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Filipino nurses preferred
COMING home, I
note that the various political groups, including the administration
party, are having problems filling up their respective senatorial
slates. It seems that at the moment all that the opposition and
administration groups can fill up are six slots each, while Raul Roco's
independent group is having even bigger problems. Sen. Panfilo Lacson,
on the other hand, not only has a tough time getting his complete
senatorial slate, but also a running mate.
Prospective
senatorial candidates are afraid to run because of the huge expenses
involved and the diminishing prospect of winning, given the myriad
candidates. Surveys indicate that voters, especially in the provinces,
can only fill up about six names on the ballot. But this problem of how
to complete the senatorial slate of the political groups only drives
home the need to return to the two-party system-less expensive and far
more sensible.
* * *
As
I had predicted weeks ago, the indication is that among the senatorial
candidates to be fielded by Lakas is independent reelectionist Sen.
John Osme–a, who had been identified with the opposition over the past
few years. With the support of the Garcias and the overwhelming number
of Osme–as on Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's side, except for former Gov.
Lito Osme–a, now with Roco, and Sen. Serge Osme–a, who remains
independent, the administration is assured of seizing a substantial
number of the huge Cebuano vote.
* * *
Over the past few years the need of US hospitals for nurses has become quite acute, but since fewer Americans want to serve in this very difficult profession, US authorities were forced to source the supply of nurses from foreign shores. And among the various nationalities serving American hospitals, Filipino nurses are the favorite because of their tender loving care, their facility with the language, their generally pleasant and well-scrubbed appearance, and their cheerful and uncomplaining nature. US hospitals also prefer foreign nurses as they are able to save on salaries-in a 40-hour week of duty the foreign nurses are paid a beginning salary of about 26 dollars an hour, versus the 35 dollars to 40 dollars an hour for US nurses. 25 dollars an hour is a lot of money for Filipino nurses who earn much less back home, but the bigger come-on is the green card that is extended to them and their families.
* * *
I
spoke by phone with my niece-in-law, Riza Dayao Olivares, wife of my
nephew Ramon Luis Baretto Olivares, about the situation of Filipino
nurses in the United States. Riza, who hails from Kidapawan and is a
nursing graduate of the Philippine Women's University School of
Nursing, arrived in the United States a few months ago with a contract
to work at the Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. She
began as a nurse in the intensive care unit, but is due to be rotated
to the ICU's neuro section. Her Wharton-trained husband and 2-year-old
daughter followed last November and they now rent an apartment in the
university grounds. Riza noted that Filipino nurses abound in the US
capital, especially in the Washington Hospital Center, which is like
our Philippine General Hospital, "bagsakan ng lahat ng mga kaso."
(Hospital for all cases.)
* * *
But
apparently there are two kinds of foreign nurses in the United States.
One kind has a work contract with a specific hospital, while the other
kind has no specific contract and is recruited by hospitals from
placement agencies on a need basis; these casuals are referred to in
the nurses' circle as the "travelers" because they move from one place
of work to another. Those with a contract are paid about 26 dollars per
hour, while the "travelers" are paid from 48 dollars to 50 dollars per
hour. The casuals enjoy bigger salaries, but they do not have the
security of tenure or guaranteed work hours of the contractual nurses,
so that they may end up six months in DC and six months in California
or elsewhere, or they may have no work at all. Moreover, the
"travelers" have to pay taxes and insurance, as they don't have the
insurance and disability benefits contractual nurses enjoy. In
addition, explained Riza, in her case, if she wants to do further
studies, about 80 percent of the costs will be footed by the
university, which is not the case for the "travelers."
* * *
Nursing
among Fil-Americans is a big thing. We had a good reunion in Milpitas,
Sta. Clara county, about an hour's drive from San Francisco, with
Ignacio P. Molina Jr., my husband's former officer in the defense
department's intelligence office. Molina, who hails from Leyte and
migrated to California just after the EDSA Revolution, now works as
watch commander in the public safety department of the Jesuit-run Sta.
Clara University. Interestingly, his 44-year-old wife, the former
Lillian White, and 18-year-old daughter Ilyn are currently enrolled at
the community college near their home, preparing to be licensed
vocational nurses, while a niece, Maribel Aquiatan, plans to also study
to be a registered nurse. I asked Lillian why take up nursing now in
her "ripe old age," and she replied that it's a course that's badly
needed and offers a lot of security.
* * *
Lillian's
story is quite interesting. She is a granddaughter of Thomas Everett
White, who must have been either a member of the American expeditionary
forces in Samar in the early 1900s, or a Thomasite. White was one of
three Americans who eventually chose to settle down in Taft, Eastern
Samar; one of the three, Samuel Craig, eventually became Taft's mayor.
White married a native girl named Dominga Cangco and sired a dozen
children, including Lillian's father, Edward. Many decades years later,
the huge White clan decided to seek US citizenship; apart from their
mestiza looks, the descendants presented to the US Embassy in Manila,
as proof of their ancestry, a carefully-preserved box of Thomas'
yellowed letters to an uncle in the United States. They promptly got
their citizenship.
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Monday Jan. 05, 2004, Philippines
