Backdoor

The Philippines is known for its vast oceans and rich culture. But despite these natural riches, poverty and unemployment remain. And where hunger exists, desperation follows. In Tawi-Tawi, an island province off the Sulu Sea, a boatman hopes for a clear sky to be able to earn from famished families as he sneaks them illegally into Malaysia. Maki Pulido heads to the island to learn the hopes and dreams of the passengers who brave the violent sea to leave the country that they feel has forgotten them. Agriculture and fishing are the leading source of livelihood of the islanders. Because of the minimal income it produces, a large number of the province has either set foot or has plans of working in Malaysia as illegal aliens. With the island’s porous borders, almost each day, a small boat transports twenty to thirty hopefuls to Sabah. For only P1,500 each, they get a ticket to opportunity, or so they believe. Men, women and their children are cramped inside the boat that is only meant for at least half their number, risking their lives for an uncertain life in another country. With only the clothes on their back and their dreams intact, the team of Reporter’s Notebook witnessed their unforgettable journey to an imagined new life. The trip starts in the morning so the Malaysian border will be reached at night. This way, its lawmen will be evaded. If caught, those who entered through the backdoor will be thrown in jail. Worse, the men claim that their body will be branded to symbolize their crime. Throughout the seven-hour ordeal, men scoop water out of the boat as mothers wrap their infants in sarongs to lessen the coldness of the dampened cloth. Most of these natives travel with no food or money and not a single document that proves their identity. They penetrate Sabah quietly in the night as ghosts hoping to find solace in a foreign land. Most of the time, the boatman stops a few meters short from the shore, requiring the passengers to swim towards it. Sadly, after a few years, three-fourths of the passengers Reporter’s Notebook was able to film will be deported back to the Philippines. But many of them will be planning their next trip right after their homecoming.