"All the Filipinos…know how many documents, what comings, how many stamped papers, how much patience is needed to secure from the government a permit for an enterprise. One must count upon the good will of this one, on the influence of that one, on a good bribe to another in order that the application be not pigeon-holed…And above all, great patience, great knowledge of how to get along, plenty of money, a great deal of politics, many salutations, great influence, plenty of presents and complete resignation!"
Jose Rizal (1861-1896), excerpt from The Indolence of the Filipinos trans. by Charles Derbyshire.
Compare Rizal's commentary with Stella Ruth Gonzales' experience with our infamous POEA... the two timelines are more than a hundred years apart.
In all my time at the POEA, there was a group of people I preferred to deal with—the security guards.
The guards were on their posts on time. Unlike the POEA staff members who worked unsmilingly and who would sometimes answer questions sarcastically, the guards were extremely patient and never raised their voices. They were the most helpful of all the people there.
In my mind, they were the saving grace of the POEA.
During my three days at the POEA, many of us OFWs kept mumbling about how inefficient the “system” was and how nobody seemed to care that employees did not start work on time and how some of the staff were so smug.
A woman seated beside me said it was why she hoped the Philippines would become a “kingdom” where things get done quickly; democracy does not work in this country, she said.
Another said she would write a long complaint and put it in the suggestion box—she never did. I watched her and she just left after getting her exit clearance.
I would like to think that I was just too dizzy from the heat and hunger to speak out and complain aloud. But I guess I had become like most helpless OFWs—I kept silent.
Source: Exit Clearance: An OFW's Nightmare - Philippine Daily Inquirer