My Family's Slave by Lola's story Alex Tizon

It's shocking. It took me sometime to process the story because I have never ever heard of slavery in Philippine culture. I know that it's common for people to have domestic workers, but I always thought it's typical of any developing nation with a large population of poor people. But those people are all paid. I'm starting to think that this story isn't as common as the author leads the audience to believe. For instance, there were very few visas awarded to Filipinos that allowed a housekeeper - back then, there were very few visas given overall. The Philippine migration to the US came in very controlled waves. 

The story is fascinating and tragic, but it offers a intimate and important look into slavery. I only wish that the author didn't write it in a way that lead the reader to believe that this kind of treatment is common in the Philippines.

This link talks about the different reactions about the story. Westerners are appalled (why did it take the author 20 years to help Lola), while Filipinos feel that the story honored Lola. It also mentions underpaid workers as the modern equivalent of slavery, but Alez Tizon's story was outright slavery minus the visible chains.

https://qz.com/985614/the-atlantics-...tern-backlash/

According to The Global Slavery Index, an annual study of world-wide slavery conditions by country published by the Walk Free Foundation, Philippines ranks 33 out of 167.

https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/philippines/

Not surprised AT ALL.

Here's a similar case only a few years ago. This publications is actually written by ICE lol (because they were deported back to the Philippines). Notice that in both cases these are educated Filipinos ha. LOL Imagine how lesser educated Filipinos act like. 
https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/wi...ed-philippines

I'm surprised this (I'm linking) didn't get as much as attention as this later one.

Also if you actually keep up with ongoings in Filipino-America, there's a bunch of examples on the West Coast of Pinoys using TnT's (illegal immigrants) close to slavery in California/elsewhere.

Filpinos are really primitive in many cases. I'm not even gonna hold back because it's real. I can guarantee you that in the next few years we will uncover more of these kind of cases in America via Filipino immigrants.

Thank you Filipinos for this fascinating story.
Alex Tizon had good writing skill.
Slavery is still a common practice not only in the Philipines but all over the world: Asia, Africa, USA, Europa, Middle East...

Until the early 1990s, in Vietnam, slavery was common. Peasants were starving so they send us their daughters. They can't pay for the food and of course, for high school. My father came back frome the village and bring 6 girls, about 12, in Hanoi. So I can say: "2 girls was gived to me."

 

 Quote

Oshin is based on the fictional biography of a Japanese woman, modeled after the mother of Kazuo Wada, a Japanese businessman who created Yaohan, a Japanese supermarket chain. The structure of the story was developed through a collection of anonymous letters assembled by Sugako Hashida (橋田壽賀子? Hashida Sugako). "It is the untellable past of a woman of the Meiji period, composed right on her deathbed," Hashida said. "I felt that the telling of her hardships while serving as an apprentice and being sold at a brothel was an obligation our generation needed to honor."

So in Vietnam, we use to call Oshin these girls who worked only for some food (Some times, a little pocket money).