The ‘kasambahay’ deserves more from the boss

I refer to the “Highblood” column titled “My ‘Kasambahay’.” (Inquirer, 4/5/13). I must wonder what the point of the article is. Is the author praising her kasambahay or is she condemning her for asking for advances, or is she taking the opportunity to celebrate her own still-existent ability to do house chores?

The author speaks of having “trained” her kasambahay to do many new things so that she started to function as her “sous chef”; how she gave her a “generous raise” much higher than what is mandated by the Kasambahay Law (although I must wonder if she was also contributing benefits for her kasambahay as mandated by the law); as well as how she let her have a “relaxed” schedule and go off early, etc., etc. There is condescension throughout the article, revealing an attitude many middle-class Filipino families have toward their helpers—that they are doing their helpers a favor by giving them work, when, in fact, the relationship is a simple business transaction.

Helpers provide a service, for which they should be rightly paid for and given appropriate time off. No one is doing anyone any favors. Helpers are employees and should be treated professionally, not condescended too.

The author ruminates on what her kasambahay must feel like seeing her “well-stocked middle-class kitchen,” and talks about how her family eats only rice without ulam sometimes, but then takes umbrage at being asked for an advance, when she says that she expected their good relationship not to last, meaning, she anticipated she would be asked for one from the beginning. And is it so unusual to be asked for an advance, given that she herself observed (and stated) her kasambahay’s obvious need and poverty?

She ends by relating how her maid quit after being denied an advance, and how she now “refuses to concede defeat” and performs her own chores. Concede defeat to whom? The kasambahay who will obviously ask for advances here and there, because the Kasambahay Law mandates a basic salary of only around P2,000+ a month, hardly enough to feed her family of four children? I think the kasambahay is the one who is defeated here.

I look forward to a time in Filipino society when women will no longer have to serve as maids to the middle class, and will no longer be the subject of condescension—that they are being done favors for being “given” the opportunity to clean the toilet and fold underwear. They may be doing blue-collar work, but it is still work. And just as the so-called professionals demand just pay and benefits, and most importantly, respect for what they do, so must we extend this to the people doing the “dirty” work we spoilt middle-class Manileños do not deign to do ourselves.

—AJEET-VICTOR S. PANEMANGLOR

ajeetpanemanglor@gmail.com