So ABiaS-CBN Replayed "MMK: Tubig" Last August 28 BUT Are They Willing To Accept The Need For Economic Cha-Cha?

ABiaS-CBN managed to re-air the Maalala Mo Kaya episode "Tubig" or "Water" last Saturday. I really want to ask the question of, "Is it me or does ABiaS-CBN like to romanticize OFW plights?" I could remember the film showing of Anak during Filipino class while I was in college. Later, I decided to watch Hello, Love, Goodbye on Netflix. Those films were by ABiaS-CBN. I was thinking about the re-airing of the MMK episode on Kapamilya Channel (and it could be watched on Youtube). I was thinking about the scenes that try to dramatize the tragedy of a REAL INNOCENT WOMAN. Unlike the late Flor Contemplacion and the three drug mules - Sarah Balabagan was a REAL VICTIM and only killed out of self-defense.  

In this case, the MMK episode was a fictional scenario based on the real encounter. Some events in the dramatization will tell you that it's inspired by Balabagan's tragic experience in Saudi Arabia. The real case scenario was that she was a teenager when she was sent to Saudi - not a married woman who had to leave her children behind. However, this fictional scenario should be a real eye opener. 

As pretty as Shaina Magdayao is (pun intended) - the scenarios in that episode aren't pretty. Sarah's case was that she's from a poor family, forced to marry an unbearable man, and she's forced to be separated from her family due to her husband's unbearable attitude. What choice does Sarah have? Look for work in the Philippines? Instead, she ends up going to Saudi Arabia - a country that's been known to be rather dangerous for women. The scenes in Saudi Arabia aren't pretty either from employer abuse to being abused by the police. Also, there's that infamous scene of being forced to drink water from an unflushed toilet which made me PUKE in my mind.

Are all the talks of separation just drama? A closer examination of one OFW incident after the other tells you they aren't. Was Sarah "conquering" the nation of Saudi Arabia? The idea of OFW "conquest" is further debunked by the abuses done by OFWs. Where OFWs go - they are required to bow down to a foreign boss and a FOREIGN GOVERNMENT. In short, Sarah had to adjust to the chauvinistic society of Saudi Arabia. Her lack of rights was just another issue. Sarah was brutally beaten and the chances of her returning were rather slim. It should make you ask do you still want to send more Filipinos abroad at the cost of their families? That's what Sarah was - she was separated from her children. Once again, I want to ask, "Do you still want more Filipinos separated like that thinking it's all done in the name of conquest?" 

The real consequence is that OFW phenomenon made the Philippines MORE DEPENDENT on other countries. Sarah could've had a decent job in the Philippines to get away from her former husband. However, the lack of job opportunities has made Filipinos DEPENDENT on other countries' government. A lack of job opportunities could've solved if the 1987 Constitution corrected the Marcos Years' 20-year long protectionist policies and the Filipino First Policy of Garcia. Right now, both Marcos and Garcia deserve to be put side by side at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani. More and more OFWs are dependent on other countries. 

The bigger problem is when you talk about the need for foreign investments and you get all sorts of exxcuses. Some would say that it's really going against developing the national industry. Such talk is baloney when you realize how the late Lee Kuan Yew and Deng Xiaoping brought their countries from third world to first. In fact, Lee even wrote a book called From Third World to First. Deng went to the USA and guess what he did? Deng announced to them that Communist China was open for business. Deng knew what he was doing - he was rewriting the defective communist manifesto of Mao for a new communist manifesto that welcomed free market enterprise. Deng even said, "Communism isn't poverty. To be rich is glorious." - something IBON Foundation wouldn't agree with. I guess that's why Deng has never been considered a hero by the Filipino communists for that reason. Lee invited FDIs to his country and look where it took Singapore. Deng did the same thing and look at the real great leap forward that Mao Zedong failed to implement.

Is it me or is ABiaS-CBN that fond of romanticizing OFW plights? One film in last year's film fest was the Tagpuan where Shaina Magdayao was the result of rape between a Chinese man in Hong Kong and a Filipino. Hello, Love, Goodbye also shows the plight of the family when a mother ends up marrying a Chinese national while still having a husband in the Philippines. Anak also showed the estrangement Josie has with her oldest child Carla. I wonder if ABiaS-CBN is really against economic reform because ethey LOVE to romanticize OFW plights. If so, they really deserve to lose their franchise. They could've kept their franchise IF they supported economic reform and have all the foreign funding they want as long as it's not illicit. Still, one must ask that question especially when they re-aired the MMK episode which can be used to open the eyes of people for the need for more constitutional reform.