government offices are much the same everywhere sometimes the officials in them are good people helpful and kind sometimes they are not and if you need something badly sometimes it is necessary to give little presents maybe some money which then disappears into a back pocket these are the ways of the world people have been giving and taking bribes forever Marina saledo senior Clark second grade hurried to her desk to open her pay envelope it was the 15th of July and tomorrow she was leaving for Manila to get the promotion that she had been promised for five
years she had worked in the ministry for 20 years and in The Last 5 Years the cost of living had risen greatly without the extra money from her promotion her youngest son would not be able to go to college also three years ago they had borrowed money on their house when her husband had had to go to hospital she checked her pay carefully 260 pesos this is what she would take to Manila she walked down to the far end of the hall to the chief's office the girls there were not talking that meant the chief
was in his secretary told her to go straight in the chief was reading a dirty copy of Playboy a magazine for Men full of photos of women he did not put the magazine away and Marina stood in front of him waiting for him to look up he was about 50 and going Bal so you are leaving tomorrow Marina he said yes sir well you can have the afternoon off to get ready you will only have three working days in Manila do you think that will be enough I would like to have three more days sir
if possible no problem Marina the chief said oh and when you are there will you please buy me the latest gabardine material for a pair of pants I will will pay when you get back yes sir thank you gabardine material it must cost at least 60 pesos last time the chief wanted a pair of Levi jeans they had cost 120 pesos when she returned they had played this little game he saying he must pay she refusing to take the money after all he was not a bad boss three days off with pay for example and
he did not try to touch her in the way he did with the other women Clarks the bus left at 6: in the morning driving along the valley through the newly planted rice fields the water shining in the early morning sun the roads were good with strong new Bridges making the journey to Manila only 10 hours it used to take a full day this was progress the kind that people could see and enjoy Marina knew there were problems in the mountain Villages and other places but in her Province things were calm her own life was
not so bad she and her husband had finally built a house three children one married and soon to leave for the United States another soon to finish college and the youngest nearly finished high school but the cost of living had gone up they had to cook on wood fires and could not afford to buy toilet paper 5 years ago she had asked for promotion she had gone to Manila twice about it and finally she had received a notice saying it would happen the bus arrived in Manila as it was getting dark Marina walked to the
street where her second cousin lived they had been College students together she would probably sleep on a hard sofa in their living room but that was better than spending 30 pesos on a cheap dirty room somewhere they were having dinner when she arrived and like a good relation she had brought meat Fish and Rice from her Province they seemed pleased to see her but Marina noticed that her cousin soon asked when will you leave I won't be here more than a week she said and I won't eat here I'll spend every day at the ministry
following up my papers she was up at 6 the next day her cousin's children aged 13 and 14 were getting ready for school they had kept her awake playing rock music in the night when she arrived at the ministry she went straight to Personnel the people that she worked with years ago in that office had all left and there was nobody she knew she asked for the person who worked on the papers of Staff promotion and was sent to the other end of the office to a fat woman in her early 30s with bad teeth
thin hair and a uniform that was too small for her large body the woman brought out a list and read through it carefully then she moved some papers around on her desk and looked up with a fat little smile I am sorry Mrs saledo but your name is not here maybe the forms got lost but it cannot be Marina said her voice got louder I have the official letter from you she quickly pulled it out of her handbag here and the file number the woman shook her head and her fixed little smile did not change
Mrs Salo she said sweetly I will have to look through the files hundreds and hundreds of them I will have to ask one of the boys she opened the drawer in her desk that was closest to Marina why don't you drop a 20 peso bill in here here for him for a moment Marina saledo could not believe this was happening to her she worked in the same ministry as these people then she remembered that Anita bong in her office in the province did the same thing it had gone on for a long time too long
to be easy to stop she took a 20 peso bill from her handbag and dropped it in the drawer will I come back this afternoon then she asked oh Mrs Salo the woman said still smiling you know how difficult it will be why don't you come back early tomorrow I am from The Province yes I know I will do all I can to help you she had nothing more to do she left the ministry and took a jeepney to the market in kapo what was the best kind of gabardine she asked and what did it
cost in the end she bought the material in one of the big department stores for 34 pesos then she looked around the rest of the market and found that food prices were higher than at home so prices in the province were not so bad then she spent five pesos on a bowl of noodles with chicken for lunch then walked around the city she had not been to Manila for some time and it had changed a lot in Makati a very rich area there were tall all glass-sided buildings and the streets were clean it was like
America she thought of her son who would soon be in America one day in the future she and her husband hoped to join him there but the future was here in maati and and if this was the future was it necessary to leave the country the next morning back at the ministry the fat woman had found her papers but there was a new form to complete Marina would have to fetch form d22a from another office in the building fill it in and then take it to Personnel who would sign it and send it back to
the first office this office was on the fifth floor and the lift was not working the man in the form d22a office was very sorry oh please come back to tomorrow afternoon we have no forms here at the moment we have to get some more Marina recognized the old game at once and was annoyed the top drawer in the man's desk was open and Marina dropped a five peso bill into it she must remember to carry two peso bills she thought please I am really in a hurry she said do try and find one there
must be one lying around the man closed his desk drawer with a smile then went to an old filing cabinet behind his desk it didn't take him a minute to find the form the form had a lot of questions about dates of this and that school and college travel abroad that made Marina laugh how many government clerks have ever traveled abroad she hadn't even traveled around her own country looking back back over her past she began to think about what she wanted from life she had never wanted to climb to the top of the tree
to become a minister both she and her husband were happy enough with things as they were after all these years they had their own home a piece of land and they could sleep deeply at night not worried by the kind of bad dreams that important ministers must have she took her completed form to the chief in the office who was said to be an honest man now was the moment when she would find out if that was true she waited and waited and was at last called over to the glass topped desk where Chief bermudes
was sitting well what is your problem my promotion sir Marina said I've been waiting a long time for it she put her papers on the desk in front of him Chief bermudes read them all all carefully well Mrs saledo everything here seems all right you know what to do next after I sign the forms you go to finance to find out if there are funds to pay you if there are the minister will sign the papers and you will have your 100 pesos a month and I think your pay rise should start at the beginning
of this year to give you those extra months I will make sure that happens he began to sign the papers I know you have worked for the ministry for a long time things happen too slowly sometimes I should not tell you this really but we must be patient we must push and push and push but only gently he smiled good luck with Finance they were now alone in the room is that all sir said Marina why is there something that I have forgotten in her surprise Mrs Salo forgot to thank him at the door she
decided that Chief bermudes was a good man perhaps she should buy him some gabardine material too after all he had added several extra months to her pay rise after a quick lunch just some bananas and a drink she went to finance the girls in the office were sitting talking or reading newspapers or doing nothing the finance Chief she was told was out and would not be in until tomorrow Marina left and decided to go and see a movie the next morning she was back in finance before 8:00 she noticed that the office had several pretty
girls and they seemed to do nothing at 8:30 the finance Chief arrived Julio Lobo one of the top men in the ministry he was wearing a brown gabardine suit she recognized the material at once she went into his office Chief Lobo was reading some files and adding up some figures on a calculator he looked up at her there were heavy bags under his eyes and his thick lips smiled yes Mrs saledo explained her story telling telling him she was from the province you can leave your papers here he said still smiling I am in a
hurry I have a meeting in another town today and will not be back until 5 you can come and see me then Marina now had to wait all day and this endless battle to get her promotion was giving her a headache but it could be worse in other Ministries she knew a teacher who had to pay a thousand pesos just to move to another town it was raining outside so she decided to stay in the building and visit the education office where she had friends at 3:00 she went back to wait outside Chief lobo's office
and tried to read a novel but it did not hold her interest the pretty girls in the office were all talking about the Disco they were going going to that evening at 5: Chief Lobo arrived and some of the girls went in and out with papers when they had left Marina went in ah Mrs saledo yes your papers are still here I will work on them tomorrow tomorrow Saturday did you know I work even on Saturday no sir well I do he smiled showing teeth yellow from cigarette smoke he looked at his desk diary then
at her papers again 100 pesos a month why that's 1,200 pesos a year surely you can afford to buy me a 40 peso dinner yes of course sir she said well then my favorite Japanese restaurant is is in herita it's easy to find I'll be there on Sunday evening at 7 I will have your papers all finished I see no problem really thank you sir Mrs saledo said 40 p oos if she did not eat she could afford the meal she would still just have enough to buy her bus ticket during Saturday and Sunday morning
Marina did not leave her cousin's apartment going out meant spending money so she made rice cakes cleaned her cousin's kitchen and washed the floor and the walls in the living room when the family came home Saturday evening the place was shining clean and her cousin was very pleased on Sunday afternoon she went out to find the Japanese restaurant it was mostly foreigners eating there and it looked very expensive she would have to give the waiters something too she must be honest with Chief lobo tell him that she did not have the money that she would
give him a present later when she had got her pay rise from there she went to the Manila Hotel where in 1955 she had danced with her boyfriend later her husband when they finished their University studies it was pleasant to remember those days but the hotel had changed it was all new inside with thick carpets and fine wooden furniture she saw the coffee shop but she could not afford even one cup of coffee so she sat on one of the deep soft sofas watching the beautiful people walking past so there was progress under the government's
GR Grand new plan as this fine Hotel showed at 6:30 she walked back to the Japanese restaurant Chief Lobo was there his fat stomach too big for his blue jeans and his T-shirt smelly from his unwashed body they sat down [Music] and all around them were the delicious smells of fresh food cooking Marina found it hard to speak sir you know I am just a poor Clark in the province I have only a 100 pesos Chief lobo's hand came down heavily onto her knee and stayed there my dear woman he said we are not going
to spend all that I will just have tea and some fish too much food is bad for me but making love is not bad for me so after this we go to a motel that will be no more than 40 pesos Marina did not want to believe what she had heard then she remembered office talk about the finance Chief how he behaved towards women what he asked for I have three children sir she said miserably my oldest is married I have a grandson the first that's wonderful said Chief Lobo but you know you don't look
like a grandmother he looked at her body hungrily and Marina felt her face turning red you have a good body very nice surely Sir with all those pretty girls in your office Chief Lobo laughed you noticed he said but they are young they need teaching I don't want to be a teacher all the time I enjoy beautiful older women like you his hand moved higher up her leg I am 45 said Marina but you don't look 30 five he said she followed him to his car outside in the street her mouth was dry with fear
she must be good to him the future was in his hands she tried again and again to talk him out of it but he did not listen alone with him in the motel room at last she begged him one more time sir please I will give you half the money I get from my promotion I promise Chief Lobo looked at her in Surprise stupid girl he said angrily it's not money I need he began to take off his shoes when she did not move he shouted at her take off your clothes my poor husband my
poor children Marina cried softly as he began began to touch her she was back at the apartment at 9ine she took a long shower hating Chief Lobo hating herself hating the world how would it be tomorrow when she saw him again he had not even brought her papers as he had promised she did not sleep much that night when morning came she knew she must go on finish the job after that terrible evening there was no battle that she could not fight nothing could stop her now Chief lobo's thick lips smiled at her when she
came in we will go up to The Minister's office now he said standing up and picking up her papers The Minister's office was very big with a carpet paintings on the walls and tall green plants in the corners Minister goodsman was also wearing a brown gabardine suit but Marina looking at it closely realized it was a finer more expensive material she had heard that the minister had a drinking problem he certainly seemed strange this morning either sleepy or drunk Chief Lobo put Marina's papers on the desk and the minister looked through them ah Mrs Salo
your promotion I am very happy to sign these to Chief Lobo are there funds for this yes sir Lobo said after the minister had signed the papers he turned to her again Mrs saledo how is it in your Province what are your problems it's good to see someone from your province here you know your province is very important in our new Society plan Mrs saledo looked at him was the minister serious how could he be so drunk so early in the morning she shook her head we have no problem sir come now the minister said
be honest we need the truth the facts only that way can we make progress Marina shook her head again everything is fine in our Province sir she said all right then the minister said but you must work hard all of you you must remember we are building a new Society progress for the people a country to be proud of he seemed to be talking to everyone in the office yes sir Marina said we must all work together progress promotions are wonderful but we must work for them progress after Marina had bought her bus ticket she
had two pesos left she had made three meat sandwiches at her cousins and that would have to be enough until she got home when the bus arrived in her Town it was past 6 and already dark to save money she decided to walk home from the bus station she only had a handbag a small bag of clothes the gabardine material and two apples away from the Town Center the road was unlit and rough she and her family lived on the edge of the town where they could grow vegetables and keep chickens she had just turned
a corner when a man jumped out of the shadows and grabbed her handbag she held onto it as hard as she could but the man pushed her and she fell hurting her face on the ground he took the bag and as he ran she shouted after him there's no money in there just my papers my papers but he was gone too fast and did not hear her she stood up slowly feeling weak and strange she still had a long way to walk and her legs did not want to move it started to rise but her
umbrella was in the handbag that was stolen she did not mind the rain it was losing her papers that felt like a heavy Stone lying on her heart without the papers there would be no pay rise she knew only too well that nothing could make Manila send copies of her papers she would have to return to the capital and the thought of that filled her heart with fear and misery at last she reached her house with the trees all around it when she pushed the door open her family were eating supper and they ran from
the table to greet her they saw the dirt on her clothes her pale face her wet untidy hair to their questions she gave no answers and Marina saledo fell to her knees the anger and misery coming from her invite violent sobbing no words of kindness of love no friendly touch could stop the river of her tears
