Maritess: A reflection of a Filipino overseas worker's plight

I have just finished watching Rex Navarrete's short clip "Maritess and Superfriends," courtesy of rexnavarrete.com. And to tell you frankly I can't remember how many times I have viewed this clip, and it has never ceased to make me laugh. Being in the office (where I'm supposed to be working), I was having a really hard time suppressing my laughter while viewing the 7 minute video. But sure enough I was able to handle it well partly because my cubicle's just infront of my shift supervisor's...whew!

The story follows a woman named Maritess, who is in pursuit of landing a high-paying job abroad. Following her endless job search in the newspaper, Maritess was able to secure a job as a maid for the Superfriends in their very own Hall of Justice. From the time she was picked up by Wonderwoman in her hometown Zamboanga to being caught by Aquaman cooking his pet fish, Maritess chronicled the life of a typical overseas Filipino worker--leaving her family behind to keep her dream of having a better future, and enduring all the possible sufferings that one could imagine in the hands of her employer.

As the story slowly unfolds, Maritess shared her insights not only about her being in an abused situation but also the Filipino immigration law, the isolation she felt, and how the so called "superfriends" are not super friends at all.

Although Navarrete managed to pull the clip with a fun concept through the use of animation and commendable voice over, one can simply never overlook the underlying issue that have been right in our face for such a long time--the plight of our very own overseas Filipino workers, who are relentlessly working hard in pursuit of earning higher salaries to send back to their families that cannot be earned in our country.

Maritess' tale is just one of the many troubling stories that reflects the realistic experiences that many domestic helpers had endured and is still enduring in the hands of their employers. Nonetheless, it can also be assumed that what Maritess have experienced is just a portion of the hardships that many of our "kababayan's" abroad had suffered and are still suffering.

While there are various government and non-government activities intended to give recognition to our so called "mga bagong bayani," are these enough to somehow lift the burden that our "kababayan's" have suffered? Or is such namesake just a namesake as is? "Mga bagong bayani" and then what? None right? And they would still have to return abroad to once again endure the pain of not being in their homes while their children slowly grow estranged to them, and not being able to save up for themselves so that they can have something to live with by the time that the lights are slowly closing in on them.

Maritess' story can make you laugh--hard. But no pun intended, her experiences is a clear reverberation of an issue that was and is still in existent to date. And one question will always remain, when will they come home?

(Note: I do apologize if I cannot display the video but you can watch the clip here and here).