It’s a Hard-Knock Life for Us (Pinoys)!

I spent last Friday afternoon at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) renewing my passport. Getting in was easy enough since I had a prior appointment set via e-mail. The steps up to the one where I had to pay were pretty much a breeze. Then came the last step where encoding had to be done. The line leading up to the auditorium where it was done was both long and winding. For the most part, we had to stand up as seats weren’t made available along the corridors leading to the auditorium. 

I was shocked upon finally getting a peek of the auditurium. It was room full of people with rows and rows and rows and rows . . . of seats covering practically the entire auditorium floor. Along the three sides of the floor, DFA employees, with their backs to the wall, were lined up on tables and tables and tables with computers and printers . Each employee was typing up a passport applicant’s data. 

My appointment was at 3 P.M. And I thought I’d be finished by 4 P.M. or by 5 P.M. at the latest. Instead, I ended up leaving by 6:30 P.M. — getting caught at the DFA when Sabbath already started (it starts from sundown of Friday and ends sundown of Saturday). I didn’t think the last step would take that long and that I’d end up closing the week there.  I didn’t realize how late it was until I went outside the building and saw that the sky had gotten dark already. All the way home I felt so guilty. 

When I was at the DFA, I noticed how so many people — all Filipinos — pretty much from all walks of life, were doing their best to secure their very own Philippine passport. Most of them it seemed had the intention of leaving the country for good to seek a better future for themselves and for their families too in foreign lands–whichever one opens its door to them and  welcomes them first.

The realization of just how difficult it is getting to be in our country seemed to be hammered into my immediate consciousness just then. 

I have a very, very close friend who’s leaving the country by the start of June to work in Dubai. And to think that he’s earning so much more than the average Filipino here already. His previous employer even offered to take him back in at double the salary of what he was previously getting. And yet, he still opted to accept the job in Dubai. Like countless other Filipinos, his intention is to use that job and that country as a stepping stone to the US, Canada, the UK, or even Australia. He would have loved to stay here but, he said he has the future of his family to think about. 

This migration of Filipinos into all the world seems to be the norm these days. Hmmm . . . .

As I was standing in line, I realized how awful being a Filipino was. I recalled how I have had to fall in long lines and spend hours and hours of my time at various government institutions just to get the simplest of things settled, like having my address changed or my name spelled correctly on their records. I realized why it seemed so tempting and practical for most Filipinos to just find someone from another country (that is better off economically to the Philippines) to marry. That would surely be a quick and easy solution to getting out of the country and becoming the citizen of a "superior" country. 

Then, as I was finally seated in the auditorium, I overheard a lady remark how patient the Filipinos there were. That if that happened to citizens of say, the US for example, they would be complaining within minutes. I was wondering if the right term was truly "patience." Perhaps Filipinos just find it pointless and futile to waste their energies complaining since improvements are hard to come by in all government agencies–even in private corporations here, specially those offering basic services such as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT). I would say the proper term should "resignation."

As bad as things are here, I do love my country. And I reallly have no plans of migrating elsewhere, save perhaps to take occassional trips to other countries for business, pleasure, and photography. At least not in my immediate or short term future anyway. But wherever God sees fit to lead me, then that is where I will go. 

Before I left the DFA, I took a quick detour to their gym and had 2Go courier service handle the delivery of my passport when it becomes ready for pick-up from the DFA. I was amused that others who had just come from the auditorium where there too–each one obviously felt the same way I felt. Each one had enough lining up and waiting to last them a while and did not want to return to the DFA anytime soon. The 99 pesos cost of having our passport delivered to our own doorstep was worth it, even if it were one day after the day our passports were to be released.

Below are a few quick shots I took using my cellphone camera right before leaving. The last two shots are a bit blurred. I was in a hurry thinking picture-taking might be a no-no within the DFA. I took them for this post. 

I was nearing the end of the long, long, long line. The auditorium was literally filled up with "black heads" all the way to the entrance and beyond that.