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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The Village

Rustic is the life in the Village
Where it is idle and subdued but quite happy
Where families live in huts comfortably
Where the way of life is humble and not haughty
Where strangers are welcome with courtesy

Beautiful is the scene in the Village
Where grassland compliment the awesome scenery
Where trees standing and swaying gracefully
Where farmlands keep farmers busy
Where animals graze and move around freely

Serene is the place in the Village
Where quiet surrounding is deafening
Where astounding landscape is calm but not boring
Where foliage covers wide range of tranquility
Where greenery is full of life to meander

Pleasing sounds pervade in the Village
Where birds chirp in their exquisite form
Where roosters crow at dawn
Where gecko-like creatures emit sound atop the coconut tree
Where river flows in enthralling sound
Where waterfalls cascades loud

Eerie is the night in the Village
Where complete darkness is a little scary
Where little creatures creep
Where crickets disquiet the night
Where kerosene lamp remain as the only light

Relaxing is the day in the Village
Where fresh air soothe the inner sense of the human body
Where clean and cold stream attract for a good therapeutic swim
Where ordinary things exist unmolested by modern living
Where folks are friendly and accommodating

Challenging is the life in the Village
Where human activity is hard but dauntless
Where slow pace of life persist
Where old system of things remain unchanged
Where human development is very low
Where education is totally absent for folks to grow

Poignant is the services in the Village
Where basic services are not available
Where government help is indispensable
Where health and sanitation services are nil
Where outhouse and bushes are the usual place to address the call of nature
Where basic needs are seldom to get by

Nature is the only luxury in the Village
Where unadulterated farm produce and meat products comes natural
Where expensive bottled water is none at all
Where water springs flows eternal
Where cooking is usually done by using firewood

Love of nature is important in the Village
Where folks use old farm implements
Where forest and rivers are protected
Where slush and burn is avoided
Where hunting of protected species are discouraged

Foremost is the peace and order in the Village
Where village elders keep understanding and unity
Where folks practice traits of giving and caring
Where wrongdoings do not make up the village
Where cooperation unites the folks together

Coexistence prevails in the Village
Where folks live in typical rustic life
Where domestic and wild animals feed in usual mode of animal life
Where distribution of nature’s wealth are reap even
Where nature accommodate all creatures living therein


Exploring is worth trying in the village
Where the daily grind of urban life is temporarily deleted
Where soul searching is absolutely solemn
Where appreciation of life is easily understood
Where resting under the mighty tree brings recollection of happy memories
Where walking along the trails boost self confidence
Where self-imposed exile in the village help appreciate everything.


The Ode of Sadie

Born is a baby girl to a poor family
The parents named the baby, Sadie
Sadie is the first born of a struggling young couple
Bereft of wealth but promised not to forsake the cuddly baby
Bringing-up the baby is not easy
For a young couple yet to establish their new family
Because limited resources get in the way
But Sadie’s constant care is closely watch
To make her a better person when she grow-up
Every minute every day, Sadie’s situation is there to see
By her loving parents who love her dearly
Baby Sadie completes a happy family
Her smile brings joy to everybody

Her cries call sound of care and affection
Her tantrums seek loving arms and unconditional attention
Her typical baby movement is a cute baby expression
The mere presence of Sadie gives her parents strength
Her emotions serve as motivation to them
Her laughter covers the gloomy atmosphere at home
Baby Sadie really is the family’s inspiration
Good melody is Sadie’s sleep routine
Lullabies bring her to lull in perfect harmony
Especially when she’s in a white linen hammock
That slowly and continuously swings
Taking her to a good sleep and “baby dream”
Grateful is the family of Sadie
When she came in this world free
Free from defects and abnormality
Free from disease and deformity
Free from harm and tragedy
Although, Sadie was born free of malady
She did not escape from the family’s lingering poverty
Surviving in meager subsistence just to stay
Serious is the family to make headway
To rise and raise their child Sadie in successful way
Sadie draws emotional and strong attachment
To her parents’ undying love and avowed commitment
Reason why she’s always in full protection and care
Unlike other children thrown and abandoned in adoption center
Suffering and without parents to care for them
Baby Sadie remains fortunate though
She lives with her family comfortably through
Giggles in usual manner of mother and child connection
Plays old and broken toys with her small and soft hands
Learning few common words like papa and mama
Saying it repeatedly in front of all
Sadie is like other ordinary child
She loves to cling on her mother’s embracing arms
She does not want to separate from her mom
She cries when stranger come
But settle down in a relax form after the stranger is gone
Sadie is no grumpy compare to other baby
She is easy to appease and easy to calm down
Especially when she feed on her mother’s breast milk
That helps her grow normal and healthy
After all, Sadie is the symbol of love that binds her family together
She is the source of moral strength and happiness
She is the power that brighten depression and sadness
She is the force that move emotion of anger to kindness
She helps prevent misunderstanding and debates
She enlighten the feeling of resentment
And she is the baby that her parents have been dreaming
To be part of a happy family that will live until the rest of their existence.

Monday, June 16, 2014

The migrant workers in Qatar



It was in 2013 when Qatar came under fire from foreign media because of alleged forced labor, modern day slavery and other accusations pertaining to its treatment of migrant workers especially in the construction sector where most of the workers were recruited from Nepal, India, and the Philippines and from other Asian nations. The sudden outburst of criticism coming from the western media and from various human rights advocates put Qatar in the spotlight. 

It was at this point that Qatar denied all the accusations hurled towards them, but in the end the government, as reported, immediately conducted a thorough investigation and put in place recommendations to further enhance the mechanism in arresting the wanton labor violations being committed against the migrant workers toiling hard in the different locations in Qatar.

But In spite of the purported action taken or enforced by Qatar, the multinational contractors that employs hundreds of thousands of migrant workers were just callous and totally defiant in their actions and dealings with the migrant workers. Most of the employers are big time foreign multinational contractors from the neighboring Arab countries, India, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Spain, France and Britain.

There are many stories of labor violations committed by some of the multinational contractors especially Arab and British employers-yes, British employers. In one of the big construction projects in the heart of Doha, the capital of Qatar, a big British construction company known in the Middle East employs thousands of migrant workers mostly from Nepal and India. The said nationalities received very low salary of QR500/month for unskilled laborers and QR750-850/month for charge hands. A young Indian site engineer related to this writer that the migrant workers were underpaid simply because they are illiterate.







The callousness of some of the multinational construction companies making big time in Qatar is too hard to ignore. Labor violations continue to inflict humiliation and abuse on migrant workers. Beside the degrading low salary, food and poor accommodation causes more damaging effect on the living condition of migrant workers.  Food comes in trickle like one piece of fried fish with rice for dinner or lunch, alternating with old stocked chicken and two pieces of small tasteless hotdogs or sausages for breakfast and two boiled eggs as alternate. The dishes mentioned only served to Filipino migrant workers. Whereas, Nepalese and Indians always given different kinds of leguminous plants or beans cooked with curry and eaten with rice or chapatti or kobos three meals a day.

Poor accommodation is also a problem and it is often seen in the supply migrant workers’ labor camps. Here, violations are too common like no water supply, overcrowded rooms, no ventilation and other major problems like overtime and holiday pay. Most foreign contractors do not follow the implementing rules and regulations of Qatar labor laws on holidays and OT. And worse, other employers intentionally delay the salary of their labor force for months.
Qatar is in a hurry to duplicate or even surpass Dubai and that is why they set their sight to 2020 vision. Construction is in full blast and as such many migrant workers are needed to build mega and super structures. Unfortunately for Qatar they allow multinational construction companies to exert their own cruel standard of anti-labor practices and humiliating treatment of migrant workers.





Reproductive Health Law declared constitutional by the Philippine Supreme Court


The dividing issue of Reproductive Health Law was declared constitutional by the Philippine Supreme Court after long hours of deliberation among justices in an En banc session conducted yesterday, 08 April 2014, in Baguio City, the country’s summer capital. The RH Law which was approved by both lower and upper house of congress in 2012 and signed into law by President Noynoy Aquino, met  gravis or serious opposition from no less than the Catholic Church and moralist groups like the PRO-LIFE Philippines.

For thirteen long years the anti-RH Law advocates did put a good fight using their vast influence and resources through sermons in churches and other means of communication demonizing the reproductive health law as a real threat to humanity. The Catholic Church, in particular, aggressively campaigned against it, and based on their arguments the RH Law is immoral because it encourages promiscuity, family breakup, sexually transmitted diseases and abortion.

Others argued that the reproductive health law is designed to control the population of the Philippines to its lowest level as dictated upon by suspected and unseen foreign entity who is bend on world depopulation to satisfy their hidden agenda of less population less problem for human race. Whether this is true or not, the anti-RH Law advocates lost their battle but promised not to surrender the morally correct interpretation of reproductive health and responsible parenthood.

While the moralist groups are mourning their lost cause, the Pro-RH Law supporters are celebrating and rejoicing, magnifying their ardent advocacy for women and children’s rights accorded to by the constitutionality of the RH Law which became their battle cry during the decisive and intense lobbying in the lower house and the senate. The winning moments of the Pro-RH Law supporters can be seen in their faces and the reaction was too loud upon hearing the announcement of the decision by the Supreme Court’s spokesperson. The boisterous PRO-RH Law crowd overwhelmed the ANTI-RH Law advocates gathered in front of the Supreme Court building, although both opposing groups were civil to each other.  






The new law, as sufficed by the proponents or authors, primarily support the needs of women and children regarding reproductive health, sex education, family planning, use of contraceptives or birth control methods, use of government health facilities conducive to the needs of women and young adults having problems in reproductive issues. But this was contradicted by Atty. Fajardo of Ateneo Law School and a PRO-LIFE advocate. He told me that the 3 billion pesos proposed budget for the RH Law implementation won’t help any, only the big pharmaceutical companies will benefit and other stakeholders who will act as conduits and implementers of the billion budget for the Reproductive Health Law.