I saw on TV yesterday a touching story about how a producer thought of surprising a domestic worker in Hong Kong with a totally unexpected visit from her teenage daughter whom she had not seen in a long time.

The segment opened with an interview of the Filipina where she described her life. Not too bad except for the overwhelming desire to be with her "baby". She said that she was prepared to sacrifice indefinitely so long as her daughter was cared for by her parents back in the Philippines. Reminded me of what Mother Teresa once said, that it was not the poverty that sucked the life out of those unfortunate people in the streets of Calcutta rather it was the crushing loneliness.

Back to the tearful reunion, mother and daughter were treated to a day in Hong Kong Disneyland but what was most touching was despite all the rides and stuffed animals, mother and daughter were overjoyed just being together. They held each other closely and the daughter wished for her mother to come back home.

This is a story that is repeated millions of times every single day. Striving to escape poverty is a tremendously difficult process.

maggie and milly and molly and may.
went down to the beach (to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang so sweetly
she couldn't remember her troubles,
and milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:
and may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone
for whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea

e.e. cummings

Today is the day everybody troops to the cemeteries. This is the day when we remember our dead. This would be a combination of Memorial Day and Thanksgiving Day when family members make their way to their respective ancestral roots and remember the dearly departed.

Certainly a curious feast considering All Souls Day falls the day after November 1 but if you want to witness a spectacle all you'll need to do is go to the town cemetery and you will see the entire place dotted with tents and blankets with people teeming all over.

For the enterprising who choose to open a concession stand for food and drink and flowers, a killing can be quickly made.

This is the first time in 18 years that I found myself back in the cemetery for ASD. There is so much faith and family in my poor and troubled country.

When I left the Philippines in 1989, I resolved to return to fight for all those poor schoolchildren who with their parents made great sacrifices each day just so they could attend school. Every time I get discouraged by the seeming indifference of the masses and the deadly cynicism of those in positions of power, all I do is visit a schoolroom and I look at the eager eyes of all those little children and I know that I must do something about the terrible situation we find ourselves in.

All those years abroad however made me conscious about a whole new class of Filipinos who tolerated 18 hour work-days, overt sexual harassment, bitter discrimination, and above all dehumanizing loneliness. All over the world, I became aware of maids making $125 a month and sending $100 back to the families they left behind. Meanwhile, how many families were permanently torn apart with this arrangement?

Economic institutions claim that the Philippine economy is rapidly growing. Granted that next to China, India and even Vietnam our economic growth can be classified as picayune our nation notwithstanding is still growing. What bothers me is that the architects of government assert that all this growth is the result of their planning and wisdom. Nothing can be further from the truth. Whatever demonstrable growth we see is mostly from the combined sacrifices that all these Filipinos overseas make daily.

And yet the moment we return "home", we are met by corrupt customs and immigration officials at the airport. Beady-eyed porters and taxi drivers can't wait to take advantage of us. Our license to drive abroad is not good enough and we have to begin as "student drivers" once again (pending a donation). My license to practice medicine in the US was not good enough either even if I had passed the Philippine medical boards many years ago (again, to skip all the scatological hurdles, money had to change hands). The overseas Filipino is called the "new hero", and rightly so. But no hero is ever appreciated in his own country.

I have a gnawing dread inside that tells me it will take more than billions of dollars in remittances to right this almost totally corrupt society of ours. This is something we cannot redeem with money alone. It will take much more than treasure. This is a dream that demands much more serious commitment.

The Supreme Court just announced that it was not buying into the argument that there was a groundswell of support among the Filipinos for charter change. Hopefully, this will establish once and for all that elections will be held, as scheduled on May 2007.

This development is an important one because if this initiative to alter the constitution had passed then party list representation would have been modified. I am seriously mulling a run to represent the millions of overseas Filipinos who do not have a single representative in the present congress. Party list representation was established to give an opportunity for perennially under-represented sectors of society to participate in the political processes of the country.