菲佣（filipino domestic workers）就是来自菲律宾的高级佣工，也就是家政服务专业人员。菲佣有文化、懂英语。素有“世界上最专业的保姆”之美誉。在世界家政行业中“菲佣”可以算得上是一个世界知名品牌。

Peaches is one of an estimated 350,000 Filipinos in Japan and one of a staggering 8m, about a tenth of the Philippine population, working as domestic helpers, seafarers, labourers, factory workers, nurses, caregivers and entertainers in almost every corner of the globe. Filipinos have been seeking work abroad in steadily rising numbers since the early 1970s, when thousands of labourers were hired to build roads and other civil works in newly rich Middle Eastern states.

桃子是日本约35万菲律宾人中的一员，也是惊人的800万（约菲律宾人口的十分之一）几乎遍布全球当家庭佣人、水手、劳工、工厂工人、护士、保姆和艺人中的一员。自70年代早期以来，菲律宾人寻求海外工作的人数一直在稳步增长，当时数以千计的劳工受雇到新富起来的中东国家修建道路和其他土建工程。

In a country where two-fifths of the people live on less than $2 a day, working as a “Japayuki”, as Filipina hostesses in Japan are called, is often all that it takes to give families back home a better life. Filipinas working in Japan make an average of $19,000 a year, almost four times what Filipina maids earn in Hong Kong, according to an Asian Development Bank study, and 19 times the average wage in the Philippines. They send about a third of their income home, according to the study.

在菲律宾，五分之二的人每天的生活费不足2美元，当一名“Japayuki”（菲律宾女招待在日本的名字）通常就完全可以给国内的家人更好的生活了。据亚洲开发银行(Asian Development Bank)的一份研究显示，菲律宾女人每年在日本平均可以赚到1.9万美元，几乎是菲佣在香港赚的四倍，是菲律宾平均工资的19倍。据该研究称，她们将大约三分之一的收入寄回家。

Mr Ali of the ADB says he does not think it is all worth it. “When people have to move from one country to another for economic reasons, there's a large element of human tragedy. The pain, the suffering, the humiliation that go with it; that part of the story cannot be forgotten.”

亚洲开发银行的阿里先生表示，他认为完全不值得。“当人们出于经济原因不得不从一个国家搬到另一个国家时，存在很大程度的人间悲剧成分。与之而来的痛苦、辛酸、羞辱；这一部分不能被忘记。”