In the box-office hit film Hello, Love, Goodbye, Kathryn Bernardo played Joy, an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) forced to make ends meet as a domestic helper in Hong Kong.
Instead of pursuing her ambitions as a nurse in Canada, Joy was forced to settle with a job that barely puts food on her family’s table.
This scene resurfaced online after the coronavirus pandemic caused President Rodrigo Duterte to declare an enhanced community quarantine for the entirety of Luzon. The quarantine entails a halt in transportation, limiting the movements of “no work no pay” employees in the country.
“This represents the poor Filipinos right now,” Twitter user @jerome_twt said.
In the clip, Joy opened up to her fellow OFW, played by Alden Richards.
“Nagagalit ako kasi parang wala akong choice na kailangan ko gawin ‘to kasi kailangan ko ng trabaho kasi wala kaming pera para sa pamilya ko. Kaya lahat kahit na ayoko, lulunukin ko na lang. Ang choice para lang sa may pera,” she said.
The scene captures the predicament working Filipinos are in, especially now that they are criticized for leaving their homes to feed their families. Like Joy, they have no choice but to go against the tide to survive another day.
