When Filipino migrant women workers in Hong Kong have free time on their (otherwise busy) hands, many of them will choose to grab hold of reading matter.

Would that what they get their hands on is something edifying or educational—or at the very least informative. Most of the time, however, what they’re looking for, and get, are a chance to escape into a fantasy world of entertainment, romance, or vicarious earthy pleasures.

On late nights and Sundays in the suburban village of Mui Wo on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island, for instance, Maris Casquejo, Fe Cruz and Lily Mendoza can be found devouring romance novels by Filipina writers, whose pocketbooks they buy in a shop downtown.

With much of their hard-earned money remitted to their families back home, the women often have little left to splurge on things for themselves.

The books cost HK$6 to HK$8 (about 77 US cents to $1.03), so the women resort to sharing the books, which end up smeared and dog-eared thanks to several keen page-turners.

For many migrant women serving wealthy and not-so-wealthy Chinese and expatriate families in the territory, these tales of love and intrigue provide momentary escape from the drudgery they face day to day.

The pocketbooks from Manila, like the early American Mills and Boon and Harlequin varieties (‘The hallmark for romantic publications’) are little more than formulaic stories from clever writers—down-to-earth, incredibly romantic, sentimental and often corny.

The aim, of course, is to entertain and hearten countless Pinays (Filipinas) pining for their own romance and happy endings. With ready markets at home and abroad, these little books are quite a lucrative cottage industry.

Precious Hearts Romances publications carry the logo of two lovebirds in a heart and are advertised as ‘Universal romance with a Filipino heart’.

The covers invariably show mestizo-looking lovers, and many of the titles are in English: My Love, My Hero, Stolen Property and My Beloved Temptress by the prolific Filipino novelist Laurice del Rio; Lindsay’s New Love by Almira Jose and Hired Husband by Heart Ingrid.

There are also Tagalog titles like Gaano Kita Kamahal? (How Much I Love Thee) and Daan Patungo sa Puso (The Way To My Heart).

Some of the writers’ names may be pseudonyms: Amanda, Cassandra, Sofia, Vanessa, with some acknowledging their debts to Readers Digest and Korean TV series.

The books’ blurbs encourage readers to write their own stories and sometimes announce promotional mall tours in Philippine provinces.

Story plots range from sweet to sad to silly, but always with happy endings.

One such is about the son of an upper-class family who falls for the family maid’s pretty daughter. Tribulations abound before the forbidden marriage takes place. There’s also a Stallion series featuring a hunky Japinoy named Eizhiro Figueroa (King of Frowns), whose arrogance first repels but later wins over the heroine.

Perhaps influenced by the US publications, the writers seem to prefer giving their male protagonists Western names like Brix, Grey, Lance, Milton and Wilmer, while female leads are christened Blossom, Candace, Chloe, Lindsay, Peachy and Vivien.

The stories are peppered with current English slang or street lingo: “Don’t gross me out! Yucky! No way I’ll freaking marry you! It’s so un-effing believable! What if my blind date is butt-ugly? He looked like a demigod. She knew zilch.”

But there are charming blendings like “His voice was very manly—nakakapanginig ng kanyang mga tuhod (her knees were trembling).”

Generally there isn’t too much emphasis on sex, but there are occasional descriptions of the act: “She felt herself cresting again.

They reached the peak together—it was mind-blowing!” and “A warm puddle of goo seemed to flood her chest.”

For readers seeking the supernaturnal, there’s the expertly illustrated Ang Pinakamatinding Horror-Ghost Magazine (the ultimate horror-ghost magazine).

Even though males constitute only about 10 per cent of Hong Kong’s Filipino migrant worker population, the daily tabloids that arrive from Manila obviously target the lowest common denominator among them through sexually explicit columns.

Pornographic writing, usually of sexually voracious women and horny men, proliferates in Bagong Tiktik, especially in columns like “Halika… Tuloy Ka (come, let’s go inside) and I Luv U, Mrs Jones. Ironically, Bible quotations are buried amidst the verbiage.

Scantily dressed girls are invariably featured on the front pages of most tabloids. Abante runs brief news/gossip items willy-nilly in their pages, as well as ads seeking workers for Qatar and Taiwan.

Columnists include Amado Macasaet pontificating on politics and Filipino senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero answering readers’ letters, while soap opera stories often involve sad pregnant women.

One tabloid, Balita (news), features senator Manny Villar’s column, a recent story on Filipino White House chef Cristeta Pasia Comerford, and a gossip column asking Lesbian ba si Chin-chin? (is Chin-Chin a lesbian?)

A sister publication, Tempo, has fairly decent layout and news presentation. Former Philippine president Joseph Estrada and Villar on the front page can vie with reports about the anti-child porn drive.

Other tabloids bank on sensational covers, among them Pilipino Star Ngayon, with the screaming banner: “Ulong Pugot Bitbit” about a deranged man who delivered his boss’ severed head to the police. There are also photos of showbiz folks.

Remate Tonight calls itself the Pahayagan ng Global Pinoy (the newspaper of global Filipinos) and has featured Villar and Senator Miriam Santiago glaring at each other on the front page. News about sports celebrities and film stars abound, along with gossip and political columns.

Former representative Imee Marcos writes for Bulgar, another tabloid, again with the obligatory celebrity photos and sensation-seeking reports. Her Buking column leads Len Llanes’ Iskup (scoop) and Manila Mayor Fred S. Lim’s and broadcaster Korina Sanchez’s opinions.

One of Marcos’ recent columns showed her expert use of the vernacular when she asked, “Paano naman makaganti-ganti kayo sa mga mokong na ’yan?” (how you can get back at these shenanigans)
The uniformly mind-numbing content of these tabloids, like the romance paperbacks, may be momentarily entertaining.

And they may transport weary minds into other imagined realms, away from the daily dreariness of the Philippine migrant worker’s real life. But they certainly do not educate and edify their readers. (By Isabel Escoda in Manila/ Philippine Daily Inquirer/ Asia News Network)