The guy reminded me of a character in so many old western TV shows and movies. A drifter, with little more than the clothes on his back, shows up at a ranch looking for work. After getting the chance, he proves to be a capable hand. Then the adventure begins as the past catches up with the guy.

It was 2017. We were just beginning the major developments on our property. A small wooden house had just been completed. A large crew was finishing up the clearing and fencing of the property. A few hundred fruit tree seedlings were waiting to be planted. We were looking for a full time, live in caretaker to help with the day to day farm chores. The day laborers who were hacking away brush and stringing fence wire were either unsuitable, or not interested in the job. Then, this fellow showed up.

He was with a younger brother. Neither had anything more than the clothes they were wearing. The older one claimed experience in laying out orchards. He knew his way around small engines. Both were skills we needed. They had no place to stay. We needed a live in arrangement.

After they had worked a while as day laborers, we offered the two of them the job. The younger one did not want a permanent farm job. He was enrolled in a trade school, and was working to earn money for another semester. We applauded that effort, and told him he was welcome whenever school was out.

The elder brother was hired on a provisional basis. If things were still satisfactory after three months, we would draw up a contract. The contract would specify duties expected, wages, a housing and food agreement, as well as informing him that we would pay the premiums on his social security and Philhealth, the National health insurance program.

The fellow agreed to that and got to work. The two brothers set about laying out and planting our fruit orchard. It was a well done, professional quality job. The trees are well spaced, and aligned, up, down, and diagonally. They worked on keeping the grass down with our big industrial weed eater style grass cutter. They used our small pump to move water in a relay system from our creek at the bottom of a steep hill, up to the trees and vegetables. Everything was going great.

Then, just before the three months probationary time was up, he got a deep puncture wound in his foot. We offered to take him to a doctor. He refused, preferring to treat the wound with folk remedies. His poultice of guava leaves did not work. The wound festered. Within a short time, he couldn’t walk. We insisted on taking him to the hospital. The doctor cleaned the wound and admitted him to the hospital for a regimen of intravenous antibiotics.

Of course, the question of the hospital bill came up immediately. Marlyn asked the representative from Philhealth about the options. She learned that Philhealth would cover it, no problem. All we needed to do was to pay the full year’s premiums up front.

Marlyn and I had already discussed hiring the guy on a contract basis. He had shown himself to be honest and capable. We were planning to offer him a contract that included the Philhealth premiums. We proceeded to get him registered into the system. Philhealth asked for a birth certificate. The guy didn’t have one. He called his mother. She didn’t have one for him either. His mother also refused to go through the bureaucratic process needed to have one issued.

Philhealth said, no problem. Just get him a certificate of indigency, and they were required by law to cover him. We went to our barangay captain with the request. He immediately had the secretary print out the required certificate on official stationery. The captain signed the certificate and wished us luck.

In the meantime, the guy’s mother showed up from somewhere down south. She had money for bus fare, but claimed to have no money for food. No problem. Her presence relieved us of the odd Philippine requirement of providing a watcher, or keeper for the hospitalized patient. We bought some groceries for her and her son.

Philhealth accepted the certificate of indigency, and covered the hospital bills. That problem was out of the way, but a new one quickly developed. The guy’s siblings started showing up from all points of the compass. They all had bus fare, but it seemed none had any money for food.

We had planned on hiring the guy as a live in caretaker. It now appeared that if we did, we would be hiring a good worker, but he would be encumbered with a small army of family members hoping to sponge off of his good fortune. We bought another round of groceries, and walked away from the situation.

I’ve waited quite a while before writing this. Mostly because I was unsure of where to go with it. I’m still not sure what conclusions to draw from the experience. There are several issues at play in the story.

One, I’ve learned that, even though it is required by law, many employers do not cover the cost of government benefits for agricultural workers. There are a number of ways to get around it, but we try to do right by our employees and the law.

Second, it is always a good idea to have a good relationship with the barangay captain.

Another is the dark side of Filipino family obligations. It is not unusual for one member of a large family to be expected to provide financial support for several non-working members of the same family.

Lastly, there is the completely unrealistic idea held by many, perhaps even most of the laboring class that all foreigners have an unlimited supply of money ready at hand. This often leads to the practice of pressuring a family member with access to a foreigner for excessive amounts of money.

I’ve not really drawn any conclusions from this. Only some cultural landmarks to navigate by while living here in the Philippines.