My team shared with me this video of a guy out for a morning run near Mayon Volcano.
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS99cU1N9/
I don’t know the full story behind the video. It’s TikTok, so I’m not going to assume it’s not AI.
But I do know what happened around Mayon was real.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2224181/mayon-ashfall-covers-more-than-8500-hectares-philsa
Mayon Volcano in Albay sent ash over nearby communities after lava deposits collapsed on its slopes.
People were evacuated. Roads had poor visibility. Farms were covered in ash. Livestock died.
Fortunately, from what I’ve seen reported, there were no deaths or injuries.
Still, that’s a lot for a family to deal with.
And this is one of those things about the Philippines that people outside the Philippines don’t always understand.
Natural disasters are part of life there.
Typhoons. Flooding. Earthquakes. Volcanoes. Ashfall. Vog. Power outages. Internet interruptions.
Not all the time for every person. The Philippines is spread out over a lot of islands, so something can be a big deal in Albay and not affect someone in Cebu or Davao or Manila at all.
But these things happen.
I’ve had people working for me in the Philippines since 2005. I’ve seen typhoons destroy homes. I’ve seen flooding. I’ve seen volcanoes affect air quality. I’ve had people email me and say something like,
“Sir, our area flooded, but I saved my laptop. I’ll be back to work soon.”
That sounds crazy to us.
To them, this kind of thing is not as unusual as it is to us.
They deal with the problem, take care of their family, find power somewhere, find internet somewhere, and try to get back to work.
They are resilient. Really resilient.
But resilient doesn’t mean they don’t need help. It doesn’t mean nothing affects them. It doesn’t mean you should ignore what’s happening in their life because they’re usually good at pushing through it.
Usually, if something happens, they want to get back to work as soon as they can. They want to keep the job. They want you to be happy with them. A good OFS doesn’t want to let you down.
But sometimes life gets in the way.
When it does, how you respond matters.
Be patient. Help if you can. Treat them like a person instead of a task machine.
They’ll remember that.
This is one of the reasons I keep saying that working with Filipino workers is different. The loyalty can be amazing. The work can be amazing. The long-term relationship can be amazing.
But you have to be a good boss.
You have to understand that they have real lives, real families, real communities, and sometimes real disasters happening around them.
Most of the time, your OFS won’t be affected by whatever disaster you see in the news. The Philippines is a big place. Don’t assume every typhoon or volcano or earthquake affects everyone.
But if it does affect them, don’t panic and don’t assume they’re disappearing on you.
Ask.
Give them a little room.
Let them take care of their family.
John
PS. I wrote more about helping your Filipino VA through disasters here:
https://johnjonas.com/helping-your-filipino-va-through-disasters/
Usually, they want to get back to work faster than you expect.
Still, ask how they’re doing.