Jennifer Gordon-Russell, a.k.a. Jenny Wallum, first arrived in the Philippines in the early 80s with her economist husband Peter Wallum and younger daughter. These were the years of martial law and the Marcos’s sovereignty; the days when traffic was light and spouses of ADB staff were not allowed to work in the Philippines. Jennifer may not have wanted to take on a presidential dictatorship but she was not willing to put up with the dictates of a bank. She was told to go home if she didn’t like it. “Home is where your husband is,” she insists. And eventually, with help, she persuaded the bank to let her work, and has stayed firmly at her husband’s side ever since.
In the meantime, she established a pre-kindergarten class at the British School Manila (BSM) for 4-5 year olds. Back then BSM was a simple, low level building on spacious grounds in Merville Park, somewhere behind Nomads, and there she taught these kids to read and write, a role she truly loved.
Jenny also loves to write poetry, and has even published a short book of poems, many about her experiences in the Philippines. Her profile page made me laugh at her acute self-analysis:
…’raised in a senior boys Approved School ensured that originality of thought, tenacity and totally annoying behaviour started early.’
This learned behaviour was enhanced by the fact that she was born of mixed ancestry in the north of England, a region renowned for its spirited individuality and feisty attitude, which Jenny has in spades.
Jenny and Peter have lived through all the natural disasters of the past thirty years in Manila: the earthquake that measured 7.8 in 1990 and killed almost 7,000 people; the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, and Typhoon Ondoi in 2009, which dumped more rain on Quezon City than Hurricane Katrina did on Louisiana.
Out of Pinatubo came a new phase in Jenny’s life, organizing EVAC Foundation (Entrepreneur Volunteer Assistance Charity) which helps the indigenous Aeta, reputedly the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines, who had been living in the forests and mountains of northern Luzon. Pinatubo’s rivers of lahar swept them dramatically from the forests and a way of life they had enjoyed for thousands of years, and cast them adrift in the twentieth century. The EVAC Foundation has developed a range of training and micro-loan programs, educational scholarships, adult literacy and livelihood projects.
We also talked about the People’s Power Revolution in 1986 which deposed President Marcos and restored democracy to the Philippines. Expatriates had been warned to stay away from EDSA as General Fabian Ver, Marcos’s Chief of Staff, was threatening to fire on the protestors, so they watched everything on local television. “We stayed on for the revolution and every coup that followed” she tells me. “We did not run away.”
Jennifer remembers yellow ribbons tied on every tree in memory of assassinated Senator Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino and as a symbol of the EDSA People Power Revolution.
She also remembers climbing over the back wall of the Magallanes estate to watch the rebels strafing the runway at Villamor Airbase. When I asked if she had been scared, she told me that she had never been afraid. “I felt that I could trust the Filipino people… I felt [they] were above base cruelty.
We sit in her den, sharing the sofa with her family of cats, and discuss how Manila has changed in thirty years. There were 10 pesos to the US dollar back then, she tells me. There were no shopping malls and only primitive supermarkets: SM was just starting up. Refrigeration was scarce even for meat and frozen goods. Fresh food was hard to come by. There were no high rise apartment buildings, and EDSA was a wide, open road with trees up the central strip. McKinley Road was almost deserted, a road that ended at the Fort Bonifacio army base, secured from the general public.
Despite the changes in the scenery, Jenny continues to stay busy and involved, displaying a humanitarian, pro-active patronage towards her host country that is incredibly inspiring. Her other long-standing commitment is more light-hearted. Jenny loves singing and has sung in the Asia Minors and her church choir for many years. Every year, on Remembrance Day, she leads a quartet in singing “I Vow to Thee My Country.”
Yet I find myself wondering which country she is singing about: England or the Philippines?
*Originally written for Inklings Magazine, May 2013