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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2025
In his fictionalized autobiographical account of Filipino male undocumented workers in Japan, Rey Ventura (2007, pp. 101–2) shares the story of the eighteenth birthday celebration of Dante's daughter, Laura.
The party was held at a five-star hotel in Manila. There were around a hundred guests. There were eighteen boys who presented her with eighteen roses. She danced with them plus a few old men. She was like a princess in her pink gown. She looked innocent and virginal. She also starred in a fashion show in which she was the only model: as the evening wore on, she sashayed in several dresses especially made for her. As the youngest of three children and the only one left in school and not married, she was special.
While her escorts took turns dancing with Laura, Dante rang from Japan; his call was hooked up to the public address system. This was the climax of the party—a father-daughter long-distance dialogue.
Everybody froze to attention and listened to a private conversation. Around Laura were gathered her elder sister, her brother and her fat mother:
“Hello! Daddy!”
“Hello, my daughter. Happy Birthday!”
“Thank you, Daddy. I miss you!”“I miss you, too. I love you! I miss you!”
“I love you, Daddy. I miss you.”“I love you! I miss you.” Dante's voice was cracking and the members of his family were all teary-eyed. Their relatives and friends, too, were on the verge of tears. The line was taken off the PA system and Laura passed the phone to her elder sister. She wiped her tears. For this two-hour party, Dante had set aside US$7,000—a year's savings.
This poignant, fictionalized tale of conspicuous consumption underscores the proportion of their savings that Filipino migrants are prepared to spend in order to experience one day of a luxurious upper-class lifestyle. Dante hoped to taste what it felt like, and even for a moment, to be a middle-class family on show and the envy of all his guests. In this story, the irony of Dante being unable to enjoy the party he paid for, or to bask in the high social status of the venue, seems to be lost on all the participants. The climax of the celebration—Dante's international phone call where father and daughter's intimate conversation about their love for each other was broadcasted publicly to the guests—also highlights the connection between a father's material gift of a grand party and his love for his daughter while being physically absent.
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