INDENTURED SERVITUDE IS SLAVERY

American woman’s ‘tone deaf’ video about returning her Filipino nanny back home after 30 years raises questions about treatment of overseas Filipino workers

Neia Balao
Mon, May 22, 2023

A woman is getting backlash from creators of color after posting what’s been described as a “tone deaf” video about her childhood nanny.

On May 11, Lexie Jayy (@lexie_jayy), a 29-year-old model and content creator based in Los Angeles, California, posted a controversial video on TikTok, in which she reveals that she’s “moving” her childhood nanny back to the Philippines.

In the video, which has since gone viral on the digital platform with more than 4 million views and 563,600 likes, Lexie gives the backstory about her longtime nanny, Elena, who lived with her family for around 30 years. “It had been over 30 years since nanny had last been to the Philippines. She sacrificed raising her son and daughter to get a job in America and send every dollar she could back home to her family.”

“Taking her back to the Philippines is something I could not have wanted to do more,” Lexie explains, while noting that Elena was there for her during the most formative of experiences during her life.

In what was likely an effort to post a heartwarming story about Elena, some viewers took issue with certain aspects of Lexie’s video. Questions inevitably arose, including why Lexie’s family allegedly failed to pay for Elena to visit her loved ones in the Philippines earlier than now or how, after three decades in the country, she was unable to become an American citizen.

“All sorts of things were going through my head at this point: Will nanny’s family take care of her? Will they resent me? How will she fit in? Will she be homesick for America?” Lexie asks.

In the final three seconds of the video, a clip is shown of Elena hugging her daughter “for the first time.”

While some commenters haven’t had a problem with Lexie’s video about Elena, others, particularly people of color, are pointing out how privileged it comes off to the general public.

“her never hugging her own daughter in her life to raise you..” @himerdos wrote.

“… why didn’t you ever fly her home before this,” @perfectisntsexy asked.

“Is she a dual citizen and gained American citizenship? Because she lived with your family for thirty years, which is more than enough for her to gain,” @elouise4921 replied.

Lex (@lexifyign), a Filipino American TikTok user, posted a video in response to Lexie’s, calling for the acknowledgment of the plight of overseas Filipino workers.

“Now, this is a very specific situation. There is a lot I don’t know about that situation, but what I can talk about is the fact that domestic servants are not protected in America,” Lex reveals in her May 19 video. “Because we all know the typical story of an immigrant moving to America and becoming a maid or a servant or a caregiver to the elderly because there are no other options.”

“Although the total number of Filipinas working as nannies is unknown, advocacy groups estimate that Filipinos make up 15% — or as many as 300,000 — of the approximately 2 million domestic workers in the United States,” Ashley Westerman of NPR reported in 2013.

In 2021, women accounted for 60.2 percent or 1.10 million of overseas Filipino workers. Men, on the other hand, accounted for 39.8 percent or 0.73 million of Filipino migrant workers, per findings from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The blatant “feminization of Philippine migration” is further exemplified by the many OFWs who’ve taken on employment as nannies or domestic workers over time.

Lex notes that sometimes an overseas Filipino worker is overqualified, normally qualified or they “just have a degree that is not honored in America.” In an effort to educate audiences on the experience of migrant workers, Lex also references a story published in the Atlantic in 2017 entitled “My Family’s Slave” by Alex Tizon.

“This is relevant and topical, but I am not alleging that this is what Lexie’s family did to their maid,” Lex disclaims about Tizon’s story. “There are a lot of us, and a lot of immigrants who did get lucky. A lot of immigrant children who have benefitted from these people’s extremely hard work, and we should confront that.”

“What’s crazy is she exploited her again by making a tiktok like that for her own benefit. Like she thought that video would gain HER more followers,” @summerofrae replied.

“The level of her lack of awareness and glaring privilege in that video was concerning to say the least,” @ashleybulletjournals wrote. “It was so sad.”

“She is limping, her body is clearly broken down. They used her for half her life and are discarding her now,” @burneraccountboi commented.

On May 21, in light of the criticism she’s received, Lexie posted a follow up video on TikTok with the caption, “talking about Elena,” during which she acknowledges her “inappropriate”
tone and claims to have filmed “a lengthy video going into the details of her immigration process” and “employment.” Elena, however, allegedly requested Lexie keep this information to herself.

“Her word to me, is the most important thing. And I will honor that,” Lexie says. “She reminded me that she and I know the truth of our relationship, that that is what matters most and that hateful people are not interested in understanding.”

“I want to make it clear that I agree with how broken the immigration process is. Separately, I’d like to make it clear that Elena received a competitive wage for her work,” she adds. “She has been in my life since I was three weeks old. It is very painful to unpack why someone would end up as an undocumented citizen, but reducing her life and story to nothing but pain and sadness is untrue and disrespectful.”

Lexie then apologizes for coming off as insensitive.

“I am deeply sorry for the ripple effect of her hurt that my videos caused,” she says. “The spreading of false narratives on the internet can be extremely hurtful and dangerous to all involved.”

In just one day of posting, Lexie’s video has more than 600 comments, the majority of which seem to suggest Lexie is being disingenuous. TikTok users are accusing Lexie of having an impressive public relations representative.

“As someone who works in pr… who did you hire?! That apology ateeeee” @rangersrompsandstomps wrote.

“let’s go PR-approved pre-written script,” @readwithcindy commented.

That same day, Stefannie, who goes by the TikTok username @chiefnosybystander, shared her thoughts regarding Lexie’s apology video.

“OK, for reference, I don’t think the audience is asking about the nature of your relationship,” Stefannie says in response to Lexie defending her relationship with Elena. “I think they were asking about the nature of her relationship with her employers, not the relationship of the child who didn’t pay her.”

Stefannie also points out the inconsistencies with Lexie claiming that Elena’s immigration lawyers “advised her” not to visit her children back home or have them visit her in the United States.

“So it’s a bit confusing to find out now that she was actually undocumented,” she says, also in response to Lexie previously blaming the American immigration system for Elena’s inability to stay in the country.

“Her rich parents could’ve sponsored and moved her family out here. Elena was robbed of her own motherhood,” @heyhayhay86 commented on Stefannie’s video.

“If someone was this important to me, I’d move heaven & hell to get them documented and get their family here,” @noangel815 also replied.

“Its giving my parents attorney wrote this and I’m reading it so I don’t get financially cut off but I still have no idea why ppl are upset,” @theindianajanes criticized.

“Unable to earn enough money at home, an estimated 2.2 million Filipinos worked overseas last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. The majority were women, many hoping to give their child a better future,” Jessie Yeung and Xyza Cruz Bacani wrote for CNN in 2020. “They work as nurses, hospitality staff, nannies and cleaners. Last year, they sent $33.5 billion back to the Philippines in personal remittances — a record high, according to the country’s central bank. But their income comes at a high personal cost. Mothers can miss out on entire childhoods. Sometimes their relationship with their children remains damaged and distant, years after they return.”

While Lexie did not intend to come off as insensitive or disingenuous, her videos about Elena generated a conversation about the often unjust treatment of Filipino migrants and domestic workers, who, after dedicating large portions of their lives to the families they’re aiding, are discarded or shipped back home when no longer of use. Whether or not that’s the case with Lexie’s family remains unclear, but the story about a Filipino overseas worker who, for whatever reason, fails to gain citizenship in the country she sacrificed so much to work in isn’t an anomaly.

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POSTPANDEMIC ENDS PINOI OTW* 

'Stop the bleeding,' Philippines health official says about international recruiting of nurses

Fri, March 3, 2023 

Rhea Patulay says she has seen the lack of nurses in the Philippines first-hand while caring for her husband in hospital. The Philippines has traditionally trained more nurses than it needs, but since the pandemic, health officials say recruiting from Western countries has led to a severe shortage.

 (August Pineda/ABS-CBN - image credit)

Rhea Patulay saw the shortage of Filipino nurses up close, sitting by her husband Rico's hospital bed as he recovered from a minibus accident.

"No one there to attend to the patients," she said recently in an interview in Tagalog through a translator. "Doctors usually look after you for operations, surgeries and when they do their rounds, which takes them too long to shows up."

Patulay said one of the nurses working overnight at the hospital near Manila looked like she was still a student. "She said to me 'Ma'am, I am assigned here.'"

The Philippines has traditionally trained more nurses than it needs, knowing they will work internationally and send money back home to support their families.

However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, government health officials say an estimated 40 per cent of all Filipino nurses have left the country or retired.

Philippines has shortage of 350,000 nurses

"We would like to stop the bleeding as soon as we can," Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire, officer-in-charge of the Department of Health, said in a recent interview, adding that the Philippines has a shortage of more than 350,000 nurses.

"Why is it that the higher-income countries are actively recruiting?" she said. "The countries getting our nurses should also be for some form of exchange so there would be something for our country."

August Pineda/ABS-CBN

Government officials, hospital administrators and nursing advocates in the Philippines are trying to find ways to make their own health-care system sustainable, even as recruitment delegations — including from Canada — come knocking.

Delegations from Manitoba and New Brunswick just returned from recruiting trips in February.

The Manitoba government said it offered letters of intent to nearly 190 registered nurses, 50 people who are the equivalent of licensed practical nurses and 110 health-care aides.

The New Brunswick delegation interviewed more than 500 candidates and made 241 job offers, said a spokesperson for the province's Department of Health. As of March 1, 164 offers had been accepted.

A delegation from Saskatchewan was in the Philippines in December and has made more than 170 job offers to RNs, continuing care assistants and medical lab assistants.

And that's just Canadian provinces. Countries from around the world are competing to attract nurses from the Philippines.

WATCH | Some provinces reach out to Philippines to address nursing shortage:

Western countries 'getting more aggressive'

"That is now the problem," Melvin Miranda, president of the Philippine Nurses Association, said through a translator in a recent interview in Manila.

In the past, Miranda said, nurses sought out international opportunities, but since the pandemic, countries like Canada have come calling, "getting more aggressive in recruitment."

Experienced nurses are being attracted by the "huge pay offer and compensation," he said, noting that the pay is at least double in Canada.

August Pineda/ABS-CBN

While Miranda said he doesn't want to hold back nurses from opportunities abroad, he also worries about the country's health-care system.

"We feel it in communities, especially in far-flung areas that we cannot reach. The data shows: Why is there high mortality in high-risk pregnancies in provinces and far-flung areas? Because services through sufficient manpower cannot reach them," he said.

"So I think this is alarming. If this will continue, it will continue to increase these cases and we cannot prevent them."

Not to mention the strain and increased workload on those nurses left behind, caring for more patients than is considered safe, Miranda said.

"For example, a nurse is assigned to manage patients in critical levels. They can manage [a ratio of] 1:5 or 1:7 to ensure quality management and monitoring. But if it goes to the point that the number of patients rise beyond that standard ratio, the nurse will not be able to manage, to be honest," he said.

"[If] our nurse will have a high risk of error, it can compromise quality care that the patient deserves."

Torn between opportunity, duty to country

One solution is for Western countries like Canada to help pay for nurse training spots or provide scholarships to students going into nursing, said Dr. Rene De Grano, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc.

Most countries are recruiting experienced nurses, which leaves a big hole in the Philippine system.

"For example, you are a specialist in dialysis for kidney centres, heart in cardiac centres, ICU," he said. "They have excellent training, so centres abroad really prefer them, [but] we don't have enough of those nurses right now, there's so few of them. If they get them, it's a big problem."

Filipino nurses say they are torn between duty to their country and the much larger paycheques and opportunities that working overseas can provide.

August Pineda/ABS-CBN

"We are dedicated to our country. We are willing to stay, but we have some requests that our country cannot give to us," Lawrence Vergara said through a translator, during a break on a hospital ward.

Vergara is a nurse who worked in Dubai before returning to the Philippines during the pandemic. She wants to move her entire family to Canada, Australia or New Zealand — partly because of the huge difference in wages, but also to give her children new opportunities.

"That is my ambition. No matter how hard, I will take the risk, for my family and career advantage as well."

Amir Pagadilan has been dreaming of moving to Canada since 2016, studying English and making applications. He's a chemo-dialysis nurse who has been forced to work two jobs to support his family.

August Pineda/ABS-CBN

Pagadilan is one of the hundreds of pre-screened applicants who received an interview with the Manitoba delegation. He was overcome with emotion after learning he was getting a conditional offer of employment.

"My mom would always say, 'In God's time,'" he said, stopping to wipe his eyes.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just happy because it feels that it's a God's gift. I have tried so many times since 2016, but it was difficult to get the specific position. It was a lot of patience."

Ethical, economic, safety concerns

Manitoba's minister of labour and immigration, Jon Reyes, said the province needs to fill nearly 2,000 nursing vacancies.

Reyes, originally from the Philippines, said the delegation's goal was to recruit 350 Filipino nurses through an expedited pathway in the next two years.

"We want to make sure this batch that comes has a seamless transition so that they can be gainfully employed right away, and that will benefit Manitobans," he said at a reception in Manila.

Jon Reyes/Twitter

But there are growing concerns in less developed countries that wealthy nations like Canada are exploiting those with fragile health-care systems.

"It's the higher-income, richer countries who are going on this global shopping trip to address shortages, which they have failed to recruit enough of their own," Howard Catton, CEO of the International Council of Nurses in Geneva, said in an interview this week.

"They are taking from shelves which are already very, very bare and can least afford to lose nurses from," he said. "You need to absolutely assure yourself that you are not going to do more harm by recruiting from that country."

August Pineda/ABS-CBN

Catton, who is having meetings in Bangkok this week with organizations from nine countries representing nearly 10 million nurses, said they are all concerned about international recruiting and shortages.

That includes countries like the Philippines and India, which have traditionally exported health-care workers to countries around the world.

An estimated 10 per cent of nurses in Canada and 15 per cent of those in the United Kingdom are internationally trained, a result of "decisions not to educate enough of your own nurses," Catton said.

"That may have worked in the past, where you could recruit overseas is a fairly quick fix to fill those gaps in the short term. But I think for a whole pile of ethical as well as economic reasons ... and also issues of safety and security in the supply of your own health workforce, that's not a strategy to rely on in the future."

*OVERSEAS TEMPORARY WORKER

A documentary film honors Germany's 'guest workers'

Facing a labor shortage after World War II, Germany designed a program to bring in so-called guest workers. The documentary "Gleis 11" by Cagdas Yüksel tells their story.



Between 1955 and 1973 thousands of people came to Germany from other countries to work

Platform 11 at Munich's main train station is where many of Germany's "gastarbeiter" — which literally translates as "guest workers" — arrived from 1955 to 1973.

At the time, laborers were urgently needed to keep the machinery of the German industrial powerhouse in operation. After World War II, the country lacked a working-age population because of death, imprisonment and other war-related consequences. As a result, labor recruitment agreements were made with several countries to ensure that the flow of men — and later women — would not stop.

During these 18 years, thousands of people, primarily from Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey, made their way to Germany. (YUGOSLAVIA RELIED ON GUESTWORKER REMITTANCES FOR ITS GDP MORE THAN ANY OTHER EXPORT) Without internet or social media, they were connected to their homelands through pay phones, letters and packages, some of which took weeks to arrive.  REMITTANCES WHICH COUNTRIES STILL RELY ON, LIKE THE PHILLIPINES WITH ITS OTW PROGRAM, WERE SENT BACK THE BY AMERICAN EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

In 2021, Germany looks back on the 60th anniversary of its labor recruitment agreement with Turkey. In the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, around one-third of residents have a migration background.

These days, many of those who came to Germany after the first call for labor are well into old age. Their children and grandchildren, the second and third generations of the immigrants, have long been and continue to be a topic of discussion in the media, in films and academic discourse.

But the first arrivals, those who went directly from the train platform into the mine shaft or into the sewing shop, have rarely been represented in the media or in film.


Different stories to tell in 'Gleis 11'

A homage in film

Filmmaker Cagdas Yüksel, who belongs to the third generation of Turkish immigrants, set out to change that with his documentary film Gleis 11 ("Platform 11").

His grandparents came to Germany as so-called guest workers, and like many others, they stayed. His grandfather died young in a traffic accident, leaving his grandmother to raise eight children alone in a foreign country. Her story inspired Yüksel to honor her and others from her generation. He wanted to "let this generation speak for itself" he told DW.

Initially, it looked as if Gleis 11 would never make it to the big screen. The topic was criticized as "irrelevant," and not cinema-worthy Yüksel said. These opinions did not stop him from sticking with his project over many years. "Every time I talked to these people, I was convinced that they had so many exciting stories that would be perfect to tell in a film." 

The director's grandmother (left) with her family shortly after her arrival in Germany in 1970

He wanted to prove that his subjects and their stories were worth telling, the 27-year-old told DW. He persevered "with tears, patience and coffee," he recounted at the premiere of his film. He finally found the support he needed as part of the #IchDuWirNRW integration and appreciation campaign run by North Rhine-Westphalia's Ministry for Children, Family, Refugees and Integration and Serap Güler, the state secretary for integration.

The film team shot the protagonists in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia

First-hand accounts

Gleis 11 begins with sound bites from German passers-by in reports from the early days of the recruitment agreement: "There are too many of them here," says one woman. "They only want to earn money, but not work," says another. Other perspectives are also present; one person says: "I don't think we can do without guest workers."

The film tells five parallel stories about migrants from that era.

One of them is the story of the filmmaker's grandmother, Nezihat, who came to the West German city of Mönchengladbach from rural Turkey in 1970 with four daughters and later, after having four more children, opened her own small shop. She lost her husband at an early age and then had to raise eight children alone.

Osman Yazici in the 1970s as a successful restaurant owner

Osman, another main protagonist in the film, came from northern Turkey in 1963, and worked in Essen before later opening the first local Turkish restaurant.

Bartolomeo from southern Italy, explains how he met "a beautiful woman" and found happiness in Germany.

Marina, from Greece, came to North Rhine-Westphalia via Munich and reports — still somewhat embarrassed — how she threw the banana given to her in a "welcome bag" out of the train window because she simply didn't know how to eat it.

And in one of the film's most moving scenes, the couple Esref and Ayse return to their home in southern Turkey after 49 years.

Unwavering optimism

Yüksel lets his interviewees recount their dreams, their expectations and tell of the hopes they had when they arrived. The movie thus bears witness to the unshakable optimism and stamina of migrants who sought and found happiness alone in a foreign country.

Yüksel told DW how remarkable he found it "that despite this initial situation, a person can bring and cherish so much optimism." Whether intentionally or not, Germany appears in Yüksel's film as a country where it is constantly grey or raining. In this way, the contrast to the home country of those who emigrated becomes even clearer and represents the immense homesickness that some of them report. 

Yüksel celebrated the online premiere of his film on Janaury 24, 2020

A virtual premiere

On January 24, the premiere of Gleis 11 took place at Essen's Lichtburg, Germany's largest movie theater. Only Yüksel's staff were present — and four of his protagonists. An online premiere was also held, and so many people logged on to watch the film that the server of Yüksel's website crashed. In non-pandemic times, these 1,300 viewers would have meant a sold-out theater — for a film that had once been rejected as being too "niche."

There has also been a great deal of interest in Gleis 11 from Turkey. Numerous people in the country purchased tickets for the virtual premiere. Some Turkish schools and universities have expressed interest in screenings, and Turkish distributors have also shown interest.

One of the film’s main characters, Yüksel’s grandmother Nezihat, was also present at the premiere. Lovingly, she watched her grandson as he moderated the digital event. She answered questions from the audience at the virtual premiere, which were read from a smartphone. She says she has never regretted coming to Germany.



This article was translated from German by Sarah Hucal.


DW RECOMMENDS


European migration stories told one object at a time

Europe wouldn't exist without migration, says the director of a German virtual migration museum. From "guest-worker" recruitment signs to audio cassettes from Turkey, the museum's archive is a treasure trove of stories.

Turkish guest workers transformed German society

In the 1960s, Turkish workers arrived in Germany to fill the demand for cheap labor in a booming post-war economy. Many of them never left, creating a minority community that changed the demographics of Germany forever.

'Turks in Germany still lack a sense of belonging'

It's been 55 years since Germany's recruitment agreement with Turkey. But many Turks still don't feel well integrated, says Gökay Sofuoglu, chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD).


Date 16.02.2021
Author Philipp Jedicke
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3pNHZ