Kasambahay: Part of the family, they help us survive and succeed

Part of a series on women this month. March is Women’s Role in History Month in the Philippines.

 

Gay Miraflores wakes up at 5 a.m. to get breakfast ready for my younger daughter Erika before she leaves for school. Gay then prepares my breakfast and sees me off to work. All this while getting her son Ryu, 8, ready for class at a nearby public elementary school.

Gay comes home, cooks lunch for herself, Ryu, and my eldest daughter Alex, feeds our animals (three dogs, anywhere from six to eight outdoor cats, four ducks, and three indoor cats), buys vegetables and fruits at the wet market and canned food and meat at a supermarket.

She does the laundry, sweeps the yard, irons clothes, mops the floors, scrubs the bathroom, and sprays insecticide in the bedrooms before we come home from work and school.

But housework isn’t all she does. Roof and ceiling leaking? She finds a karpintero and supervises his work. Toilet not working? She taps into her social network of kapitbahay and fellow mothers at Ryu’s school to find a tubero. I want my bedroom painted a different color, or a built-in bookshelf made? She’s got the workmen’s numbers on her cellphone. “Isang text ko lang, ate, bukas may gagawa na niyan.”

She also does secretarial and messengerial work. Deposit money, pay bills, deliver documents and packages? She’s on it, with time to spare.

One of the family

The roles our house helpers play in our lives may be vital and pivotal, but we often take them for granted. More than just people who do the chores, house helpers allow us to become productive in our careers. By taking over household duties, they free us to work in offices, take up hobbies, travel. Living with them in close proximity, sharing our troubles and joys, they may even be considered part of the family.

The reason Gay entered domestic work is the usual: poverty. She was born in Davao to parents who were unable to provide her with an education beyond second year high school. As an adult, she led a hard life, with mistakes along the way and lessons learned.

Gay, 38, made her way to Manila 12 years ago, determined to find a better life. She settled for working for me. It was her first time to enter domestic service and I had to train her to do her chores properly. She was a fast learner.

Soon after she arrived, she pulled me through a painful separation and eventual annulment. While I was getting back on my feet, she refused to take her salary for three months until I got a better job. She supervised our packing and transfer to another apartment while I stayed at the office to make enough money for food.

Later she fell in love, left us to live with the guy, had a son, left the guy after the usual infidelities on his part, the same old story for many of us women. In the aftermath, she returned to me with Ryu, who was then a baby, in tow.  

Times are better for us now, but her needs remain modest and mostly focused on her son. Her only pasalubong request on my next travel? “Ate, pabili lang ng Vitamin C chewable para kay Ryu. Kahit wala ka nang ibang bilhin para sa amin, iyon lang para hindi siya magkasakit.”

Her biggest ambition is to see her son living a better life than she is. “Sana makatapos si Ryu at magkaroon ng magandang trabaho.”

She sees herself staying with me until our old age, or with either of my daughters. That makes her no longer an employee, but a member of our family. “Sino pa ang mag-aalaga sa inyo kung hindi ako? Alam ko nang lutuin lahat ng peborit na pagkain niyo.”

In her spare time, she takes walks around the neighborhood (she’s a great people person), updates her Facebook page, and takes a lot of selfies.

Kasambahays' rights

Quite likely Gay’s circumstances are different from most household workers, many of whom are overworked, underpaid, and in some cases maltreated and abused. Recognizing this, lawmakers gave protection to domestic helpers through Republic Act No. 10361, or the Kasambahay Law.

It was signed into law on 18 January 2013 and institutes policies for the protection and welfare of domestic workers. Among other things, it provides a set minimum wage as well as SSS, Philhealth, and Pag-Ibig benefits.

Read: What you should know about the Kasambahay Law

Employers are also required by this law to allow house helpers eight hours of rest a day, one day off a week, at least three meals a day, humane sleeping arrangements, and assistance in case of injury or illness.

These are basic human rights and common sense would dictate that we treat kasambahays with fairness and dignity even without this law, yet sadly, common sense isn’t all that common. The public should be aware of this law, and its proper implementation should also be a priority of the authorities.

Beyond the employer-employee relationship, I consider Gay a friend and, together with my daughters, we form a community of women that nurture each other, foster our survival, and raise Ryu with respect for women.

What we have learned from each other is that women have the power to live their lives as they choose and create their own worlds. — BM, GMA News