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Lamentations

“Remember, O Lord, what has happened to us. Look at us and see our disgrace.” — Lamentations 5:1

Filipino Migrant Workers

Our Filipino migrant workers are considered modern-day heroes. They are the ones giving life to our dying economy by remitting billions of dollars every year. But while it is true that they are helping a lot in improving our economic life in general and of their own respective families in particular, the sacrifices and sufferings they have to bear in order to earn those dollars seemed to be a lot heavier.

It is important for us to acknowledge the unselfish contributions of Filipino migrant workers to our life as a nation. But we must also remind ourselves that it is our Christian duty to understand their miseries, their alienations, hopes and dreams. The recent killings and abuses against Filipino migrant workers in distant lands disturb our collective conscience as a people, even as their relatives and friends lament bitterly over the tragic fate of their loved ones.

Babylonian Captivity

Sometime in the year 586 before the coming of Christ, the Babylonians captured the Kingdom of Judah, particularly the city of Jerusalem. They looted and destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. The leaders were exiled in Babylon while others were left behind helpless and held captives in their own native land.

The Book of Lamentations pictures to us the sufferings and difficulties of a people living in their own land controlled by a foreign power. Chapter Five shows us the pain, shame and disgrace experienced by a people. Because they were captives in their own land, they were forced to give their properties to the Babylonians who became their masters by force. The Babylonians even took over the houses they built for themselves, symbolic of their whole life.

In order for the Babylonians to get what they wanted they killed the fathers of the community. Killing the fathers of the community would mean the great loss of identity and the shattering of the foundations of their history as a people. It would also mean that they would be left with the concrete problem of taking care of the widows and orphans who were considered the poorest among the poor in their community.

Their leaders who were supposed to be the sign of God’s presence and deliverance became collaborators of the Babylonians. This gave birth to more serious problems. Murderers from neighboring territories took advantage in plundering their countryside. Hunger became so acute. Those in power desecrated family life. The few who had the courage to preserve the integrity and dignity of life for the community were either killed or humiliated. And the coming generation on whom the hope of deliverance could be laid would never be given such opportunity, because their backs were broken too early.

However, towards the end of Chapter Five, it says, “But you, O Lord, are king forever, and will rule to the end of time.” Uttered in the midst of almost unbearable suffering and grim hopelessness, this prayer of lament was an affirmation that God indeed chooses and empowers a suffering and victimized people to put into life and action God’s act of redemption. So that even if they could no longer celebrate life as they did before, they still had the trust and confidence in the God who takes the side of the exploited and the victimized.

A Message for us

What does the Book of Lamentations say to us, especially in relation to our Filipino migrant workers? We realize that the experiences of the Israelites during their Babylonian captivity are repeated in our own experiences as a people.

Lamentations shows us first of all that the phenomenon of Filipino migrant workers could be traced to the fact that our country’s economy is in the hands of foreign powers. The Israelites said in their prayer of lament, “Our properties are in the hands of the strangers; foreigners are living in our homes…to get food enough the stay alive, we went begging to Egypt and Assyria.”

Does this not describe the situation of most Filipino migrant workers today? Whenever we ask people why they prefer to leave their families behind and work abroad, they have only one answer: Our country is not giving them the opportunity to get enough food in order for them and their families to stay alive.

Now, we may ask, why is our country not giving them the opportunity? Like the Israelites, the answer would be: “Our properties are in the hands of strangers; foreigners are living in our homes.” What industry in our country, for instance, is not under the control of foreign interests?

A nationalist economist, Alejandro Lichauco, is right when he said that our economic policy that is export-oriented and foreign-dependent has turn our beautiful land into a nation of domestic helpers and professional mendicants.

Moreover, the Book of Lamentations also shows us that in order to restore our dignity as a people, we have to return to the Lord. Lamentations 5:20 says, “Bring us back to you, Lord! Bring us back! Restore our ancient glory!” Returning to the Lord would mean restoring our identity as a people.

When the Israelites returned to the Lord, they had to do away with all foreign control and influences, and claimed their identity as a people the covenant. Like the Israelites, restoring our identity as a people would also mean we have to claim our genuine freedom to chart our own destiny as a people, no longer dictated by the international powers-that-be. For as long as we cannot stand on our own feet as a nation economically, the problem of Filipino migrant workers will always be with us. #

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