Fil-Ams feel brunt of gov’t shutdown

WASHINGTON DC, USA – Manny Sayoc knows he shouldn’t be so upset. The engineering project manager has been out of job for the past week, but it’s given him time to travel, visit family, and relax.

“Compared to my friends, family, and the millions of Americans who have been hit much harder by this shutdown, I feel I am one of the last who should complain,” says Sayoc, a Filipino-American who resides in Arlington, Virginia. But, he adds, “I’m complaining for them.”

Sayoc is one of the 800,000 federal government employees who has been affected by the United States government shutdown that entered its second week and has left thousands without jobs, without national parks to visit, and with families scrambling to make ends meet.

The US House of Representatives said Thursday, October 10, they would offer a temporary increase in the federal debt ceiling, but only if US President Barack Obama could agree to certain long-term negotiations.

However, the plan does not necessarily mean an end to the shutdown, and until then workers like Sayoc are stuck without a paycheck.

In addition to his managerial job for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Sayoc, 39, is an officer in the US Navy reserve. Like all government employees, he received his furlough notice via a letter that identified him as a non-essential employee.

He’s not the only one Fil-Am who has felt the brunt of the shutdown.

His own brother, a government contractor for the US State Department, is at risk of being terminated. His brother-in-law, who is not a government employee, has also been affected: “The dysfunction of our government has sent detrimental ripples in the economy,” says Sayoc, “directly affecting my brother-in-law’s sales in the financial sector.”

Fellow Fil-Am Cristina von Spiegelfeld, 34, has also been furloughed from her job as an attorney, but is fortunate that her husband works in the non-profit sector and can provide for the family. Still, with a 10-month-old baby and 3 ½-year-old son, the DC resident wonders how long she can go without getting a paycheck.

Unemployment benefits

If the shutdown goes into its third week, she admits she may have to join the thousands of DC, Virginia, and Maryland residents who have applied for unemployment benefits. As of October 8, the DC Department of Unemployment Services received 11,000 unemployment claims from federal workers.

“I’m still on the fence about it,” von Spiegelfeld says. “I’m weighing whether it’s worse to deal with paperwork and DC bureaucracy or the demoralizing mental effect of having to tap into the family’s emergency funds.”

Sayoc says he plans to apply for unemployment, as he’s already feeling “the pinch of not having a paycheck and the lack of government support, services, and facilities.” While Sayoc is still working part-time for the Navy, he’s not getting paid and must use his personal funds to pay for flights overseas for work.

But, he adds, the unemployment check isn’t just for him. Like many Fil-Am working abroad, Sayoc has a family back home that needs his support. “These side effects from the shutdown can be felt as far away as the homes of our relatives in the Philippines who rely on our support.”

According to the World Bank, families in the Philippines received US$10 billion from relatives in the United States in 2013. The longer the shutdown lasts, the less help Fil-Ams are able to provide their already struggling relatives back home.

The irony of it all, says Sayoc, is that he and his parents moved to the US to take part in the freedom and countless opportunities typically associated with the states. At least for Saynoc, the government shutdown has muddled the idea of the American dream.

“As a citizen, a public servant, and a member of the US military I am concerned about where our nation is headed,” says Sayoc. “I know the world is watching and I am sure I am not the only one uncertain of America’s footing as the front-runner in economics, freedom, democracy, stability, and justice.” – Rappler.com