Maid in the Philippines

When we were young... both my parents worked so the only option was to hire a maid to clean the house and cook for us... there were those who were very nice but some were really nasty... but we appreciated all the work and help they gave us... Now that i have my own family... i prefer to just hire someone to clean the apartment once a week... since i leave my daughter at my in-laws home everytime i go to work... I have relatives who worked abroad as a domestic helper... and i can say that i am proud of them because they did an honest to goodness work...

yes, maids in the philippines are important not just in the house but also in our economy...we shouldn't under estimate or look down on them.

You have a keen and yet funny observation about the maids here in the Philippines.:-) They all love to watch Tagalog movies in Cinema One channel. In addition to that they enjoy watching Wowowee and Eat Bulaga. Now there is a new show on tv,that our helpers love to watch, The show entitled, "It's Showtime"

I'm not Filipino, but, I do have a housekeeper that the state has allowed me to have since I'm on Disability. Technically, the state refers to them as caregivers, but, I call mine my housekeeper. Her name is Lupita and I'm always referring to her as an angel. She does so much for me. She cleans for me, cooks for me, takes me to the store and doctor appointments. I would be so lost without her. She is originally from Mexico, but, has lived in the U.S. for many, many years. Her English is not that good, so, it affords me practice of my Spanish. I'm learning so much from her. I've even helped her on ocassion. Right now her husband isn't working regularly and these past few months I've given her money to help pay the rent and, through many of my paid programs online I've given her some gift certificates to help buy her son underclothes and socks. Before Lupita, her daughter, Raquel (Rachel) worked for me AND before Raquel, Lupita's neice, Teresa, worked for me. Years ago when one of Teresa's daughter had her quincenera I was invited and I even helped Teresa with some of the shopping and one night went to her home to help her put together the table pieces for the event. They are very good people and I'm proud to know them. Even though they're not Filipino.............. LOL! Purrs, Catwoman=^..^= & Mija

I used to have maids when my kids were young and I was a working mom, but I do not treat them as maids, they are like any member of my family. Sometimes I would even feel that they were my boss because if they say they have to take a vacation I can not say a word but to let them go because I hate to change my maid every now and then. It's a waste of time teaching a new maid from the other and it bores me. But now that my kids are old enough to take of themselves, I stopped getting maids so that I can teach my children to do things for themselves and learn the reality of life.

Nowadays, it's quite difficult to find a maid here in the Philippines who you can actually trust. I know a lot of household right now who are in search of trustworthy maids. In our culture, maids are not just plain househelp but they become part of our family in the long run. I personally appreciate all the househelp who had served my family, in fact we keep the connections with them and they're closer to us than our own relatives. Tagalog movies are popular coz we Pinoys easily relate to it.

Thank you for the feedback. Though some may misinterpret this as racism, this is actually a positive way of promoting Filipinos as honest workers. It may even create jobs for our countrymen. Thanks again for the positive feedback.

hi dorisday love that user name as I was such a fan of doris day's movies. Can a person from the US respond here?, I am in California and think its great if you can afford maids, here in the US only the rich and the very rich can afford maids. When I was young and married with two small children , I had three maids, Me, and Myself, and I too. I did get so tired of me and my self trying to get me to rest when there was so much to be done, then my hubby would sa y,for goodness sakes why do you have to do all this today? It can wait til tomorrow. he was a great exponent of put off till tomorrow what you cannot do today. I have a feeling that the cost of living and standard of living are different in the Philippines than they are here. I have never been to the Phillipines but hear its very lovely and almost tropical. I would so love to visit some day.

this is true. maids in the philippines love cinema one. especially the dramas. hehehe. well, i think this is the common way to related to what's important to them. who knows one of the actors would pop off the screen and would magically take their hands for marriage. it could happen. ;-) but maids really are a great help. i think for their hard work they don't get paid that much. thanks to the families who take care of their maids. free lodging, food, water, clothes and a little extra on the side. and yes, maids deserve 13th month pay

Hello Dorisday we never had really maids ever since since we can't really afford to have one. But, one of the difference between house maids before compared today is; before, you can easily get housemaids but now they could not be trusted anymore mostly, before any housemaids would accept your offer they have to look at the house to see if you have good sound system, telephones and televisions. If you don't have you can't hardly look for a modern-day-housemaids... Good day doris... Mobhomeir here..

they also love the soap operas with the kids so, if you miss an episode, your children can recite what happened

Hello Doris, that's a common thing for maids, they want tagalog movies and ones that makes them cry. some also wants news but you know, it's one thign they want. and they do have important role in our lives and not all can be as committed as the maid.

I'm from the Philippines but not a maid, and I actually hate it when Philippines are being looked down, Philippines were know to produced what? productive maids? although you do said a lot of good things to Filipina/Filipino helpers. Well they love cinema one channel simply because they're homesick and Filipino loves dramas not only maids but the entire Filipino community. Thank you for making such posts about how great Filipino helpers are.