We’re asking for no less than martyrdom from OFWs or so one gathers from the musical Emir. The government-funded film (produced by the Film Development Council of the Philippines in association with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and supported by the President’s Social Fund), an ambitious project of a scale to rival Bollywood’s finest, premiered June 7 at SM Megamall with no less than National Artist for Theater and Film Salvador F. Bernal, National Artist for Literature Bienvenido L. Lumbera, National Artist for Cinema Eddie S. Romero, and outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in attendance. (Her support of the film garnered a line of thanks in the credits.)

OFW fantasy

The story begins and ends with Amelia (Frencheska Farr), a young penurious provinciana from Ilocos Norte urged by her family to work as a yaya (nanny) in Yememeni (a fictional Middle Eastern kingdom).

Her employer is brother to the childless ruler, and her charge Ahmed (played by Joshua Elias Price Hourani at seven, Mahdi Yadzian Varjani at 12, and Nelsito Gomez at 19) becomes heir to the throne. She would become a surrogate mother of sorts, passing on her steadiness of character along with her native tongue, plus Filipino cultural practices like tumbang preso (a game involving a can, footwear, and a good throwing arm).

Amelia’s service to the sheik’s family lasts 12 years. Hers is the OFW dream -- from being a cleaning lady at the bottom of the hired help hierarchy, she is promoted to principal nanny to the heir, and even offered the position of majordoma when her immediate superior Ester (Dulce) retires. She is able to travel the world, send her family much-needed money, and make a little nest egg for herself too. The flipside of this, however, is time spent virtually in exile and a broken heart from a liaison with an Arab-Ilokano mestizo (Sid Lucero) who, for a brief moment in time, eases her loneliness.

Still, outside the petty rivalries among the maids, Amelia is one of the lucky ones, one may even say charmed. Unlike her bestfriend and roommate Tersing (Kalila Aguilos), she doesn’t have a perfidious husband with an extended family of leeches. Neither is she victimized by a rejected suitor, like yaya Angie (Julia Clarete wearing a lipstick shade that marks her from the get-go; although the abuser is punished here, a rarity in real life). Nor is she, like her Muslim kababayan Pearlsha (Liesl Batucan), escaping her home to find a measure of peace.

In fact, Amelia’s luck stays true until the outbreak of the Gulf War, when she manages to flee with Ahmed and the driver Boyong (Jhong Hilario) from the soldiers who gunned down members of their adopted household. Separated by circumstance from Boyong, the other two are saved from certain death in the desert, and given sanctuary before the boy is restored to his father. Amelia is obliged to seek the help of the Philippine embassy for extradition, and returns home a prosperous woman. Her reunion with the grown Ahmed and the blushing Boyong is the looked-for happy ending.