beh buti nga, pero wag mo akuin lahat ng sisi (serves you right, but don’t cop all the blame)

[ although based on facts, this post is 99% feelings and illogical reactions and is also written in Taglish (Tagalog + English). thank you for reading, maraming maraming salamat! ] ANG DAMI MONG PINAIYAK na asawa ng temporary visa holder (work visa, student visa and working holiday visa) nung sinabi mo nung 2018 na kailangan na nilang mag-qualify sa sarili nilang skills, at di na pwedeng manirahan sa NZ porke’t work visa holder ang asawa. Buti na lang at naglagay ng exception mga spouse visa holder before 2018. Pero andami pa ring galit sa yo. Andami ring halos mabaliw-baliw nung sinabi mong dahil sa bagong three-year stand-down period, kailangan nang umuwi ang mga earning below $25.50 dahil ito ay considered unskilled, kahit na kailangang-kailangan sila ng employer at walang gagawa ng trabaho nila. Wala kang pakialam. Lastly, sinabi mo sa mga stranded work visa holder sa labas ng NZ na baka wala na yung mga jobs na ginagawa nila bago magpandemic, at yung mga “gaps” o labor shortage na dating umiiral sa NZ ay napuno na ng mga New Zealander. In short, wag na kayong bumalik. So walang umiyak or nalungkot nung pinatalsik ka ng Prime Minister dahil sa isang extramarital affair  o karelasyon na isang staffer or empleyado sa ilalim mo. PM Jacinda said she wasn’t basing her decision on morals, but on trust. Nonsense. What her decision was based was almost purely on POLITICAL considerations, mawalang-galang na po. With the elections less than three months away, what was thought to be a victory lap for the incumbent Labour Government is actually closer than many think. The looming intergenerational debt created by covid19, the lack of results in housing, and the quality of life that was promised did not materialize. *****     *****     ***** Sa kabila ng lahat, kahit personal kong ipinagdiwang ang pagsipa kay kagalang-galang Iain, alam ko ang realidad. He is only a mouthpiece or voice of the Coalition’s immigration policy. Every time Government changes the rules, every time Government makes it harder for migrants, and every time Government breaks our hearts and denies us the migrant dream, it’s NOT Iain Lees-Galloway. Or at least, it’s not just him. He just happens to be the one we see on TV, talking to media, and reading out the words that prevent us from realizing our goal: permanent residency, and being accepted as New Zealanders. Pero di lang yon. Wag nating kalimutan na ang pagtalsik or pagsipa kay now ex-Immigration Minister Lees-Galloway ay di tamang pagsukat ng kanyang pagkatao. Magnifying lens of campaign season. Oo nga at nagtaksil sya. At oo nga at matagal nya itong tinago sa kanyang boss (si Prime Minister), ang kanyang partido at ang kayang pinaglilingkuran. But the truth is, attention wouldn’t be so focused on the issue of being a good example to all if it weren’t the election season. if both major political parties weren’t so desperate for clinging on to or regaining power, neither party would be acting so righteous, and desperate for getting both the good side and attention of the media. Because at least during the election season, the good side and attention of the media is equal to the good side and attention of the New Zealand public. Tao ka lang, to err is human and to forgive is divine. It’s really bad when you’ve had an affair with a staffer, worse when a lot of people in Parliament have known about it for some time. But to belabor the point: sino ang di nagkamali sa haba ng buhay? To be sure it’s a major lapse of judgment, and public officials in high positions are rightfully subjected to a higher standard of acting decently, but we have forgiven people who have done shockingly more. Like we said earlier, we’re no fan of the good minister, ex-minister now, and ex Member of Parliament soon. But if we were to condemn him to the same degree as those officials who scoff at obvious conflicts of interest, who have no respect for the people they serve, and who take advantage of exceptions to the law,  it would be hypocrisy. We all make mistakes, and the man, who is like all of us, imperfect, deserves a second chance. Just not now. Bottom line. The bottom line is, Iain Lees-Galloway was a hard worker, and he had talent. He worked in immigration and labour for the Labour Party for 10 years. He was the Immigration and Workplace Relations minister-in-waiting for so long, he could give you the party’s policies in his sleep. He had the talent to articulate and develop them, and he had a bright future as a public official. Because to repeat, he worked hard, and he had talent. Hopefully, people will remember him more for the good than the bad. Which is not unlikely. The next time Iain Lees-Galloway gets to a position of power (and he deserves it), hopefully he will look at migrants and migrant workers with a kinder eye. And he probably will, because he will have done so from the outside looking in, which migrants are used to, all the time. Thanks for reading, mabuhay!