An Unquestionable Sign

The first time I encountered a “No Maids Allowed” sign was back in 2012, at a condominium pool in Paranaque.

I had arrived there in the late afternoon. Though it was as hot and as humid as any other summer day in the Philippines, the only other people at the pool were a family – a father, a mother, their son, and their kasambahay.

The boy, who could not have been more than five, was moving at a slow but steady pace from one side of the pool to the other. Technically, he was swimming, but what he was doing was something far less graceful. He was clawing at the water with his arms and kicking at it with his feet, and by some forgiveness of physics, this flailing propelled him forward.

The kasambahay followed the boy around the perimeter of the pool, moving in parallel with each splash of his. Her uniform was noticeably unwet. As the boy neared the deep end, I started to wonder why the kasambahay wasn’t in the water with him. Were the boy to tire and have trouble in the pool, the kasambahay would be able react quicker if she were beside the small boy. I was no expert at lifeguarding, but surely that had to be safer.

The whole scene made no sense at all – Why doesn’t the kasambahay just hop into the pool? – until it made perfect sense. I did not eye it until the kasambahay rounded the corner and the sun glinted of it, but there on the far end hung a sign that explained everything:

No maids allowed.

As if it were a waste of words to explain further, there was a wide container drawn beneath the mandate, complete with the squiggly lines in it to indicate moving water. It looked like something a child might draw, only this was crafted in steel. It had taken time to design, make, and erect. This meant someone had put deep thought into the sign and somehow walked away with the conclusion that prohibiting maids from stepping into a pool was a thumbs-up, good thing.

I struggled to imagine what kind of reasoning led to its creation, especially in the enlightened year of 2012. Did the administration think that allowing kasambahays in the pool would affect the value of their properties? Did a homeowner think that allowing kasambahays in the pool would scare off their guests? Did a parent think that allowing kasambahays in the pool would give their child some sort of MAIDS-virus?

Whatever the case, everyone at the pool was following the sign, and our quiet complacency – mine included, given that I did not speak up or say anything – was what terrified me the most.

Like with so many things in the Philippines, we had simply chosen to accept things the way they were.

Voting With Your Dollar

More than three years have passed since that incident and signs like the “No maids allowed” do not appear to be going anywhere, anytime soon. In fact, there may even be more such signs, given that more and more condominiums rise into the Metro Manila skyline every day. Here’s just one example:

Here is another condominium with a discriminatory policy.

The prosperity of our real estate industry, however, should not encourage us to ignore the way in which some property developments suppress an entire class of our fellow Filipinos.

Such a statement may strike some as exaggerated, or dramatic even, but to them I would only ask that they pay closer attention to the facts. By virtue of doing a particular job, some Filipinos are barred from entering different rooms, facilities, and amenities at many condominiums.

In some cases, I’ll admit, these restrictions make sense, such as in the case of having a separate service elevator for workers carrying industrial equipment. But what is the sense in prohibiting them from using a certain bathroom? Such a stricture may not be particularly draconian, but discrimination is still discrimination, no matter how seemingly minor.

Realistically speaking, no revolution will be initiated on the behalf of these Filipinos anytime soon, and these signs will remain a fixture of condominium signage for the near future.

Change can come, but it will only come gradually and if we chose to vote with our dollar. So I will say this now in the hope that other prospective home buyers like me follow suit, or at least think about doing so: I will not buy a condominium from any developer that has such policies in place.



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  • 1GeorgeTolentino2

    Agree 100000%

  • whatsinaname

    Thanks for the thoughtful and brave article. I felt like I was reading something I wrote when I was much younger. I will nit be able to say everything I need to say in this comment, or say everything required to do justice to this important subject. I agree with the kindness behind the words of this article. But my 30 years of experience as an adult, more than half of which was in the course of supervising maids who were hired to help take care of a paralytic mother, has taught me many things about this subject. I will not detail the bad experiences with innumerable maids—suffice it say that I started out by sharing everything with them, having been brought up believing everyone is equal, only to have my family’s valuables—antiques, jewelry, kitchen silverware—stolen several times, my mother physically abused, and my and my family’s personal lives become hot gossip in the neighborhood. We grew up without maids, our mom believing that we had to learn to do chores and to grow up in an egalitarian, American way. But when she got terribly sick, there was no choice but to get helpers. So in my mind, a maid was this kind, motherly woman I saw in movies who had wisdom, toughness and superb cooking skills.

    When I started living in a condo, I couldnt get a seat in any chair near our pool during early afternoons after lunch because maids from different units and different towers would gather and gossip. In our building lobby there is a couch for residents waiting for their sundo from the basement parking or waiting for a cab. When I was pregnant last year I had to stay standing while two maids sat and gossiped on the couch and showed each other texts on their phones. Common areas in condominiums are paid for through monthly condo dues. If youre paying P5,000 a month for dues, thats P60,000 every year. If you work at night and you simply want to have a quiet moment sitting in the sun upon waking up after lunch, and you pay P60,000 a month to have the chance to do this, you will understandably be upset if you cannot do so every day because maids are enjoying the ambience, the view and the environment you paid for. Some residents with children they want to bring out near the pool also want their children and loved ones to enjoy a family-friendly environment instead of one that is loud, stressful (because you have to ask if a chair is occupied and they answer rudely) and punctuated by remarks like, “Teka tat*e lang ako ha.”

    Its likely that complaints from residents of that Paranaque condominium in the article, pushed the property manager to start that swimming pool policy. I guess its like hotel policies: hotel maids arent allowed to swim in the hotel pool, but the hotel doesnt have a sign saying this. This js another rationale (aside from the reason I explained the previous paragraph): that condo maids are there “on the job” just like hotel maids. Usually a condo only has one pool, and property managers limit tge use of this single pool to a maximum number of users per condo unit, and also to a maximum number if regustered guests per unit. The reason js simple: it cant accommodate everyone frkm every unit from every tower. So in this case, its not discrimination but a managerial decision.

    As for sharing ones bathroom, we used to do this for many years when my mon was sick. We shared everything. But we soon toiletries started disappearing on a regular basis, the perfumes and make-up. Also, I think this is a personal choice, like wanting your own bedroom or wanting to pray in a certain way. We all have different toilet habits, health concerns and the like. So in this case inpts not discrimination but a personal choice, the same as if I’d want to share mybathroom with my boss (I dont) on a regular basis.

    I do not completely ,100 percent agree with all these reasons, but I understand them and I see the logic behind them because I have been on the receiving end of experiences. I dont have all the answers, More importantly, I agree that there is discrimination. I have often found provincial accents beautiful, and I’ve often thought sadly why we Filipinos fawn over people with French or Australian accents but mock our own Waray and other local accents. In church, the priests never address maids in a personal level and only want to connect with the “amos.”

    We dont provide them jobs in the provinces, no safe roads to reach school every day, no adequate hospital facilities, and they struggle to survive byleaving home and becoming maids. We look down on them yet they (OFWs) and their remmitances have kept our country from going totally bankrupt. We look down on them yet they help us take care of our homes, help us take care of iur children and help us take care ofour mothers.

    • Rizza Estoconing Sta Ana

      Hi @whatsinaname! Thanks for sharing your story. I guess there is really no sensible way to address certain policies without being discriminatory, and that education dilutes the true intention of policies such as the “no swimming” rule. On the other hand, education and compassion are also keys to ensure harmony between paying tenants/residents and their help. As with the swimming pool, for example, maids understand that they can join their alagas in the swimming pool if their alagas under the fact that they are there to assist (ex. babies, senior citizens, disabled). Otherwise, they are not allowed to loiter or use the facilities unless they have your consent to do so (probably as a treat or something).