Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Rally for Easy Money

Went to work yesterday with a shirt a bit wrinkled... I am not quite that expert in ironing. It just so happened that our labandera (laundrywoman) wasn't able to come. She launders our clothes on Mondays and comes back the next day for ironing. For some strange reason, she wasn't able to call or text (yes, she has her own mobile phone).
This morning was a relief. She came in with a story that left me in awe...well, if you'd describe it that way.

The reason why she wasn't able to come yesterday was because she had to 'attend' a rally re: the impeachment of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Batasang Pambansa. My mom reacted and asked why the hell does she had to attend that rally. The answer was.. "Ma'am, kasi may bayad na P100.00 para dalawang oras lang" (Ma'am, they pay P100.00 just for 2 hours of rallying). Apparently yesterday, there was a 'recruiter' at their place recruiting 150 people to join the rally for a hundred bucks, complete with merienda (snack)-- juice and hamburger-- and two trucks to charter them to and back. Our labandera has been doing that eversince... I remember the time when I was still in retail and was assigned in Robinson's Galleria-- that was when there was a big big rally in favor of Erap at the Shrine(then Pres. Joseph Estrada) It was the year when he was replaced by GMA. There were lots of people in the mall and grocery with crispy P500.oo bills. Hmmm....

So to make the story short, our labandera, who earns P300.00 per day for her services, made P300.00 (she was with her two kids) yesterday for just 2 hours, basking under the sun, attending a rally for GMA's impeachment. Sheesh! Well, easy money, that is...

4 comments:

Unknown said...

jeesh and all this time I thought they were really supporting their group.

Anonymous said...

Yeh.. it's actually business for some. Most of the rallyist come from the lower classes...who have every moment to spare. I don't think they would spend for customized tshirts and big banners. It's plainly business.

Yang said...

Thanks for the comments. It's business alright and a profitable one at that! So sad. But our labandera's not complaining.

Doris said...

That is an amazing situation. I am saddened to hear that some, or is it many?, people attend these rallies only because they are paid to do so. It makes a mockery of it all. I am sure there are those who attend because they want to must be pretty furious at those who are there for the money. And where does the money come from and how can someone afford to pay for this... just smells of corruption.

I have to agree with Vicki... you have a brilliant blog here with so many different things to talk about :-)