Retirement haven or hell?

As one of the many Filipinos married to a foreigner, I am particularly sensitive to matters that affect foreigners in the Philippines, particularly their safety and security. As a Christian, I take to heart the repeated reminders of God in the Bible:

Exodus 22:21 – “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.”

Leviticus 19: 33 – “Do not mistreat foreigners who are living in your land. Treat them as you would a fellow Israelite and love them as you love yourselves. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

I can quote many other verses all the way to the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I might already be preaching to the choir, as they say. Another reason I’m sensitive to the plight of foreigners in the Philippines is because we are the most present “foreign population” globally.

From OFWs, immigrants, TNTs now living in fear of the Trump forces to nurses in the UK, Japan, etc., there are millions upon millions of Filipinos living as aliens abroad. I was once one of them and I benefitted from the kindness as well as experienced the discrimination and exploitation.

Today, let me share the sentiments and pain experienced by one of many Koreans who was evicted from Camp John Hay by the BCDA.

“Ten years ago there were more Koreans living in Baguio. Now there are less because of bad coverage in media about Koreans being targeted by some Filipinos. This will only add more to the bad horror stories that Koreans have been having in the Philippines.

“So why can’t we just turn around and make this a good story where Korean rights were protected, and we can go around and tell other people to come to the Philippines. My wife is Filipina so of course I want the Philippines to be better and richer. My daughter is half Filipina, of course I want the Philippines to be a better country.

“So why can’t we make this into a good example where if a Korean person asked me and say I want to invest in the Philippines, I want to retire there, should I go? What can I tell them? Of course I’ll tell them No! Even though I married a Filipina, and my child is Filipina.

“The government will steal your money, and they will not respect your rights. The sheriffs, even though they are supposed to come after 30 days, they will not respect it. They will turn off water and electricity every single day.

“Why should I lie to my own countrymen? I will talk to them honestly. So, I hope this can become a good example, whenever there is bad news in Korea about the Philippines, I can tell then ‘no, that’s not what happened” if they followed the due legal process.

“‘The Philippine government will listen to you. They are fair.’ That is what I want to say to my daughter and my wife and to other Korean people. But from what I saw now, I cannot say that.

“Everyone does not want to be evicted from their home. No country can stand safe if all the citizens are afraid that the police may show up just like what happened to us. Our child was locked in the room, and they sealed the room and I’m not able to enter my own house where my child is.

“Who wants to live in a country like that? Who wants to live in a country where 20 policemen can one day show up and evict you? No society can be healthy that way. So I believe the more people find this out, and if the President (PBBM) and the Mayor (Benjie Magalong) and the reporters help us, we have a good chance.

“No one wants to live in a country where they can be evicted with their child in 24 hours. No one wants to live in that country.”

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When asked by media what the Philippine Retirement Agency was doing, Eric Pati, who heads PRA-DOT CAR-Northern Luzon, stated:

“The prime mandate of the PRA is to entice foreigners, foreign retirees and Filipino retirees to come to the Philippines and make the Philippines as their second home.

“Part of our prime mandate is to protect and assist our retiree members.

“Our target is to make the Philippines the first-place retirement haven in Southeast Asia and hopefully these kind of issues will be resolved and to get rid of the negative impact – multiplier effect when they go home and then they will tell of the horrible experiences they had. It will really affect the retirement industry one way or the other.

“The PRA is one of the top government agencies contributing to the national treasury because of our foreign retirees. So, with this present issue, though we respect the decision of the highest tribunal in the land, of course there will be a negative impact.

“If these affected foreign retirees will go home, they would tell stories, there’s no permanency there and everything, it would defeat our purpose of promoting the retirement industry of the Philippines. That’s why all of us in the PRA are worried about the situation.

“It will reverse or overturn the efforts to entice. That’s why management is now on top of the situation, reading posts on Facebook and why we will be meeting all our retirees (under PRA) who are affected.”

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What if K-pop and Korean telenovela stars start commenting on this miscarriage of justice in the Philippines? That would hit us 100 times harder!

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Email: utalk2ctalk@gmail.com