A Filipino Stranded in Bangkok

It's been a while since I posted a blog. I have just heard news about what's happening in Thailand. Well, I actually 'read' the news. I only got to know about after a few people in our mailing list began exchanging letters about being stranded there. One of those unfortunate Filipinos who were trapped inside the airport is our esteemed colleague Mr. Danilo Pancho, the Vice President for Human Resources of Edward Keller Philippines. Much of the email exchanges were about how the Philippine Embassy has been slow in helping the stranded Filipinos. Out of all those email exchanges, one caught my attention (and my heart) prompting me to share it to anyone who would care to read. Here is what Ms. Josephine Fernandez had to say:

Ka Dan! So you are there!

In 2004 I
was in the US for a training
and I was with a Thai. He was all praises for
Thaksin for having the business
acumen to steer the country away from the
ravages of the asian financial crisis.
Our US and European colleagues were
all in agreement. The 2 Japanese in the
group were quiet - they had doubts,
I found that out at dinner that night but they
did not want to
offend. I was the bold one to ask if no Thai is doubting
Thaksin's
discreet ways which might lead to an uprising once the disadvataged
bsuiness
cry foul. He noted the Filipinos abilities to go to the streets
at
the at the snap of a finger and chart a historic givernment change. He
was, oh, so certain, it won't happen in Thailand. No one dares to go to the
streets out of respect for their King who loves peace. If a Thai
grumbles, that's just in the
confines of his heart and home. Never shown in
public. So he
said.

Last Thursday, I talked to Somnuk (this
Thai I referred to
above who has become a close friend over the years). He
called to tell me how
disappointed he has become of what is happening to his
country. He was still
optimistic even after Thaksin was ousted. so I
asked what has happened? He
simply said, this time the anti-government
forces are wearing the royal
color - yellow. That is an answer
sufficient for me to understand what is
happening.

Ka Dan, I
want to apologize to you for our
government as a private
citizen. Civil service has yet to
understand their roles.

But each time I travel, I tend to love our
country more (to
the chagrin of my husband who has lived his life mostly in the
developned
continents). We do things better than the rest when it comes to
securing our
country from terrorists, when it comes to holding an uprising, whe
it comes
to dealing with the most heated debates (we gnash our teeth to
pulveration
but never throw water or punches at each other in public, and we
save more
lives in the deadliest situations minus all the sophistication. Why am
I
saying this? Our country's "ako muna bago ang lahat" culture allows each
Filipino to stretch his own abilities and capabiltiies to save
himself in
almost all circumstances - emerging with a strong
character nothing can
just break. So we survive the odds without much
help. We have solid and
built-in survivial kit, courtesy of an
insignificant government. That't why as
the world falls into a
recession, we Filipinos can simply listen to
all intellectual
discourses but hardly our heart skips a beat even if the worse is already at our
gates. We are confident we can pick up the pieces faster
than
anyone. We are astonished how trivial things (maning-mani lang sa
Pinoy) disturb the develop countries.