Businessmen
want to stop peso

Many of us may find ourselves confused. While the government has been crowing about the drop of the dollar-peso exchange rate, exporters are now asking the Bangko Sentral to stop further appreciation of the peso vis-à-vis the dollar.

Still to be heard from are the families of Overseas Filipino Workers who, since they are not organized, must be muttering under their breath about the plunge in the exchange rate.

As many would contend, what is good for the gander is not necessarily the best for the goose. The problem is simple. A family receives $1,000 from overseas. They used to have this changed to P55,000. Now, that drops to only P50,000. That's a clear loss of P5,000.

The same with exported products. A businessman earns $1 million which is converted into P55 million. But when he has to buy locally-sourced materials for his export products, he is equipped with P5 million less.

That is just a simple explanation for the current hullabaloo about the peso. And why so many are starting to ask that the former exchange rate be held as the ideal.

Well, as they often point out - what is good in this is that we see a situation in the economic field as double-edged.

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We join the Singaporeans in lauding the two Filipina domestic workers who were picked from among thousands of foreign workers to be honored for their exemplary performance as household helpers.

The two are Elizabeth Yanos Quiatchon, 38, named Singapore's "Foreign Domestic Worker of the Year."

The other was Marina Bayabay Garcia who placed third and an award of $1,200 or P39,600.

Ms. Quiatchon won a cash prize of $2,500 or the equivalent of P82,500.

It is not the cash gifts that count. The award recognized their dedicated service to their families whom they had cared for. In the case of Ms. Quiatchon, she has served the Loke Lai Kuen family for 19 years. Garcia, on the other hand, had been employed by the Mae Heng family for six years.

But there is the other side of the story. While serving 19 years her employers' family, Ms. Quiatchon, must have missed her own family. So with Ms. Garcia for six years.

Somehow, we may have overlooked the pain of separation from their families by the two housemaids. All because they had to earn the money for them. That, perhaps, is the human suffering that we could focus our attention on as we contemplate the heroic examples of both Ms. Quiatchon and Ms. Garcia.

And, perhaps, that should make us help improve our economic situation so that mothers, sisters, and parents will not henceforth be forced to abandon their loved ones to work abroad just so they could earn enough to support their loved ones left behind.

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Another beautiful story is the death of Dana Reeve, 44, the singer-actress widow of the late Superman star Christopher Reeve.

She stands out as a long-suffering and faithful wife. An American in her milieu, she could have easily divorced him when Reeve got paralyzed after a spinal injury in horse-back riding.

Instead, she stayed by his side as her husband's constant companion and devoted herself to help him search for a cure for spinal cord injuries. When Reeve purportedly proposed euthanasia "Maybe we should let me go," she boldly told him - "I'll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You're still you and I love you."

That stands out as heroic words of undying loyalty. The protestations of love from a wife who had sworn to be with her husband "for better or for worse, in health and in sickness, till death do us part."

How many of us prefer suffering rather than liberating ourselves from the need to devote ourselves to our spouses when they fall ill or suffer a lingering illness.

Most of us run away from the Cross. We don't accept discomfort pain, or suffering. We always want to avoid them. Yet, that is exactly what God wants from us - "if you want to be called my disciples, take up your cross and follow me" - were words from the Savior.

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That reminded me of my late wife. Dr. Lourdes L. Espina and her more than a year and a half lingering ailment due to a cerebral stroke.

I told our catechist then that gave me time to make up for all the neglect of the past years of our 40-year marriage.

"No, that's never the intention of the Lord. He just wants you to show your love for her and to live up to your marital vows for better or for worse, in health and in sickness, till death do you part."*

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