Joseph Bautista: From Domestic Helper to Engineer in Hong Kong
Joseph L. Bautista is a busy man.
When he is not busy being an engineer in Hong Kong, he teaches martial arts to his kababayans. In fact, he has worked himself up to a “Kyoshi,” a martial arts master.
But once upon a time, he was domestic helper, a job he held for 10 years.
He did it all for love.
Pen pals
“That time na nilalakad nila ang papel ko, naunahan ako ng quota sa skilled workers. Para hindi kami magkahiwalay ng misis ko, pinasok ko na yung domestic duties. All around tayo riyan,” he shared to GMA News Online recently.
At that time he was in the Philippines after a long stint in Saudi Arabia, where he met his wife initially as “pen pals.”
“Nag-Saudi ako kasi natutuwa rin ako sa mga nag-Saudi noon. Maraming component at iba pang appliances. Nauso talaga siya. Dala nga ng hirap namin noon, naisip kong mag-Saudi,” shared the 54-year-old Lipa City native.
“Noong umuwi na ako, nag-meet na kami. May kudeta pa noon sa Pilipinas. Tapos nag-offer ‘yung amo niya na magtrabaho ako sa Hong Kong,” he added.
In 1992, he flew to Hong Kong where he married his wife.
Trials
But as with any OFW, Bautista had his bad days — the worst was when half of his body became paralyzed in 2005 supposedly due to overfatigue. To recuperate, he went back to the Philippines.
Eventually, he found himself back in Hong Kong, where he now works as a quality control engineer at Polyconcept Hongkong Ltd., which supplies promotional products to multinational companies.
“’Yung employeer namin, siya nag-offer sa akin na pumasok sa company. Nakita niya ‘yung skill ko na-graduate ako ng engineering tapos naisip niya baka pwede ako,” Bautista said.
“Nag-umpisa talaga ako sa lowest up to higher position,” he added.
Martial arts
In Hong Kong, Bautista started to teach martial arts to fellow OFWs. He particularly teachers Shorin-ryu, a Japanese martials arts, and arnis,.
He leads several martial arts organizations worldwide, such the Black Panther MUSANG International Martial Arts Society, International Marshal Society (IMASO), and the World Organizer of Martial Arts (WOMA)-USA HK Chapter as Chairman of the Board.
IMASO, he said, serves as an auxiliary group of the Philippine embassy that provides security to Filipino dignitaries.
He is also a member of the Builders Association of Filipino Engineers, providing free house plans and consultancy to OFWs.
Bagong Bayani
On top of that, Joseph also serves as a volunteer in Church.
“Hindi ako masaya kung hindi tumulong sa kapwa natin na nakasanayan na natin, kaya tuloy-tuloy pa rin ako hanggang ngayon,” he said.
For his volunteer work, he was given the Bagong Bayani Award for Community and Social Service this year by the Bagong Bayani Foundation Inc. He was also the recipient of the Blas F. Ople para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani Award.
“Kung nakatulong tayo sa abroad, how much more sa Pilipinas?” Bautista said.
(Source: KBK, GMA News)