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PARDILLO, Petroska Kyana, V
11846208
A53
In the midst of rampant Philippine global migration, Philippine Literature takes on the
voice of exhibiting narratives of deep-seated sacrifice rooted in Filipino diaspora. Through
Xyza Bacani’s We Are Like Air, Bienvenido Santos’ Scent of Apples, and Vijae Alquisola’s
collection of poems, Sa Mga Pansamantala, the suffering and anxieties of Filipino migrants
are negotiated against their “continuing quest for [Filipino] identity.” (Aguila 56)
Narratives of Filipino migration within Philippine Literature do not come without the
extended images of longing, nostalgia and distance. In Bacani’s We are like Air, distance is not
merely contained to the difference in geographical location but seen as actively permeating
and affecting the relationships of those of migrants and OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers).
“My childhood ended the day my mother left home to work abroad” (Bacani 12). Furthermore
she states, “Growing up without our mother has hit my siblings and me harder than I can admit.
We seem to have subconsciously blocked out certain childhood memories. […] Children of
migrant workers suffer sorely and their lives are disrupted irreversibly. (Bacani, 45).”
Philippine Literature exposes readers to the reality of migration, that as OFWs go away in
search of work abroad, the displacement occurs not only within the migrants themselves but
within the people they are in close relationship with as they attempt to reconcile with the reality
of the existing distance between them.
Alquisola’s poem Bahay-bahayan (2017) presents how distance and prolonged
amounts of time spent away from each other affects our relationships through the image of an
everyday mundane occurrence;
“Naku, yung niluluto ko
(Suminghot-singhot)
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Na miss ko ‘yan.
Buti pa ang sinigang—
Oo nga. Buti pa’ng sinigang,
lagi mong binabantayan.
(Tawanan.)”
An undertone of longing for a reconciliation and restoration of their relationship can
be observed as a much larger importance is placed upon sinigang, a traditional Filipino soup
dish, and is utilized to demonstrate the apparent distance between the two voices within the
poem. This seemingly ordinary exchange reveals an insight into the broader implications of
distance upon the dynamics of migrant relationships; that distance and neglect severs
relationships but is often times shrugged off with laughter (“tawanan”) as a coping
mechanism - convenience is settled for as it is appears much less threatening than
confrontation - implicating the extent to which relationships of Filipino migrants suffer in the
hands of global migration.
On the other hand, distance and longing within narratives of Filipino diaspora also
display dynamics of irreconcilable relationships. “One day I broke their hearts. I saw mother
cry wordlessly as father heaped his curses upon me and drove me out of the house, the gate
closing heavily after me (Santos 21).”
A common denominator existing within these examples of literary text is the
pervading longing to redeem and reconnect lost time as a result of the distance. However, as
Filipino migrants endure the consequence of their being away, Philippine Literature reveals a
deeper complexity of Filipino migrant sacrifice that ultimately discounts and is seen as a
point of rationalization and justification for their suffering, pain and heartache while working
abroad.
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Bacani (2017) explains, “[…] I realized how much my mother had sacrificed for us.
She hardly bought anything for herself because she wanted to save up to build a house back
home. She never took a day off from work in order to earn more money for the family.” She
furthermore recounts stories of countless of women who suffer abuse and false accusation
from their employers and yet still deliberately choose to work despite labour treatments in
Hong Kong.
Philippine Literature accentuates how the Filipino migrant sacrifice of their bodies,
dignity and humanity is justifiable because it bears fruit of alleviating circumstances of
poverty back in their homeland. In spite of having to endure personal traumas of alienation
and displacement, the Filipino global migration phenomenon has relabeled and associated the
Filipino identity to a sense of contemporary social heroism.
Migrants die to the very sovereignty of their own bodies and emotions as exemplified
in the poem Juana’s Store:
“Nakakalungkot?
Hoy, hindi maibabayad
ng utang ang drama!
(Puwede kung patulan ng Maalaala.)
Kung luna and ibabayad mo, isoli mo
‘yang bigas, bibigyan kita ng eksena. (Santos 27).”
There is a burdening sense of expectancy placed upon migrants to fulfill. “Workers
experience upward mobility as they send remittances home and improve their family’s
livelihood (Bacani 130).” This perpetuates the idea of migration as something aspirational
and glamorized despite the reality of its hardship. As labour is the Philippine’s largest export,
the Philippine global migration has rewritten and redefined Filipino identity to now rhetorics
and instruments of both political and economical power. Bacani (2017) states that Filipino
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workers “have also made invaluable contribution to the economic development of Hong
Kong, freeing up local women to contribute to the workforce. They are like an invisible hand
supporting the Hong Kong economy.”
An irony arises; as a sense of contemporary social heroism is attached to Filipino
identity as rewritten and redefined by Filipino global migration, the tendency to discount
their humanity and dignity in the face of alienation and suffering becomes all the more
emergent. Philippine Literature exposes us to the grizzly reality of Philippine global
migration to compel this question: “How costly is sacrifice?”
REFERENCES
Aguila, Almond N. “The Filipino, Diaspora and a Continuing Quest for Identity .” 2015.
Alquisola, Vijae. Sa Mga Pansamantala Mga Tula. UST Publishing House, 2017.
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Bacani, Xyza. We Are Like Air. 2018.
Santos, Bienvenido. Scent of Apples. 1981.
