"Forget Prince Charming. I'll take the wolf." - Emily the Strange

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

The New White House Executive Chef

I don't really know what I'm thinking by posting this but I thought this piece of info is kind of interesting. I was, as usual, watching the news over the internet (I know, it's kind of oxymoronic) when I came across the clip about the new White House Executive Chef. Surprisingly, the one appointed to the job is a naturalized American citizen named Cristeta Comerford. I initially thought that it must be a Filipina because who else in the world would dare name their kid Cristeta? Turns out, I was right. The reporter mentioned at the end of the reportage that she was born in the Philippines.

I did some further research and found out that she was a Food Tech graduate from UP, worked in Vienna (Austria), two hotels in Washington and was employed as an Assistant Chef at the White House for 10 years. What I'm not sure of though, is why she left the country. With the family name that she now carries, by virtue of deductive reasoning, points to the conclusion that she married a foreigner.

This is definitely good news as it shows some of the best people, professionals at that, that the Philippines can offer. On the other hand, it also deeply saddens me as it somehow gives me the impression that it indirectly points to the problem of not having enough jobs, or it there is - they're usually not of good quality, in the country since I could remember.

Back in grade school, the phrase "brain drain" stuck in my head before I could even fully grasp the meaning behind the concept. Just last month, I was able to read a Time magazine article that heralds migrant workers as the Philippines' biggest export, surpassing material things such as electronic goods by such a wide margin.

With the current situation that the Philippines is facing - polical instability, oil price hike followed by the price increase of basic commodities - I can't blame people for wanting to bail and live somewhere else on another part of the world. In fact, our company driver, Kuya Edgar, is counting the days until his girlfriend flies to Washington to be a school teacher. My friend Lea will be flying to the United States by next month and all of us in our high school posse are assuming that we'll probably never see her again. My other friend Cher, also from my high school posse, is fixing her papers to work in the States as an Occupational Therapist.

Tsk, tsk, tsk...what'll happen to the Philippines if everybody leaves? I can't help but think about the general populace who will suffer because of the lack of primary caregivers (such as nurses), teachers and the like as all of them have already migrated to the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, New Zealand or the Middle East.


1 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

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1:12 AM

 

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