International Transactions: Dinner by candle light

Friday, February 16, 2007

Dinner by candle light

Mel to Bern: cellphone text message sent on Feb 15 at 21:57, Filipino time: It's hard to move to my house; [I have] no light, also no food, Bern. It's very dark in here. But gladly I have 1 candle and I'm having coffee and bread [for] my dinner. [I] hope you and Alice are OK. [Received on Feb 16 at 13:39:51, Australian Eastern time].

Tina: 16/02/2007 (09:40:26): Bern, good morning, we don't have classes today because [we are] celebrating Chinese New Year until Monday.

Bern to Tina (13:41:51): Hello. Mel says he has no light and no food. PLEASE ask Jovs to TAKE food to Mel immediately then report back to me. If Jovs can't, please do it yourself.

Tina (14:03:00): Good afternoon Bern, I and Jovs and little Bern will go to Magdpio [the village where Mel lives] now to bring food there.

Bern to Tina (14:06:26): Thanks very much for that. Also, [I'm] very interested to know who's living in [the] house [where Mel lives], using elec[tricity], what food they have etc. We have just paid huge OVERDUE rent bill here today.

Tina (19:00:30): Gud p.m. Bern, we [have] just return[ed] from Magdapio, we bring food there just for two of us, don't worry too much about Mel, he has electric power, he [was] just eating lunch when we arrived. [Received at 21:15:01, Australian Eastern time].

Tina (20:42:14): Nanay Josie was there, also the family of Jayson, Ramon [Josie's man friend] was always there in the house. According to Tita Mercy [a neighbour], Nanay Josie [is] washing clothes from their neighbor[s]; [this] serve[s] as their income. Jayson['s] work was getting coconut in the mountain to sale, sometimes [also] fruits.

Bern: Hi Christine, we just arrived home. Thanks very much for visiting Magdapio & getting news for me. I wonder when [Mel's] light was cut & when it was restored.

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Principal Actors

Aileen: wife of sickly Roque (sometimes bed-ridden) and a mother of three sons, one deceased in infancy. Because of medical expenses the family is hopelessly indebted to a bank. Aileen sometimes gave meals to Mel when he had no food.
Gilbert: son of Roberto and Anagel, aged 8 in May 2008, an outstanding pupil; in mid-2007 he underwent 6 months of treatment for pneumonia and tuberculosis.
Janice: wife of Jason and mother of Mae-Mae and Lin-Lin, aged about 6 years and 2 years respectively. Janice and Jason share rented bed-space in Manila and care for Lin-Lin. Mae-Mae lives with grand-parents in Pagsanjan.
Jayson, aka Jason: younger brother of Jovs, older brother of Mel, husband of Janice, with daughters Mae-Mae and Lin-Lin, formerly working over 75 hours per week in a Manila Internet cafe but being paid only a pittance.
Jester: an age-mate and friend of Mel "since they were babies" who often helped him, especially by making text messages possible when Mel was desperate.
Josie: wife of Melchor but living apart from him for years; formerly a close friend of Ramon; mother of Jovs, Jason, Mel and Anagel, chronically short of food. Tina sometimes gives her groceries.
Jovs: a security guard and former tricycle taxi operator, wayward husband of Tina and father of two-year-old Bernadeth-Joe; in early 2009 he finally abandoned his wife and child in favour of his mistress "Tintin."
Ken-Ken: eldest son of Roderic and Liza, who was at 6 years of age, in 2008, the youngest in his school class of 60 and at the top of the class academically.
Laurice: Tina's sister, wife of Lito and mother of Reo.
Lito: a security guard (despite having a serious hand injury), husband of Laurice, father of Reo.
Liza: sister of Tina and wife of Roderic, mother of Ken, Kert, and Kian. Liza gave birth to the third son after undergoing a difficult pregnancy in May 2007.
Mel: 23-year-old single man, younger brother of Jovs and Jayson, barely surviving in Manila on one meal per day. In early 2009, however, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines certified that he had successfully completed the first year of a computer technology course.
Melchor: separated husband of Josie, father of Jovs, Jason, Mel and Anagel, living in the hill-top village of San Antonio with a woman friend named Susan.
Ramon: a married man with children who formerly spent much time with Josie, impoverished mother of adult offspring Jovs, Jason, Mel and Anagel.
Reo: three-year-old son of Lito and Tina's sister Laurice.
Roderic: husband of Liza, father of Ken, Kert and Kian. For a long period Roderic lived and worked in Alabang city, apart from his wife and children. He had previously been ill with tuberculosis. In the early hours of January 1, 2010, Roderic was brutally murdered by two men who have become fugitives from justice.
Ross: a printer by trade, husband of Charito and father of four, living in a Metro Manila settlement comprised mainly of shanties.
Tina: a business-woman and college graduate, deserted wife of Jovs, chronically ill with a serious blood disease (ITP) since July 2006, but nonetheless working long and hard for the survival of several adults and 7 to 15 children in her household.
Tintin: aka Kristine, a woman living in San Isidro, mother of an infant daughter, mistress of married man Jovs, husband of Tina.

Glossary

ASAP: as soon as possible.
CBC: Complete Blood Count: a pathology test.
Dra: Doktora, i.e. female doctor.
ER: Emergency Room in a hospital.
GMT+08: Greenwich Mean Time + 8 hours; i.e. the time in the Philippines.
GMT+10: Greenwich Mean Time + 10 hours; i.e. the time in Brisbane, Australia.
ITP: Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, a bleeding disease.
Jollibee: the name of a chain of fast-food cafes: a Filipino equivalent of McDonalds.
LPH: Laguna Provincial Hospital in the town of Santa Cruz, Laguna.
NBI: National Bureau of Investigation.
OR: Operating Room in a hospital.
PGH: Philippine General Hospital, located in Ermita, Manila.
PHP: Philippine pesos.
platelets: blood cells that prevent bleeding; ITP patients have reduced numbers of them.
TB: tuberculosis.
Tuli: dorsal slitting of the foreskin, customarily performed on Filipino boys, mostly around the age of adolescence, supposedly as a sign of transition to manoood.