Noynoy Aquino’s presidential candidacy  is…(ho-hum)…the “expected surprise.”

Benigno Aquino III

In fact, when Balita carried the headline “Euphoria, Challenges as Noynoy Runs” in the September 12-15 Edition,  my friends and I looked at each other  quizzically and almost sarcastically — “Did you expect otherwise?”

Since then, I have had the time (and a nagging feeling in the back of my head) to assess what the candidacy (and the eventual presidency?) of Benigno Aquino III could bring to this devastated-by-human-greed country called the Philippines — the Philippines I love.

Of equal and parallel importance to me is the Filipino-American response to Noynoy’s candidacy although this, I predict, will be fun:  Filipino “leaders” (is there a Filipino in the US who is not a “leader”?) will scramble like mad to be Noynoy’s chief advocate and supporter in the US.  A separate article subsequently in this blog will hope to shed some light on this enigma occurring mostly among Pinoys in the US.

As days pass, I will continue to assess and analyze the developments of the Noynoy-for-President movement, with emphasis on how US Filipinos react to it and, in a limited way, why they react the way they do (or will).

It dawned on me today: it’s been a year since the election of Barack Obama as president.

It seems so long ago.  But I suppose that bit of relativism has been true all these years:  Time crawls when things things are difficult, when we wish the present would pass quickly.

I know there were many almost-fanatical Filipinos who practically prayed to Obama.  I’m sorry…all I can do now is point a finger at them and say “Mali kayo, ano?“

Let the record speak for itself…

He promised transparency.  He has become a master of opacity and his mastery has rubbed off on Democrats in Congress.

He promised he would “reach out.”  Instead he — and his congressional cronies — have “pushed out” any Republicans from planning and discussion of every major issue from the stimulus package to health care reform.

He promised “no more pork barrel.”  His stimulus package includes at least 1,100 instances of pork for his congressional cronies — including, for example, $99,600 for doorbells for 632 units of the Laurel, MS Housing Authority.  That’s $157 per unit!

It’s time we all come back down to earth.  Obama is NOT the messiah he wanted to be.  He has been president for 10 months.  He has accomplished nothing.  He spent more than $1 Billion in stimulus money, and unemployment rose from 8% to 10.2%.  He forgot — he was supposed to stimulate employment and not unemployment.

It’s time we remembered the political Camelot with its original characters — John and Jackie Kennedy.  Someone should tell Michelle Obama she’s no Jackie.  With her $600 sneakers she’s more of an Imelda, it seems.

Someone should remind Obama we drove Marcos out with People Power.  He’s very quickly building his oligarchic crony base and making them richer and richer.

PPV (“Pay Per View” TV), at $54.95, was too expensive to watch alone. So I was glad when neighbor Sunta Pascual called and invited me to watch together with her daughter and her son-in-law and a couple of other friends.

By 6:30,  Sunta was calling — she didn’t know how to order PPV using her remote.  I sauntered across the street to her house.  For some reason, her remote was different from mine, though we both had DirecTV, so we ended up calling the 800 number instead.

After getting the fight channel on the TV, I stepped into the kitchen cum dining room.  Everything was laid out neatly — grapes, strawberries, manggang hilaw with bagoong.  She also had bags of chips, cans of peanuts, coolers, and sodas.  Her daughter, she explained, was bringing pizza and salad.  Altogether, there would be food for 20 at a boxing party with five or six guests.

Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao.

The fight was between welterweight world champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico and challenger Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines.  Could Pacquiao add a seventh championship belt to his collection?  Odds were 2.5:1 that he could.

La Diva sang "Bayang Magiliw" athe the start of the Pacquiao-Cotto match.

“Lupang Hinirang” — the Philippine National Anthem — was sung by La Diva, a popular pop song trio in the Philippines.  It was a beautiful rendition — definitely much more uplifting than the national anthem as sung by Martin Nievera at the last Pacquiao fight.

The first round was admittedly Cotto’s.  The Puerto Rican actually dominated the first two rounds, although the judges gave Pacquiao the second round

It was Pacquiao’s fight from the third round on.  He scored two knockdowns between the 3rd and 11th rounds, and won by TKO in the 12th round.

Scenes from the Pacquiao-Cotto fight. Photos from Sports Illustrated.

Now, to another aspect of the fight.  How many Philippine officials — governors, senators, congressmen, et al. — were at the fight?  I’m sure those who attended came under the guise of “official business” and used public funds, timing their “official” junkets to coincide with the fight — the “we were just in the neighborhood” defense.

We know Luis “Chavit” Singson was there, but he does not have access to government travel funds to spend.  The First Gentleman Mike Arroyo was there, but neither does he have access to government travel funds, though the money he spent there was probably the “people’s money,” too.

Thank your constituents, as well as the Filipino people, all of you who came on government money.  If not for them, you’d be pitifully curtailed to watching the fight on your own large-screen HD flat screens in your private home theaters.  Poor you…

The Ati-atihan in Kalibo, Aklan, is one of the few places in the world that Christians and Muslims celebrate together.

There was food and drinking, laughter and music, dancing in the streets, costumes more colorful than the mardi gras.  And of course, there were the people of the south…hospitable, generally unsophisticated, warm and friendly, and like everyone in the area, malambing. I spent three days there — three days of fun and frolic — without getting tired or even sleepy.  The rhythm of the ati-atihan drummed through the town the whole day, and at night loudspeakers blared with music as people partied in houses and in the streets. The ati-atihan, which started in the 13th century from pagan origins, is now a Christian festival honoring the Santo Nino (the Infant Jesus).  Kalibo is one of the rare places in the world today that Christians and Muslims take to the streets together in celebration and festivity.

***

A Tagaytay fruitstand along the main highway.

I remember Tagaytay… fruit stands at the crossroads on the highway, ponies at the picnic grove, chilly mountain air and occasional fog, fresh beef off the beaten track, bulalo, and fresh Batangas coffee in the dining room of Taal Vista Lodge.  It was the only other place in the Philippines (that I know of) that justified the use of a fireplace. I remember stopping in makeshift carinderias perched precipitously along the ridge offering views of Taal Volcano and, on a good day, glimpses of the little crater in a lake in the big crater.  (Get it?)

During the eruption of Taal Volcano.

When the volcano erupted — I don’t even remember what year it was — we sat in one of those carinderias marveling at this awesome display by Mother Nature.   After sunset, we would have dinner at Taal Vista Lodge and wait for the next eruption, awed by the sight of molten lava shooting up in the dark sky.

Bulalo!

And who will go to Tagaytay without sampling the “old reliable” bulalo.  This dish of beef, bone marrow and vegetable soup is best enjoyed in chilly weather, and Tagaytay is the perfect venue to enjoy it.  Served steaming hot, with patis and calamansi on the side, bulalo will always be one of my favorites.

Close enough to Tagaytay is Pagsanjan, Laguna.  This is the family hometown.  I have not been there in ages, but many of my fondest memories are from “the ol’ hometown.”  My earliest — and lasting — memories of Pagsanjan center around the home of my father’s sister, Tia Conching.  She was an elementary school teacher at the public school.  Originally, she had this small “almost-nipa” hut with a sari-sari store in front of it.  I remember sleeping on the floor, on a mat — banig — that covered the bamboo slats that made up the floor.  Out back was a small piece of land planted to fruit trees.  There was no grass, no lawn — just cleanly-swept soil out of which sprung countless fruit trees.  I used to tend the sari-sari store whenever I was on vacation there, though I probably ate up more than the profit I made selling the stuff she had in the store. Soon enough, she built a newer house across the street.  That’s when her full collection of American magazines, books, and other reading material miraculously “appeared.”  She had saved (and still continued to save, every monthly edition of National Geographic and Readers’ Digest.  She had every issue of Life magazine.  Out front, a bougainvillea vine bloomed forever, its dark fuchsia blossoms so lush that her house was a landmark to many (“Yung bahay na maraming buganvilya sa harap.”)

Do you remember the sampaloc candy Tia Conching made?

Pagsanjan was a town rich with a history that began long before the Spanish came.  In fact, our family traces its roots to pre-Spanish times, to when our kinanununuan founded a barrio in the town of Lumban.  This barrio eventually became the town of Pagsanjan.

The municipal government is still run from the same building -- almost a hundred years later.

Today, there are traces of time and history throughout the town.  Old houses still remain a “staple,” gladly.  Municipal government is run from the same old building, built originally almost a hundred years ago.

The Pagsanjan church, "Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe."

The church, across the street, was built in 1890 and dedicated to Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.  My Tia Conching‘s house was about 100 meters away, across the bridge that spanned the Pagsanjan River, which ran behind the municipio.

The welcome arch dedicated to Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.

Take a walk through the town, and you’ll notice a proliferation of old, stately houses — architecture of years past, when Pagsanjan was the center of class and culture.  And, of course, you won’t fail to notice the welcoming arch as you enter the town.  Built in 1880, it commemorates the legend of the Senora de Guadalupe‘s appearance at the town entry to halt approaching enemy forces known as Tangkad

One of Pagsanjan's many old houses.

Fortunately, many of Pagsanjan’s “older families” keep the town the focus of their largesse and attention.  They still call Pagsanjan “home,” no matter where they are.  Most of the older houses are well maintained, because the families always “come back home.”

About 30 minutes further north are the towns of Paete and Pakil.  But I couldn’t help but mention Kalayaan, halfway between Paete and Pagsanjan.

When I was younger, my Dad would bring me to the Pagsanjan cemetery to visit the graves of my grandparents.  At that time, it was small, and the paths were lined by trees whose overhangs shaded the tombstones.  (I’m sure it’s different now.)

Fresh kesong puti and hot pandesal. Need I say more?

After the cemetery visit, he would drive to the next town, Kalayaan, where we would buy kesong puti.  At the corner store, after buying the kesong puti, he would stop to buy pan de sal.  That still is the best merienda for me, though I haven’t had it in more than 20 years.

Anyway, back to Paete and Pakil…

I will always treasure this 50-year-old statue of the Sacred Heart from Paete, Laguna.

More than 50 years ago, my parents ordered a statue of the Sacred Heart from a woodcarver in Paete.  This is a town built on the talent of woodcarvers, a gift handed down from generation to generation.  From this town come the best woodcarvings in the Philippines.  It was memorialized by many artists and in many books, among them the pen-and-ink art of artist Manuel Baldemor, who dedicated an entire book to this town.

You don't get fresh, succulent lanzones in the US.

The town next to Paete, along the banks of Laguna de Bay, is Pakil.  To me (no matter what anyone else says), Pakil is the lanzones center. An uncle of mine (or was it cousin?) owned several lanzones trees in the hills behind Pakil.  Each year, not knowing when we might come or if we would, he would leave kaings of lanzones on his small porch.  All we had to do was go and feast on the fruit, and take home as much as we wanted.  Heaven!

Built in 1864 and named after San Pedro de Alcantara, one of today's best-preserved churches is the Pakil church.

My late uncle, Tio Dandoy, had a small, cozy vacation house in this town.  He had a swimming pool which was filled with constantly-running spring water, and a couple of mini-bancas that we, as kids, would paddle across the pool.  Inside the cottage, he had a life-sized, stand-up cardboard cutout of the then-famous “BB” — Brigitte Bardot.  That was always a source of discussion and much humor.

Finally, among the many memories that I treasure, is the time that we would spend in the clear, knee-deep water of Pagsanjan River.  There, in nipa sheds with bamboo tables and benches, we would enjoy summer picnics, eating rice and the favorite small fish caught in the river (what were they called?) and everything else from watermelons to mangoes, pork chops to sinigang – practically anything you could ask for.  (Does anyone in the family have any of the old pictures of the river picnics?)

I’ll always remember Tagaytay, Pagsanjan, Kalayaan, Paete and Pakil…

Island Pacific -- rumored to be owned by an "Erap crony" -- is one of the two major Filipino supermarkets.

At the cross-street of Azusa Avenue and Amar Road is Manila Way — a public street entering and going around West Covina’s “Filipino Center.”  Here you’ll find everything Filipino — from the Pinoy supermarkets (Seafood City and Island Pacific) to small sari-sari-like stores.  From car brokers to balut makers.  From beauty parlors run by the typical Pinoy gays, with Pinay manicuristas.  From Filipino doctors and dentists to air cargo companies.  From Filipino bank-owned money remittance services to turo-turos.  On some weekends, you’ll even see a sidewalk barbecue stand set up in front of Island Pacific.

Now we segue into Filipino food…

All-time favorite lechon kawali.

You’ll never miss Pinoy food if you live in West Covina.  There’s Toto’s Lechon Manok, which now serves much more than the broasted chicken its name implies; Toto’s is now a full-fledged turo-turo with dishes like calamares, inihaw na liempo, daing na bangus and inihaw na bangus, ampalaya, lechon kawali…you name it.

Champorado't tuyo...sarap.

Have a yen for a heavy breakfast?  Bamboo Bistro serves a buffet breakfast everyday with traditional all-Filipino breakfast food – lugaw, champorado, tuyo, daing, longganisa, tocino, eggs, sinangag, tomato with itlog na pula, and more.   Surprise, surprise…their coffee creamer is evaporated milk served the old way — two little holes on the rim of the can.  (All I didn’t see were the twirled slips of paper used to plug the holes and keep the air away from the milk.)

Good old fashioned lechon.

Have a sudden craving for lechon skin even on a weekday?  Go to the food corner inside the east entrance of Island Pacific and order a lunch combo — rice and fair share of lechon meat AND skin served with the all-too-familiar Mang Tomas-like sauce.  You might even get distracted by the barbecue plates at Tony’s (first counter upon entrance) — two sticks of chicken or pork, sweet sauce, Java rice, and achara…reminiscent of Aristocrat on Roxas Boulevard.

You’ll never lose your Filipino identity in West Covina.  You’ll never lose weight either…

That is most true among Pinoys here in the US.  Where there’s a will, there’s a way — and the Pinoy will always find the way.

One arena where you see this is the proliferation of Filipino associations in the States.  There are Bicolano associations, Ilocano associations, Ilonggo associations, Kapampangan associations, Pangasinan associations, Cebuano associations, associations of Filipino associations…the list goes on.  Even small towns have their own associations — and in some instances, there are more people in the US from a particular town than there are actual residents of that town in the Philippines.

Why?  Remedyo.  It is not surprising that Philippine towns with almost negligible populations may have two associations within a county (or even city) in the US.  Why?  Because when someone loses an election to head the town association, the knee-jerk reaction is “‘Di na bale…gawa tayo ng bagong asosasyon…pakitaan natin sila.”  (“Not to worry…let’s form a new association and show them how things should be done.”)

The Nacionalista Party logo.

The Liberal Party logo.

This attitude has its roots, of course, in national politics in the Philippines.  I can still remember when, like the US, the two-party system prevailed.  Those two parties were the Nacionalistas and the Liberals.  (Aside:  Come to think about it…Ramon Magsaysay was the original balimbing.  He was a Liberal Party member until the Nacionalistas recruited him to run for president.)

How many Philippine political parties are there today?

***

I know a Filipino family whose sixteen-year-old son is physically disabled.  As is to be expected, they applied for and received a rear view mirror tag indicating that the car belonged to or was used by a disabled person.

So, even without their son in the car, they use the tag to park in parking spaces allocated for the handicapped.  It’s a funny sight to see a couple in tennis outfits, looking fit and healthy, alighting from a car supposedly used by a handicapped person — all to the detriment of truly handicapped persons who may need the space.

Unfortunately, that is how the Filipino “remedyo” is used here in the States.  Need to take off from work and don’t know how to handle that?  My friend the doctor will give you a letter for your employer.  DirecTV too expensive?  May nabibiling box $500 lang pero di ka na magbabayad ng monthly — ever.  At lahat ng channel kuha, kahit PPV.  My cousin is here illegally.  May kilala akong magpapakasal sa kanya pero maniningil.

Depend on the Filipino to find a remedyo…

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.  This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.  Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred.  On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.  In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future.  For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

Huge bonfires were lit, and sacrifices of animals and other food were burned on Samhein.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them.  Because of the rigid Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited there.

It was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies.  As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups, as well as the American Indians, meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge.  The first celebrations included “play parties,” public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other’s fortunes, dance, and sing.  Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds.  By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.

Originally, Halloween was more for adults than for children.

By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment.  Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time.  By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young.  Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated. Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived.  Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats.  A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow.  Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday.

***

Pumpkin carving is a popular part of modern America’s Halloween celebration.  Come October, pumpkins can be found everywhere in the country from doorsteps to dinner tables.  Despite the widespread carving that goes on in this country every autumn, few Americans really know why or when the jack o’lantern tradition began.  Or, for that matter, whether the pumpkin is a fruit or a vegetable.  Read on to find out!

People have been making jack o’lanterns at Halloween for centuries.  The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.”  According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him.  True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks.  Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form.  Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul.  The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit.  While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died.  As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven.  The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell.  He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way.  Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since.  The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”

Jack o' lanterns..an interesting history.

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits.  In England, large beets are used.  Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o’lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States.  They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o’lanterns.

***

Pick your pumpkin at the Cal-Poly Pumpkin Patch. Any pumpkin. Any size. $5.

Today, DJ and I swung by the Cal-Poly Farm Store.  It has a 2- 0r 3-acre plot of land covered with pumpkins.  They’re sold at $5 apiece, no matter what the size.  You get a shopping cart, go out in the field, and pick your pumpkin.  Because of the lot size, you could spend more than an hour searching for “your perfect pumpkin.”  But, with all those pumpkins there, you can be sure you’ll find it.

Gladys is a dialysis technician.  In her mid-30′s, this Pangasinense is a responsible mother of two, both of whom attend Bishop Amat high school, a private Catholic school in West Covina.  She works six days a week, setting dialysis machines, hooking up and “taking down” patients from the machines.

I once saw her at Pinoy-Pinay, a turo-turo along Azusa Avenue, around the corner from Island Pacific.  She was there to buy lunch for herself and her husband, who works independently as a contractor for home construction firms.

Gladys is warm and caring as a dialysis tech — specially to Filipino patients.

Edwin is the typical hard-working Pinoy.  Aside from his two jobs as a dialysis tech, he also goes to Ventura (about 140 miles away) every Saturday to act as dispatcher and, if necessary, driver, for the non-emergency medical transportation vans he co-owns with a brother.

He’s my Philippine-information resource person — what are the odds for the upcoming Pacquiao fight, who’s topping the polls for Philippine president, is it true Wowowee’s Willie Revillame is a “front” for current vice president Noli de Castro, quo vadis Joseph Estrada…everything about the Philippines, he knows.

He has a bright, academically superior daughter who’s also a martial arts champion.  Apparently, she’s blending both her fortes, and is planning to apply to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Then there’s Rhoda, the quiet nurse.  She’s from La Union, and went to St. Louis University in Baguio for her college courses.  She completed studies for a degree in civil engineering.  Her then-boyfriend had come ahead to the States, and he insisted she work on getting a degree in nursing…which she did.  It was a good call.

As I go along writing this blog, we’ll visit these three occasionally and see what they’re up to.  We’ll see how being professionals in the US changes their lives.  One thing is for sure, though…life in the US doesn’t seem to have dimmed their Filipino-hood.

Pinoys gather curbside after buying coffee and donuts to smoke and chat.

Maraming habit na hindi mawawala sa Pinoy…nakakatuwa.

This morning, as I do every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I went to Daily Donuts, a store in the strip mall at the corner of Nogales and Amar in Walnut.  This has become a habit — buying a couple of donuts for breakfast after spending almost four hours in dialysis.

It dawned on me, after all this time, that the donut shop has become a hangout of Pinoys.  The Cambodian couple that owns the store has obviously gained a “niche” market for their donuts, and they cater to this clientele carefully.

They’ve even learned the value of listahan ng utang — creating a handwritten list of clients to whom they grant “credit lines” of donuts, coffee, cigarettes and lotto tickets.  This listahan is kept in a spiral notebook on the counter next to the cash register.  Shades of the homegrown sari-sari store!

Some sit inside, eyes glued to the lotto monitor as it raffles off the winning numbers on a jueteng-like game called “Hot Spots.”  Some stand outside, smoking (California law prohibits smoking inside public places) and discussing — quite knowledgeably — the day’s local and national issues.

The major issues at hand lately have been California’s poor financial situation, Obama’s health care reform proposals, his waffling on Afghanistan, and how the Democrats “rule” Congress.  Other topics include rising costs of airline tickets to Manila, Pacquiao’s latest fight, the coming Philippine national elections and presidential candidates, Kris Aquino vis-a-vis Noynoy Aquino, Wowowee, or which turo-turo (Pinoy-Pinay, DJ’s Bibingkahan, Toto’s Lechon Manok, Manila Sunset, etc.) serves the best Pinoy food — practically everything under the sun that affects Filipinos.

The discussions often turn into debates, each sentence predictably punctuated with the crisp “putangina.” Truly Pinoy.

These curbside gatherings are probably the Pinoy version of the “knowledge circles” led by Aristotle, Plato or Sophocles in ages past.  They are the equivalent of breakfast huddles at the Peninsula in Makati, the defunct Leila’s  Coffee Shop, and even the coffee klatches at sari-sari stores.

For Filipinos, habits die hard…

Ang gulo ng buhay ano?

My intention is to reflect the different aspects of a Filipino’s life in the US.  I began (in my old blog) by highlighting American employers’ respect for the Filipino work ethic — the Filipino abroad, that is.  Hindi naman kamukha nating Pinoy sa America ang work ethic ng mga nasa opisina sa Manila.

Why is the work ethic of a Pinoy abroad different from that of a Pinoy at home?

All told, it seems that Filipinos spend their working years applying the well-documented Filipino work ethic, contributing to the success of the companies they work for, and content in building a family nest egg.  Then they retire, usually to revert to the Filipino habits they have kept un-expressed — practically hidden — for all of their working years.

To many, this is “the life” — being able to spend their golden years in retirement supported by Medicare and SSI, doing the things and living their lives they would have if they were in the Philippines — on the curbside of the nearest Pinoy store/tambayan.