippines, corrupt airport staff, corruption, Laglag-Bala, migrant workers, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, overseas filipino workers, President Benigno Aquino III, Sen. Grace Poe, Sen. Miriam Santiago, Tanim-Bala Leave a comment

HER WAY: Rose Fostanes made an autobio of X-Factor

Rose Fostanes and mentor Shiri Maimon wow with a cover of Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” (Photo from Rose Fostanes unofficial fan page on Facebook)

She’s a lesbian, middle-aged and overweight, with a snub nose, jowls, an accent waiting for a cleaver, and enunciation problems. But she has a diva’s full chest tones and soaring notes, bigger-than-life gestures and the ebullient charm of one who lives to serve and love. And she has given “Beautiful” a whole new spin.

On Tuesday (Wednesday morning in Manila), Israel poured love back on Filipino caregiver Rose Fostanes, crowning her the country’s first X-Factor winner.

Fostanes won the contest in pure Pinoy melodrama style, singing Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”, a somewhat dangerous sing-a-long staple in videoke-crazy Asia. The theme song of every rebel, with or without a cause, the exclamation point to a season’s repertoire that had plumbed every facet of her life struggles.

Some awkward adlibs, the trademark “p” for “f” — all easily overlooked in a powerful performance that scorched past the lush orchestra sound and filled every corner of the arena.

“My Way” is dangerous not just because impatient singers or displeased listeners have been known to shoot hapless performers.  It’s a compressed biography of every person’s life, alluding to a string of slights and sorrows.

Frank Sinatra, photo from http://www.last.fm/music/Frank+Sinatra

It’s also that great aspirational song: Paul Anka penned it for Frank Sinatra, the baadest of the Rat Pack, those rowdy, brilliant, troubled singers who scandalized America as much as they bedazzled.

For almost three minutes, “My Way” allows every downtrodden soul the ultimate dream — giving the a cruel world the dirty finger and getting away with it. And, if one is good enough, getting applause for it.

Life is a soap opera. It’s too easy for “My Way” to degenerate into cheap melodrama. Rose — like most Filipinos, she sports a nickname; Osang, a word made famous by another defiant woman — is 47 years old and has spent 20 years working as a caregiver around the Middle East.

Salt of the earth, sentimental like so many of her people, yet always ready to straighten the shoulders and march on with every disaster. Her life’s dream was hobbled early on because she lacked a star’s looks. Like millions of Filipinos, she took care of the family by working long hours in strange lands. She gifted every note of “My Way” with a rock-solid dignity. Instead of sneering anger, she turned it into a hallelujah chorus.

Osang waddled into her X-Factor audition in jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt, belly almost dwarfing the bust.

Osang, auditioning for X-Factor Israel

With her first song, she set her terms.

“This Is My Life” is a torch singer’s favorite, where every stanza can be punctuated by little sobs.

Osang did not prowl the stage. She has always rooted herself on that private space, a stocky tree with surprisingly graceful arms.  She gave no sobs. She growled at times but for the most part told the story straight, the perfect strategy for a singer whose voice needs no adornment save for that exceptionally expressive face.

By the second round, X-Factor Israel viewers knew Osang was no stereotype, that she would always serve up surprises.

With a heart “going doog, doog,” she ditched standards and sizzled with a country-blues cover of Lady Gaga’s “You and I”. Big Mama, hot goddess at 4’11 and god knows how many pounds, hitting the loins dead on. All the way to that rhythmic spoken afterglow, “You have to move, you have to fight; you have to make your best.”

Now, that’s a line that belongs to a song. Even with slightly fractured English, Osang has the gift of  gab. Short sentences suffused with unintentional irony, or long riffs with perfectly timed pauses; when not singing, she dishes out sidewalk poetry.

Baby doll. That was a signal. Auditioning, Rose said she was alone. Eventually, despite fearing a backlash over identity, she came out to the Associated Press as a lesbian with a butch partner of 30 years. “We have the same dreams, we share property and a bank account,” she says. “She is my soulmate.”  Mel seems to be as gentle and dignified as Osang and got to see her baby doll become a star.

I’m a big fan of musical reality shows. But I haven’t yet seen a singer turn a season into an autobiography. This was what Osang did, making her performances the distillation of those little tales.

She barely reached the armpits of her gorgeous groupmates in the preliminary rounds but she stalked out like a queen in the slow-rock anthem, “Purple Rain”. That must have been a nightmare for her rivals.

Osang squeaked through the judges house, emerging from that cocoon as a star.

“Beautiful… no matter what they say.” Osang’s anthem,

The producers must have really loved her because with the first live show they had transformed her into a chic dynamo in silver lame and a black overcoat.

The makeover was just enough to highlight Rose’s world-weary, kind face as she sang of transcending insecurities. That almost spoken word in the last chorus of Christina Aguillera’s “Beautiful” was a statement of self and a call to arms for everyone — woman, man, transexual — who has ever faced rejection.

A judged said she’d just used up her finale number. He was wrong, just barely.

She would prance in “Valerie”, shimmy and she belt out that old war-horse, “I Who Have Nothing”, rock it out again with Gaga’s  “Born This Way”.

There was no way she could lose with “Bohemian Rhapsody” — with a voice like the wind itself, one moment plaintive, the next keening, the next lashing out with rage. The little grammatical and pronunciation lapses gave the anthem of sob a gritty, authentic touch, as did her open-leg stance. I don’t know how much Rose was responsible for the arrangements of her songs. “Bohemian Rhapsody was perfectly edited to showcase her emotional depth (something Susan Boyle lacked) and versatility of tone.

I was least impressed with her semi-final cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You” — probably her most one-dimensional performance, all birit, no nuance, and with a song that exposed her diction problems. By then, however, she was Israel’s quirky sweetheart and that’s what viewers wanted.

The whole season, Osang was mentored brilliantly by the sympathetic Shiri Maimon. At the finals, she stood tall beside the svelte Shiri, flawlessly harmonising in “If I Ain’t Got You” and then bursting out in soul glory, a joyful and effervescent performance of a song easily ruined by overwrought divas.

I love musical reality shows because they bring up hidden gems. The growth of a raw talent is almost like a life pilgrimage and the outcomes are often time capsules of a society. Too many times, the cute pop stars trounce the more talented mavericks.

Israel, with its grit and its kibbutz memories, may have been the perfect place for Rose to try her luck. “My Way” and Rose. Music and back story a perfect match — for singer and host country.

January 15, 2014January 15, 2014 by Inday Espina-Varona Categories: Adventure, children, Crime, Essays, media criticism, politics, protestsTags: Frank Sinatra, lesbian singer, My Way, overseas filipino workers, pride of the philippines, Rose Fostanes, Shiri Maimon, X-Factor Israel 32 Comments