Tabla-talo ang raket

Mahilig sa raket ang mga migranteng Pilipino, katunayan ay maraming naglalako ng kung ano-ano sa Central tuwing Linggo.

Kabilang sa kanila si Nenita na nagkaroon ng raket ng hindi sinasadya.

Minsan na nakatambay sila sa may Hong Kong bank ay nakiusap ang isa niyang kaibigan na linisan siya ang kuko gamit ang sarili nitong gamit na panlinis ng kuko.

Nang makita siya ng ilan sa mga nakatambay din doon ay nakiusap na rin silang magpalinis ng mga kuko, kaya hindi nagtagal ay dumami na ang kanyang mga kostumer.

Ang ginagawa lang niya ay tumatambay doon na nakalabas ang kanyang cleaning kit, at lalapit na lamang sa kanya ang mga gustong magpalinis ng kuko.



Hindi nagtagal ay nagkaroon na ng ilang kostumer si Nenita, na kumikita ng $500 kapag bagong suweldo ang mga kostumer, at mga $300 naman kapag matumal.

Ngunit  wala rin natitira sa kinikita niya dahil bawat dumaan na nagbebenta ay bumibili siya, mapa alahas, punda ng unan, kumot, damit at sapatos. Kahit ano ang tinda ng mga dumadaan ay bumibili siya at ipinapadala sa Pilipinas.



Ang resulta, wala din siyang naiipon.

Tuwing umaalis siya pag day off niya ay wala siyang bibit ngunit pagbalik sa gamit ay hindi magkandaugaga sa bitbit.



Napapasabi na lang ang kanyang mabait na amo ng “Oh so many!” kapag nakikita siya sa kanyang pag-uwi.

Lagi naman niyang sinasabi na sa pamilya niya sa Pilipinas ang lahat ng mga binibili.



Minsan nanghihinayang si Nenita sa nawawaldas niyang pera sa kakabili ng mga hindi kailangan, pero iniisip na lang niya na sa raket naman galing ang ginagastos niya at hindi mula sa suweldo.

Gayunpaman, gusto niyang matigil na rin ang bisyo niyang ito para makaipon siya ng mas mabilis at makabalik na sa pamilya. Si Nenita ay 42 anyos ay tubong Pangasinan, may asawa at mga anak. Ang mga amo niya ay Indian na nakatira sa Bonham Road. – Ellen Asis

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Chinese horoscope for Dec. 1-15

ASO. Isinilang noong 1922/34/46/58/70/82/94/06
Protektado ka sa mga hindi magandang bagay na darating; malaki ang tsansa na matupad ang gusto mo. Ngayon pa lang, ituon ang atensyon sa tamang direksyon at iwasang magpaikot-ikot. Pagka-irita at pagka-inis ang dadanasin sa loob ng tahanan, at posibleng magkaroon ng hindi pagkakaintindihan sa magulang. Lumabas at libangin ang sarili sa sports. Kaibigan man o karelasyon, laging mainam kung may kasama ka. Lucky numbers: 7, 12, 31 at 46.

BABOY. Isinilang noong 1923/35/47/59/71/83/95/07
Kailangang harapin ang mahirap na sitwasyon, at madidiskubre mong kaya mo itong ayusin. Sa halip na matakot na hindi kakayanin, maging positibo sa pag-atake sa problema. Huwag mag-alangan, gawin ang makakaya hanggang sa huli. Ang pagiging magalang at mahinahon mo ay papupurihan ng lahat ng makakakilalala sa iyo. Hayaan ang sariling mag-enjoy sa ginagawa sa kabila ng mga nararanasang hirap at problema. Lucky numbers: 19, 26, 30 at 40.

DAGA. Isinilang noong 1924/36/48/60/72/84/96/08
Ang mga kasamahan ay magpapakita ng kagaspangan at kawalang-asal, at iisipin mong sinasadya ito upang magsimula ng away kaya mahihirapan kang kontrolin ang sarili na magalit. Hindi ka na sasabihan na masyadong seryoso dahil maipapakita mo ang ibang karakter na magaan at madaling pakisamahan at mai-enjoy mo ang pakikipag-biruan. Kung mababa ang posisyon, hindi ka papayag na hindi ma-promote at mabigyan ng tungkulin; magtatagumpay ka dito. Lucky numbers:3, 15, 23 at 37.

BAKA. Isinilang noong 1925/37/49/61/73/85/97/09
Mailap ang pag-ibig sa iyo at malayo na rin ang narating mo sa paghanap sa kaligayahan na lagi na lang nakakaalpas, at sa panahong akala mo ay nahanap mo na ito. Mahaharap sa seryosong problema sa pera, lalo na at may utang pang binabayaran; ibayong pagtitipid ang kailangan, at ipahinga muna ang iyong credit card kahit na gaano pa kaganda ang bagay na inaalok sa iyo. Lucky numbers: 16, 22, 31 at 44.



TIGRE Isinilang noong 1926/38/50/62/74/86 at 98/10
Magiging masayahin, mapagbigay, masigla at maayos kang makipag-usap sa mga tao sa paligid mo ngayon. Sa trabaho, malakas ang imahinasyon at marami kang magagandang ideya. Ang malamig na panahon ay nagdudulot ng antok at katamaran, subukang kumain ng marami sa almusal bago magtrabaho upang mapanatili ang enerhiya. Huwag hayaang masira ang kapayapaan ng loob ng dahil sa nababasa o naririnig. Iwasang magreklamo. Lucky numbers: 20, 25, 33 at 47.

KUNEHO Isinilang noong 1927/39/51/63/75/87/99
Mag-ingat sa food poisoning! Upang maiwasan ang mikrobyo, ilagay ang tirang pagkain at ugaliing i-defrost ang iladong karne sa loob ng refrigerator. Iwasan ang labis na pagkain ng hilaw na pagkain, at siguraduhin din na nilutong maigi ang kinakain. Ang pinagkakaabalahang proyekto ay mabubuo ng mas mabilis pa sa inakala mong oras. Tama lang na bantayang mabuti ang iyong pinagpapaguran dahil marami ka pang mga balakid na pagdadaanan. Lucky numbers: 11, 27, 38 at 45.



 DRAGON Isinilang noong 1928/40/52/64/76/88/00
May mga hindi ka inaasahang reaksyon, at ang galak na ipinapakita sa mga kasamahan ay kalimitang nasusundan ng kagustuhan mong mapag-isa. Dahil sa biglang pagbabago ng disposisyon kaya nahihirapan kang intindihin ng mga kasamahan, pero ipagkikibit- balikat mo lang ito. Maaring makaranas ng hindi makontrol na pagsinok; kung hindi mawala agad ito, kumunsulta sa doktor. Lucky numbers: 4, 18, 36 at 40.

AHAS Isinilang noong 1929/41/53/65/77/89/01
Kaya mong baguhin ang negatibong bagay sa personalidad mo para maging maaliwalas ang iyong dating. Kung gusto mo nang magkaroon ng pamilya, may tsansa kang makilala ang taong magpapatatag sa iyong buhay. Huwag gaanong lakihan ang pangarap dahil baka mahirapan kang mabuo at matupad ito. Bantayan ang paggastos, huwag munang ituloy ang pagbili ng bagay na matagal mo nang gusto. Umiwas din sa sugal dahil mababawasan ang iyong determinasyon. Lucky numbers: 12, 29, 34 at 42.



KABAYO. Isinilang noong 1930/42/54/66/78/90/02
Ituloy mo lang ang pagsisikap habang kontrolado mo ang lahat, at iwasan din ang walang kuwentang pagtatalo. Sigurado na ang tagumpay mo. Mas gaganda ang pagsasama, at maging ang mga mag-asawang may seryosong problema ay magkaka-ayos. Huwag hayaang maapektuhan ang pagkakaibigan ng dahil sa problema sa pera. Ang totoong magkaibigan ay nagdadamayan. Lucky numbers: 6, 17, 27 at 44.

KAMBING. Isinilang noong 1919/31/43/55/67/79/91/03
Mas madali para sa iyo na magtrabaho ng may mga kasama. Papabor sa inyo ang lahat, at magkakaroon ka ng pagkakataong maipakita ang kaya mong gawin ng walang nagdidikta sa iyo. Mag-ingat at huwag maging kampante upang maiwasan ang gulo, at higit sa lahat, mag-ingat sa pananalita. Kung gusto mong manatiling sariwa at magmukhang bata, tigilan ang paninigarilyo. Lucky numbers: 12, 13, 21 at 28.



UNGGOY. Isinilang noong 1920/32/44/56/68/80/92/04
Maligaya sa ka panahong ito. Pero kung matatanto mong hindi magiging maayos ang lahat, tanungin ang sarili at isiping mabuti ang lahat upang malaman ang totoong problema. Magaan ang lagay ng pananalapi at makakabayad ka sa mga utang at makakapamili ng mga gamit. Malaki ang tsansang magtagumpay ang negosyo. Mas bibigyan mo ng atensyon na mapaganda ang personalidad, kaysa panlabas na anyo. Lucky numbers: 4, 14, 16 at 39.

TANDANG. Isinilang noong 1921/33/45/57/69/81/93/05
Marami kang magiging kaibigan ngayon. Hindi ka makukuntento sa simpleng relasyon, dahil mas gusto mo pang mapalapit ng husto sa mga taong hinahangaan o mahal mo, o sa mga taong interesado kang makilala pa. Piliting maaayos ang problema sa pinangangasiwaan o materyal na bagay at tapusin din ang gawaing bahay. Kulang ka sa kritikal na pag-iisip ngayon, kaya iwasang magbigay ng opinyon o payo kahit kanino. Lucky numbers: 16, 28, 31 at 43.

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Enabling sleaze

By Daisy Catherine L. Mandap

In life there will always be willing victims and enablers.

This was the reason why we had that disgusting spectacle of 10 nearly naked Filipina domestic workers parading in a Wanchai bar before some predatory male patrons, on the ridiculous excuse that they were having a beauty contest.

Were if not for the participants’ willingness to flaunt their bodies hidden only by the tiniest of thongs and silicone strips to cover their breasts, the whole event would not have happened.

And if there was no enabler like Roselyn who organized the sleaze fest and allowed a photographer in, there would have been no photos to be ogled at, passed around and held up for contempt by many.

But Roselyn may have been a victim herself.




In her world, putting together a show that allowed the women to flaunt all that they had, and perform stunts that appealed to men’s basest instinct, was par for the course.

This could be gleaned in her decision to send out posters advertising the racy “beauty contest” giving out her full name and telephone number, and then later attacking people who shared the pictures from what she called a private event.

Roselyn was egged on and not taken to task because the participants themselves appeared more than willing to outdo each other in baring their bodies and become the object of fantasy of the ogling men.



These men, and women, who reveled in having taken part in that lame excuse of a beauty contest, should be held to account. The men, specially, who persist in telling them that there is nothing wrong with baring flesh to win a dubious contest, but are really just peeping Toms out for a quick fix, are profoundly guilty.

But we have a larger community that is equally to blame, the one that at best looked the other way when women in skimpy attires paraded before them, using competition or entertainment, or charity, as the excuse.

We have collectively become an enabler for an activity that has degenerated into one that exploited women, held them up for contempt and ridicule, and worse, made them feel proud of debasing themselves.

Organizers of beauty contests call this confidence; in truth, it is a false sense of self worth.

Women should not have to expose their bodies or do salacious stunts to feel beautiful and fulfilled.



But the baring of flesh is not just the reason why we stopped giving publicity to beauty contests for nearly the past two decades.

For one, it isn’t hard to regard them as a charade, from the  meaningless parade of beauty queen wannabes in all sorts of attire, oftentimes garish, ill-fitting or at times, pathetic-looking; the vain attempt to make them respond wittily during the Q&A, and many other frustrating signs.



More importantly, they come out as mere money-making activities held at the expense of the contestants. Doing them supposedly for charity does not excuse the exploitation.

Early on, we did an incisive article on what went on behind the stage at these events, and found many women getting mired in debt in their desperation to become the next Sunday Beauty Queen.

The reverse is also true in some cases, when it is the organizer who ends up losing money because he or she was not astute enough to know how to squeeze enough money out of the contestants.

The money at stake is not something to sneeze at: $1,500 just to sign up and sell tickets to friends, a similar amount to hire a makeup artist and hairstylist to ensure they look their best on the big day, double this to hire a personal videographer, at least $500 to hire a drop-dead gown, and so on.

For the organizers, it could also involve setting up a stage on Chater Road, which costs upwards of $25,000. Naturally, this amount would be passed on to the contestants as private sponsorships are difficult to come by for this type of event.

All in, the expenses for each contestant amount to more than what a domestic worker makes in a month. If the worker is addicted to joining these contests, it would not be far-fetched to say she could gamble away several months of pay for the dubious privilege of being queen for the day.

Then there is the baring of flesh, which seems to have gotten out of hand over the years because organizers are always looking for ways to make their event stand out.

I remember in particular the one that made us decide to stay away from such flesh shows for good. Having been convinced to attend because of a promise that it would be a beau-con “with a difference” as there would be no swimsuit contest, I was dismayed to see it being replaced with a “best in jungle attire’ which creative contestants used to display more flesh than they would have if they just wore a bikini.

But the icing on the cake was when a loose tube top worn by a contestant came down not just once-but twice – during a production number, exposing her breasts in front of some 100 people in the audience, including the then labor attaché.

There were other sorry spectacles, including one where the contestants paraded in bikinis in the dead of winter in Chater Garden; and one where the women had to wear transparent negligees with no bras underneath in the “best in night wear” segment of a contest in Bayanihan Centre.

I am sure there are more, especially since we have determinedly stayed away from events that feature contests of this nature, and have thus luckily avoided witnessing the further degradation of our women migrants.

But the Wanchai event showed us the use of beauty contests to exploit Filipinas, particularly migrant workers, has not only continued but has worsened to the extent that the contestants in this flesh parade actually felt wronged when lewd photos they proudly shared on Facebook were copied and passed around.

When our core values as Filipinos have been torn to shreds because of events like this it is time to act.

Stop supporting these lame excuses for a beauty contest. If need be, report those who commit flagrant violation of Hong Kong’s laws on indecent exposure to keep our self-worth and national dignity intact.

By doing so we protect not only our community but also our migrant workers who came here to provide a better life for their families back home, and not become fodder for Hong Kong’s sex trade..

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Filcom groups, POLO pull out support from beauty contests

By Daisy CL Mandap

There has been a renewed campaign to discourage Filipino community organizations in Hong Kong from holding beauty contests, in the wake of the scandal over leaked photographs from a racy pageant held in a Wanchai bar on Nov. 18.

The photos showed 10 contestants in the “Miss Hot Babes 2018” competition wearing flimsy red negligees, and with hardly anything covering their bodies underneath. Other pictures showed them doing provocative poses in their skimpy outfits, while a group of men, many of them Caucasians, watched.

Leo Selomenio

Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre

Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre was the first to take action, tracking down the show’s organizer, and getting her to see him at his office on Nov. 25. She issued a public apology on Facebook the next day.

Global Alliance chair Leo Selomenio initially issued a scathing commentary on the racy show, then called his group to a meeting to discuss their next step. On Nov. 28, Labatt dela Torre announced on Facebook that Selomenio’s group, made up of two big federations and several affiliate organizations, had agreed to stop organizing beauty contests.

Dela Torre said he was “grateful and quite happy” over the decision, and said that Selomenio’s massive organizing skills will be better put to use for events showcasing the skills and talents of Filipinas, like singing contests.

He ended his post with a warning against others thinking of organizing similar events and those ‘helping’, dirty old men who are there merely to ogle and to satisfy their sexual desires, to think twice before bringing the community into disrepute.”




Selomenio’s stance surprised many in the community, as it was her group’s propensity for holding beauty contests that landed her a plum role in the highly acclaimed Philippine indie movie, “Sunday Beauty Queen,” which put a spotlight on this OFW ritual.

But in an interview with The SUN, Selomenio said she was bothered that organizers of the Wanchai event had gone to the extent of parading the contestants half-naked, and in full view of many ogling foreign men.



What disturbed him even more, he said, was seeing the secretary of one of his affiliate organizations, Survivors Association, emceeing the show. He said he immediately sought an explanation from this member in a group chat, but was ignored. That made him decide, with concurrence from his officers, to expel the affiliate group.

Selomenio’s outrage was clear in his Facebook post, where he said it was the contestants’ choice “na babuyin ang inyong mga sarili.”

He added, “It’s not an art of photography anymore, its pornography. Kung kayo very proud na ipakita sa mundo ang mga katawan ninyo then good for you. But for thousands of OFWs here in Hong Kong, we strongly oppose those indecent exposure of your body and soul.”




In the interview, Selomenio admitted getting bothered by his fellow OFWs getting mired in debt because of beauty contests. While his group did not impose a “quota” – or a minimum amount of entrance tickets – for the contestants to sell, he said most other groups do this as a matter of course.

He said the going rate now for quotas is $1,500 per candidate, who must also set aside another $1,500 for a hair and makeup stylist, a further $2,500 for a personal videographer, and a few thousands more for the gown and the other outfits they are required to wear during the pageant.




He rued that what started out as just a fun way of raising easy funds for many groups has now degenerated into a money-making venture for organizers, often at the expense of women desperate to gain recognition.

His decision was largely supported by members of his alliance, but he also had detractors who accused him of high-handedness and hypocrisy.

Selomenio just shrugs off this criticism, saying he does not have the power to wage an all-out campaign against all beauty contests.

“Hindi ko naman sinasabi na stop na ang lahat ng mga beauty contest dahil wala naman akong karapatan na sabihin iyon. Kaya nga ako nagtataka kung bakit galit na galit sila sa akin, kasi nasa sa kanila na iyon kung gusto nilang ituloy. Basta yung aming grupo, stop na talaga.”

But what Labatt dela Torre called as Selomenio’s brave and heroic stance appears to be fast gaining adherents. At least one other big OFW organization, Mindanao Federation,  has pledged support for banning beauty fests, while a group of Christian pastors is said to be in the process of issuing a public statement calling out those who organize such contests.

Even the Consulate is reportedly mulling a way to express disapproval, though in a more subtle way. Sources say that when officers or staff are invited to a Filcom event in future, organizers will be asked if a beauty contest is included in the program. If it is, they will decline the invitation.

REACTION OF CYNTHIA ABDON-TELLEZ ON THE WANCHAI SLEAZE FEST:
Mahaba pa ang tatahakin para makita ng mga kababaihan kung paano silang nasasamantala, at ito ang sinasamantala ng mga organizers ng ganitong patimpalak. Sampal ito sa prestihiyo at dignindad ng mga kababaihan. Naniniwala akong mas may kakayahan pang kayang patunayan ang mga kababaihang sumali rito na di hamak na higit pa sa kung paanong magpakita ng katawan upang mang-akit lamang. May mga utak silang pwede pang hubugin sa mas produktibong gawain. Skills na pwedeng higit pang sanayin. Pero higit sa lahat, ang katotohanan sa event na ito ay sadsad ang pagkatao ng kung sino man ang nagpatimpalak nito. I strongly condemn whoever sponsored this.

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