Through efforts of the Filipino community of Brampton the remains of Girlie Maglalang has arrived to her grieving family in San Juan, Apalit, Pampanga.
Girlie was hit by a car at the Shoppers’ World parking lot in Brampton in January. She has no relatives here — only friends and kababayans with good hearts.
Like a number of our kababayans out there, Girlie came on a tourist visa, lost it, and has gone on a “limbo” status since then. She worked at odd jobs to be able to meet only basic needs here so she could send most of what she earned to her struggling family in Apalit — not an uncommon tale.
I made a few calls and all of them said the same story: the Philippine Consulate in Toronto said through a certain John that the community should raise money to pay the funeral home and shipment of the body as it has to send request yet to Manila and wait for approval of the budget for funeral and shipping expenses. In addition they were told by the same person at the consulate to have Girlie’s remain cremated to lessen shipping expenses — how sensitive naman.
People like Girlie remit money to the Philippines regularly that help prop up the country’s economy. Individually, the money we send to our respective families prop them up financially; collectively, the money we send prop-up the Philippine economy.
In November 2010, according to Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., the money sent home by the more than 8 million Filipinos abroad rose to $1.63-billion, supporting consumption in the Philippines’ $161-billion economy. Part of that was Girlie’s remittances but the government cannot send her dead body back to her family in a speedy, less circuitous, way. How sad.
Salamat sa mga taga Brampton. Through the initiative of the Filipino seniors, headed by Tim Evangelista and Norie Manansala-Blohn, and the Maharajah group led by its president Efren Reyes, Girlie’s remains was shipped. We also need to thank John and Willy Arienda- Jose for negotiating with the funeral home a payment plan. Without all these people, including those who have contributed time and money, Girlie would still have been in the freezer. To the Consulate’s credit it of course did the usual facilitation, which is an obligation it has to do.
Girlie’s case is not the first and will not be the last and so is the kind of response that the Philippine Consulate General’s office had. Filipinos go overseas to face the unknown putting themselves at risk because there’s nothing in the Philippines for them. It is not only themselves that they place in something unpredictable but the family they left at home faces problems of their own, too. This is a story that keeps repeating everyday not only in this part of the world but all over where Filipinos go to work whether legally or illegally. This goes on while army generals, politicians, and anyone who has the capacity to do so, help themselves to the nation’s coffers sucking dry what has remained of the blood running in the population’s veins. In the Philippines, the word government conjures corruption as if the two words are synonymous.
Now there is an ongoing inquiry into some of this systemic corruption. And as the investigation becomes deeper the former AFP Chief of Staff, who is at the centre of the ongoing legislative scrutiny, shot himself beside his mother’s grave. There is no lack of interpretation and analysis on why Angelo Reyes killed himself. Some say he did it because he is innocent and beloved mother is a witness. Others say the weight of guilt and shame was too heavy a burden that he ended his life but there are many more. Say and believe whatever you want, the only one thing clear is that by killing himself he killed the truth as dead men tell no tales. More reason why the probe has to continue wherever it leads to while there is a President who vows to stamp out corruption, so he says.
Well, many still hope that something beautiful will spring from the soil the soil where Reyes will be buried. People remain hopeful as we should being people of faith. Hope springs eternal in the human breast, a poet once said. Meantime, let’s go on with life while maintaining it with a sense of humor and here’s something below to that effect:
One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, ‘I cannot accept money from you, I’m doing community service this week.’ The florist was
pleased and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.
Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, ‘I cannot accept money from you , I’m doing community service this week.’ The cop was happy and left the
shop. The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.
Then a Member of Parliament came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, ‘I can not accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.’ The Member of Parliament was very happy and left the shop. The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen MPs lined up waiting for a free haircut.
