MAHADERANG MATAPOBRE SA OFWS (updated!!!)

I seldom come across articles that bring my blood pressure up to a record high. This article by Malu Fernandez has led me to set a new personal record. To say that this is “nakakakunsumi” is an understatement of the highest degree. Click nyo po ang image below para lumaki at mabasa nyo and tell me kung mali bang nagalit ako nang nabasa ko ito.

Babala: delikado po ito para sa mga may sakit sa puso lalo na sa mga OFW’s.

Iniisip pa lang daw nya na makakasama nya ang mga Pinoy OFWs sa flight ay gusto nya nang maglaslas. OA mo ha, magsalamin ka nga. Nagreklamo pa ang hitad na masikip daw ang upuan sa economy class ng eroplano sabay turo sa dami ng mga OFWs na kasama nya sa byahe. Wala ba silang salamin sa bahay? Di nya ba nakikita ang kanyang sarili? Kahit mag-isa sya sa eroplano siguradong masikip ang upuan at obvious naman bakit. Pasalamat ‘tong hitad na ‘to kumasya sya sa pinto ng eroplano. Chinugi pa pati ang mga pabango ng mga kasama niyang OFW na Filipino porke’t mamahalin ang kanyang pabango. Ano? Naging impiyerno ang biyahe mo dahil sa mga kasama mong manggagawang Filipino? Kafal ng fez mo, e di bumili ka ng sarili mong eroplano. Or sumakay ka ng C130 para sigurado kang kakasya ka at pwede ka pang gumulong-gulong kung gusto mo.

Wala akong problema sa bigat ng katawan nya. May problema ako sa bigat ng mga binitawan nyang salita. Nakakairitang mabasang minamata ang mga taong nagsasakripisyo para mabuhay ang kani-kanilang mga pamilya at malaki ang tulong sa pagpapalutang ng ekonomiya ng bansa. Ganito ba ang karapat-dapat ng sukli sa pinakita nilang kabayanihan?

Madame Malu, if not for the OFW’s you look down on and frown upon… our country’s economy would have sunk into hell. And the personal hell that you claimed to have experienced for traveling with some of them is nothing compared to the national hell we will experience if not for them.

MORE ON MAHADERA (click this link)

P.S.

Eto nga pala ang isang link na nakita ko sa google search sa isang article nya sa Manila Standard na nakapost sa yehey.com. May comment box doon…

http://www.yehey.com/travel/articles.aspx?id=158737

Hala LUSOB!!!

//August 14, 2007 //

Just when I thought that this post has finally lost steam (as the hits went on a gradual decline over the weekend) my Blog stats counter goes crazy again. This time most of the hits come from email service providers (ito ba tawag dun? pardon my ignorance). It appears that some people are informing the email contacts of this mahadera’s acidic comments at mapangmata attitude towards OFW’s. Well, she deserves the notoriety… let’s keep the heat up… SPREAD THE WORD AND LET’S KICK HER FAT ASS!

UPDATE:

This is an excerpt from her article in The Manila Standard Today

click the link to read the whole article —–> www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife2_april16_2007

Are you a stinky linky? Or do you smell like a divine divalicious babe? By Malu Fernandez

As all of you know I have just returned from a wonderful holiday in the Mediterranean. To cut on some costs for this impromptu vacation I was forced to fly economy class which I absolutely do not wish on my worst enemy. I was, however, encouraged by my travel agent to try out Emirates since it won the best economy class, so with great trepidation I flew on Emirates via Dubai, completely forgetting that Dubai is the hub for all the Filipino migrant workers. Call me whatever you like but when you are trapped in economy class that is filled to the brim with migrant workers the smell gets a little funky after nine hours of flying.

The whole incident inspired me to write about fragrance. For as long as I can remember I have had a very keen sense of smell. And sometimes I can remember people by their sense, call it weird but its true. Some studies actually state that men and women are more primarily attracted by scent than by physical attributes. I may forget a lover’s face but I never forget his scent.

//August 16//

Alam kong nakakabadtrip tong post na ito… gusto kong bumawi… here is a song from Gary Granada, Bayang Barrios, Cookie Chua and Noel Cabangon… alay sa lahat ng mga Pinoy at Pinay na nagsasakripisyo at nag-aalay para sa bayan… Ihahatid Kita

 

UPDATE: OFWS PANALO!!!! MAHADERA NAG APOLOGIZE AT NAGRESIGN SA TRABAHO…

CONGRATULATIONS SA LAHAT NG OFWS
NA NAGPAKITA NG PAGKAKAISA

 

 

//August 24, 2007//

Society columnist quits over OFW bashing

Complaints sent via the Internet and through othery types of media led a Manila-based society columnist to resign from her job following her negative comments about overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East, ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau reported Thursday.

Bureau chief Dindo Amparo reported that Filipinos in the Middle East proved they can make a difference by uniting for a cause against columnist Malu Fernandez.

In her column titled “From Boracay to Greece,” which saw print on “People Asia” magazine, Fernandez detailed her unusual and spur of the moment Holy Week vacation in Greece.

Fernandez said that following a friend’s advice, she flew on economy class to Greece. The plane made a stopover in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. It was her written observations during the flight and while in the city that got Fernandez in trouble.

“I forget that the hub was in Dubai and the majority of OFWs were stationed there. The duty-free shop was overrun with Filipino workers selling cell phones and perfume. I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them,” she wrote.

Fernandez said this was aggravated when one of her fellow passengers spoke to her and said, “Hey there? Where are you from? Are you a domestic helper as well?”

The columnist went further by insinuating that due to the large number of OFWs in the plane wearing cheap perfumes, the expensive brand she had on immediately evaporated into thin air.

“I had resigned myself to being trapped like a sardine with all these OFWs smelling of AXE and Charlie cologne while my Jo Malone evaporated into thin air,” Fernandez said.

Based on prices from the Jo Malone Web site, a 100 ml bottle of cologne ranges from 30-59 British pounds (around 2,800-5,500 Philippine pesos).

Who’s the diva?
Fernandez’s statements spread like wildfire on the Internet and earned the ire of communities of Filipino workers abroad, especially in the Middle East.

The migrant workers immediately issued statements and sent e-mails to blogs expressing their anger against Fernandez.

The statements can be found at this special blog (http://selvo.wordpress.com/2007/08/08/mahaderang-matapobre-sa-ofws/#comment-1042).

To make matters worse, Fernandez wrote in her succeeding column in the “Manila Standard Today” that she was only being true to herself.

“Many people often find my direct attitude to be rude or obnoxious. I really don’t mean to be anything but true to myself,” she said.

“Now, I seriously ask you, am I being a diva or are people around me just lacking in common sense? Perhaps it’s a little of both!” she added.

Her statements further enraged the Filipino workers. She later apologized.

“I am humbled by the vehement and heated response provoked by my article. To say that this article was not meant to malign, hurt or express prejudice against the OFWs now sounds hollow after reading through all the blogs from Filipinos all over the world,” Fernandez said in her latest statement on the online version of Manila Standard Today.

She added: “I am deeply apologetic for my insensitivity and the offensive manner in which this article was written, I hear you all and I am properly rebuked.
It was truly not my intention to malign hurt or express prejudice against OFWs.”

Fernandez admitted being insensitive and offensive, as she apologized to the OFWs for whatever she had written.

Sought for an interview by ABS-CBN, Fernandez declined.

She, however, sent a letter, saying, “I take full responsibility for my actions and my friends and family have nothing to do with this. To date I have submitted my resignation letters to both the Manila Standard and People Asia, on that note may this matter be laid to rest.”

Not yet finished
Meanwhile, abs-cbnNEWS.com received dozens of feedback e-mails against Fernandez after news broke out about her anti-OFW statements.

“We are already having a hard time here working under the hot climate, then we get a strong below the belt blow by our own kabayan who has totally no idea on being an OFW,” Francis Sangalang wrote from Dubai.

Another OFW, who declined to be named, said: “I seldom come across articles that bring my blood pressure up to a record high. This article by Malu
Fernandez has led me to set a new personal record. To say that this is ‘nakakakunsumi’ (troubling) is an understatement of the highest degree.”

The special blog was also created to compile comments against Fernandez. The comments ranged from defending her column as being about perfumes to to downright below the belt statements.

Contract worker Florencio Laron wrote from Saudi Arabia and said, “All I have to say is that may breeding siya (masama nga lang) (only, it’s bad) and she [doesn’t] deserve to be a Filipino.”

An anonymous e-mail sender, meanwhile, said, “Her side comments were uncalled for. She should have kept them to herself. This is bigotry at its purest. What’s worst is she did it to her fellow Filipinos. The bad part is her pathetic attempt to justify what she wrote.”

Information from the Web site of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said a total of 462,545 OFWs or 58 percent of the total number of Filipinos employed abroad were in the Middle East as of last year.

Last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said OFWs sent a total of US$12.6 billion in remittances to their families in the Philippines.

 

Statement from Malu Fernandez on the OFW Controversy

I am humbled by the vehement and heated response provoked by my article entitled ‘From Boracay to Greece!’ which came out in the June 2007 issue of People Asia. To say that this article was not meant to malign, hurt or express prejudice against the OFWs now sounds hollow after reading through all the blogs from Filipinos all over the world. I am deeply apologetic for my insensitivity and the offensive manner in which this article was written, I hear you all and I am properly rebuked. It was truly not my intention to malign hurt or express prejudice against OFWs.

As the recent recipient and target of death threats, hate blogs, and deeply personal insults, I now truly understand the insidiousness of discrimination and prejudice disguised as humor. Our society is bound together by human chains of kindness and decency. I have failed to observe this and I am now reaping the consequences of my actions. It is my fervent hope that the lessons that Ive learned are not lost on all those who through anonymous blogs, engaged in bigotry, discrimination, and hatred ( against overweight individuals , for example )

I take full responsibility for my actions and my friends and family have nothing to do with this. To date I have submitted my resignation letters to both the Manila Standard and People Asia, on that note may this matter be laid to rest.

SELVO’s reply to this statement <<<<< click this

THE MAHADERANG MATAPOBRE

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 ANC’S MEDIA IN FOCUS ON MALU FERNANDEZ (click this link)