Migrants Manifesto for Issue based Electoral Contest
We, the Overseas Filipinos worldwide, urge each and everyone in the coming May electoral contest to implore all political parties, emerging parties and their respective candidates to bring forth a platform based campaign so that the electorate can choose credible persons who are worthy to lead the nation.
In order to advance democratic governance in the Philippines , there should be a structure or process of reform that promotes increasingly participatory and accountable governance. In this context, the will and voice of the people should be respected at all times and the sanctity of the ballots must be safeguarded.
The root causes of human insecurity in the Philippines – and thus, threats to overall peace and development – include conditions of inequity, with an elite few controlling power and economic resources; abject poverty; poor governance; injustice, abuse of authority and violations of human rights; and marginalization of minority groups. And yet, squandering of billions of pesos from legitimate and illegitimate sources had been a common scenario in a personality and patronage based electoral contest. The proposed platform based campaign is envisioned to change this bad practice. In order to sustain poverty reduction, there must be equitable growth and the poor people who are in the majority must have political power – i.e. with a real voice and space. The powerful and/or the elites—whether political leaders, corporations or other influential actors—must be held accountable for their actions; more specifically, they must be held accountable for their success or failure in their individual or party platform of promised good governance.
We are calling for robust, transparent, internally democratic and accountable political parties in order to develop a stronger democratic culture in the Philippines . Otherwise, the right to choose will remain to be pre-empted by the elites that own the political process, including the political organizations.
We challenge those who want to become legitimate servants and leaders to articulate a concrete and doable developmental plan aimed at the Filipino migrant workers around the world. We pledge to support legitimate servants of the people running for any public position that aggressively promote the interest of our sector on the following issues:
1) Institute meaningful comprehensive electoral reforms starting with the removal of the residency requirement inserted at the last minute by congress in the Absentee Voting Law. Introduce laws that will create a transparent campaign expenditures and verifiable financial source imposing a limit to individual, group, and corporate campaign donations.
2) Creation of an office with a Cabinet status such as the Ministry of Migration and Development that will truly work for the interests of migrant workers. This office must be led by a Minister whose primary task is to manage orderly labor migration, harness the development potentials of migration and development (co-development). Set up an advisory board composed of qualified, dedicated, and credible Overseas Filipinos to advice the Ministry. In addition, the Ministry must:
· See to it that the rights of migrants are protected
· Facilitate return migration and in such a way that overseas Filipinos who wish to return voluntarily remain active in the labor force or has the necessary means to secure his or her financial future including their families
· Monitor the performance of government agencies in charge of migrant workers (OWWA, etc.) and particularly to review structures relating to the migrant workers trust fund to enable migrants to have an effective voice and meaningful representation in policy formation, and to ensure proper administration and management of their fund.
· Explore ways to address present gaps and barriers that hinder the effective mobilization, distribution, monitoring, and accountability procedures, in order to achieve economies of scale in current Filipino diaspora giving, including possibilities of replicating the Mexican experience (3 x 1 program) [i]
· Facilitate creation of an enabling environment (investments, provide financial services including housing, insurance, education, savings, etc. for migrants) that fully harness the development potentials of Philippine migration
· Encourage multi-stakeholder approach to development and promote public-private partnerships [ii]
· Support and stimulate the transnational role of Overseas Filipinos so that they can contribute to the country’s development; while the government on the other hand, should establish a systematic way of tapping these skills (not only waiting for their remittances) [iii]
· Strengthen the capacity of Philippine consulates and representative offices worldwide to better serve the needs of migrant Filipino workers
3) Promote good governance, honesty, and accountability of our government servants from the highest to lowest position. The virtue of servant-leadership must be practiced.
4) Promote the welfare of our women, elderly and children.
5) Access to a better education for all. [iv]
We urge government groups, media facilities, civil society, church organizations, and other responsible citizens, to organize and support pre-election public forums and other similar initiatives requiring candidates or party representatives to debate and publicly present their platforms on where they stand regarding these migrant issues. This will enable the citizenry, including eligible overseas voters and members of their families in the Philippines , in making informed decisions and to help ensure that only those candidates with clear and sincere intentions of promoting the welfare of the migrant sector, their families, and millions of poor people in our country are elected to public office.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] The Mexican Hometown Association (HTA) experience through the Federación de Clubes de Zacatecanos del Sur de California is a good example. The Mexican government announced in July 2001 a "godfather program" that encourages Mexican-Americans to invest in Mexico . The state of Zacatecas depends heavily on remittances, but under the current 3-for-1 program, each dollar contributed by a migrant or HTA in the US for community development projects, is matched with an additional $3, one each from the federal, state and local governments. Under a new program, the Zacatecas state government and the InterAmerican Development Bank (IADB) provide infrastructure support and financing for returned migrants who invest their remittances in job-creating enterprises. The federación is composed of different clubs. Each club focuses on their respective hometown. The Federación speaks on behalf of the clubs in one voice and this becomes their strength. The federation becomes a mediator and negotiator on behalf of the member clubs. Organizations like the World Bank, IADB, UNDP, the Rockefeller Foundation and even the private sector relate with the Federación.
[ii] Private sector leadership in the Philippines and abroad should be developed in order to promote the Philippines as an investment destination.
[iii] An effective network should be developed to address this. On the strategy to collaborate with Diasporas: promoting knowledge networks and providing market access, there is the Philippine Brain Gain Network (BGN) among other networks. For example, further collaboration can be made between the BGN and the organizers of the Global Filipino Networking Conventions in order to come up with a more result-oriented agenda, more specifically to define a national policy for brain gain in order to harness overseas human resources more systematically.
[iv] Philippine education policy needs to be focused on technical skills and soft skills like scientific problem-solving, logical abstraction and teamwork. Greater collaboration must be undertaken by the DepEd and local authorities on technical academic reforms, particularly those pertaining to the curriculum and policy on language instruction.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Overseas Filipinos' legitimate aspirations glaringly absent in electoral debates
Overseas Filipinos Worldwide (OFW)
Blogspot: http://www.filipinosworldwide.blogspot.com/
Online Petition: http://www.petition online.com/ OFWMan/petition- sign.html
E-mail: ofwmanifesto@ yahoo.com
March 5, 2007
AN OPEN LETTER FOR THE PHILIPPINE ELECTORAL DEBATE 2007
Overseas Filipinos' legitimate aspirations glaringly absent in electoral debates
First of all, congratulations! This letter comes with our deepest anticipation for the forthcoming debate billed as "2007 Senatorial Debate — Moving the Economy Forward," in the forum organized by Philippines Inc. together with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, the Philippine Exporters Confederation, and the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry this coming March 14, 2007.
We are elated at the prospect of our future senators tackling the issues crucial to our survival as a nation and hopefully an opportunity to have a glimpse of their platform in moving our economy forward. We understand that the topics for the debate will include social issues such as management-labor relations, taxes, power and energy, peace and order, small and medium enterprise promotion, and foreign investments.
The topics of the debate are understandably geared towards the interest of the business sector as it undoubtedly affects the whole nation for better or worse. Unfortunately, legitimate aspirations and issues that matter most to Overseas Filipinos are not covered in the coming debate.
TODAY, as in EVERY SINGLE DAY, 3,000 Filipino families will be broken up so that their parents or older siblings can work abroad and bring food to the table. Overseas Filipinos now numbering close to 10 million comprise 10% of the nation’s population, scattered in at least 192 countries toiling under the scorching desert sun or bitterly cold winter. Some of them work in different levels of position and in various sectors: from domestic helpers in Hong Kong to high technology experts in Silicon Valley , California . Overseas Filipinos suffer family separation with dire social consequences, leaving communities that are mired in poverty, continually sliding into the abyss of desperation with no hope in sight. In some countries, they live in constant fear of being kidnapped or hit by bullets like in the case of Nigeria , Iraq , and Lebanon while women are subject of physical and sexual abuse.
In 2006 alone, the Central Bank of the Philippines officially recorded remittances at S$12.8 billion; that is, equivalent to almost 15% of our gross domestic product (GDP). This figure excludes substantive remittances made through informal channels as well as goods and services sent by Overseas Filipinos throughout the year. Assuming an average family size of 4 to 5, and that 4 million of the 7.3 overseas Filipinos are able to remit regularly, it might be said that about 16 to 20 million Filipinos are able to benefit directly from overseas labor migration. In general, remittances are often described as "the new form of development aid" and they are "the biggest source of foreign inflows" surpassing foreign direct investments (US$ 2 billion in 2006) and official development aid.
In addition, there has been a trend towards the repatriation of remittances, resources, as well as skills and technology, beyond what directly benefits Overseas Filipinos and migrant families in the form of diaspora philanthropy. It is an indication of an individual’s or group’s economic achievement or an expression of a sincere desire to contribute to uplift economic conditions of the Philippines to which Overseas Filipinos and migrants may wish to return to and retire in the future. These resources have gone into various community projects of needy and depressed areas in the country.
The Overseas Filipinos’/migrants’ achievements in terms of fueling the Philippine economy in the concrete form of remittances and diaspora philanthropy translate into a substantive political clout as a group or sector. At the same time, this sector represents the big consumers of products – communications, travels, nostalgic products (patronizing Made in the Philippines products), housing, insurance, food, luxury products, etc. - of the various business enterprises which are organizers of this debate. The Overseas Filipinos are de facto the biggest investors in our country and while direct and portfolio investments fell dramatically in time of financial crisis or when conflict arises, remittances generally increase. However, behind these billions of dollars are hard-working men and women who left their homes to earn a living whose regular remittances have become a lifeline for millions of poor people. Perhaps, it is not reasonable to request that our legitimate aspirations and our voices be heard, in the context of advocating for the necessary reforms and influencing public policy that directly affect the lives of millions of Overseas Filipinos, their families, and the country as a whole.
As we specifically challenge the candidates to include and articulate issues directly affecting the migrant sector:
1. We want to hear how our senatorial aspirants will tackle the issue of lost opportunities and wasted resources that could have been channeled towards development measures to spur economic growth with job-generating industries for the blighted communities we left behind.
2. We want to know how our senatorial candidates can help in formulating relevant enabling legislation for transparent and cohesive policies capturing a share of remittances for development in recognition and appreciation of the positive contributions of migrants to the development of our dear Philippines whilst also addressing the rights, interests and welfare of migrants before, during and after migration.
3. We reiterate what is described in the attached Migrants' Manifesto for Issue-based Electoral Contest: “We challenge those who want to become legitimate servants and leaders to articulate a concrete and doable developmental plan aimed at the Filipino migrant workers around the world. We pledge to support legitimate servants of the people running for any public position who aggressively promote the interest of our sector.” We pledge to support legitimate servants of the people running for any public position that aggressively promote the interest of our sector on the issues we have previously enumerated in the manifesto.
It is sad to note that our policy makers are more focused on deploying greater number of expatriates to toil in foreign lands while big business conglomerates keep us in awe with bigger malls and extravagant media blitzes that only perpetuate a consumer society but lacking the positive trickle down effects on large scale job generation. Thus the Philippines is missing out on the opportunities to be propelled out of the bottom ranks of the thriving Asian economy.
Lastly, while we see the issue of the opposition candidates on the need to debate the Garci scandal, vote tampering, impeachment, and other hot issues of the day, we want to hear a cohesive electoral reform on how we can have a clean, honest, and highly transparent electoral contest, and clear workable commitments to which we could hold parties and candidates accountable should they be elected to public office. Scandals used for grandstanding and garnering votes that will only be sidelined only to resurface next time around with different personalities involved is not solving the problem but only exacerbate a flawed electoral system that needs to be revamped in the first place.
We thank you in advance for your consideration on the above points in relation to the format and substance of the forthcoming debate.
Respectfully yours,
Overseas Filipinos Worldwide (OFW)
Contact address: Leila Rispens-Noel
Tel.: +31 (0182 514475
E-mail: leila@rispens.tweakdsl.nl
Blogspot: http://www.filipinosworldwide.blogspot.com/
Online Petition: http://www.petition online.com/ OFWMan/petition- sign.html
E-mail: ofwmanifesto@ yahoo.com
Blogspot: http://www.filipinosworldwide.blogspot.com/
Online Petition: http://www.petition online.com/ OFWMan/petition- sign.html
E-mail: ofwmanifesto@ yahoo.com
March 5, 2007
AN OPEN LETTER FOR THE PHILIPPINE ELECTORAL DEBATE 2007
Overseas Filipinos' legitimate aspirations glaringly absent in electoral debates
First of all, congratulations! This letter comes with our deepest anticipation for the forthcoming debate billed as "2007 Senatorial Debate — Moving the Economy Forward," in the forum organized by Philippines Inc. together with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, the Philippine Exporters Confederation, and the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry this coming March 14, 2007.
We are elated at the prospect of our future senators tackling the issues crucial to our survival as a nation and hopefully an opportunity to have a glimpse of their platform in moving our economy forward. We understand that the topics for the debate will include social issues such as management-labor relations, taxes, power and energy, peace and order, small and medium enterprise promotion, and foreign investments.
The topics of the debate are understandably geared towards the interest of the business sector as it undoubtedly affects the whole nation for better or worse. Unfortunately, legitimate aspirations and issues that matter most to Overseas Filipinos are not covered in the coming debate.
TODAY, as in EVERY SINGLE DAY, 3,000 Filipino families will be broken up so that their parents or older siblings can work abroad and bring food to the table. Overseas Filipinos now numbering close to 10 million comprise 10% of the nation’s population, scattered in at least 192 countries toiling under the scorching desert sun or bitterly cold winter. Some of them work in different levels of position and in various sectors: from domestic helpers in Hong Kong to high technology experts in Silicon Valley , California . Overseas Filipinos suffer family separation with dire social consequences, leaving communities that are mired in poverty, continually sliding into the abyss of desperation with no hope in sight. In some countries, they live in constant fear of being kidnapped or hit by bullets like in the case of Nigeria , Iraq , and Lebanon while women are subject of physical and sexual abuse.
In 2006 alone, the Central Bank of the Philippines officially recorded remittances at S$12.8 billion; that is, equivalent to almost 15% of our gross domestic product (GDP). This figure excludes substantive remittances made through informal channels as well as goods and services sent by Overseas Filipinos throughout the year. Assuming an average family size of 4 to 5, and that 4 million of the 7.3 overseas Filipinos are able to remit regularly, it might be said that about 16 to 20 million Filipinos are able to benefit directly from overseas labor migration. In general, remittances are often described as "the new form of development aid" and they are "the biggest source of foreign inflows" surpassing foreign direct investments (US$ 2 billion in 2006) and official development aid.
In addition, there has been a trend towards the repatriation of remittances, resources, as well as skills and technology, beyond what directly benefits Overseas Filipinos and migrant families in the form of diaspora philanthropy. It is an indication of an individual’s or group’s economic achievement or an expression of a sincere desire to contribute to uplift economic conditions of the Philippines to which Overseas Filipinos and migrants may wish to return to and retire in the future. These resources have gone into various community projects of needy and depressed areas in the country.
The Overseas Filipinos’/migrants’ achievements in terms of fueling the Philippine economy in the concrete form of remittances and diaspora philanthropy translate into a substantive political clout as a group or sector. At the same time, this sector represents the big consumers of products – communications, travels, nostalgic products (patronizing Made in the Philippines products), housing, insurance, food, luxury products, etc. - of the various business enterprises which are organizers of this debate. The Overseas Filipinos are de facto the biggest investors in our country and while direct and portfolio investments fell dramatically in time of financial crisis or when conflict arises, remittances generally increase. However, behind these billions of dollars are hard-working men and women who left their homes to earn a living whose regular remittances have become a lifeline for millions of poor people. Perhaps, it is not reasonable to request that our legitimate aspirations and our voices be heard, in the context of advocating for the necessary reforms and influencing public policy that directly affect the lives of millions of Overseas Filipinos, their families, and the country as a whole.
As we specifically challenge the candidates to include and articulate issues directly affecting the migrant sector:
1. We want to hear how our senatorial aspirants will tackle the issue of lost opportunities and wasted resources that could have been channeled towards development measures to spur economic growth with job-generating industries for the blighted communities we left behind.
2. We want to know how our senatorial candidates can help in formulating relevant enabling legislation for transparent and cohesive policies capturing a share of remittances for development in recognition and appreciation of the positive contributions of migrants to the development of our dear Philippines whilst also addressing the rights, interests and welfare of migrants before, during and after migration.
3. We reiterate what is described in the attached Migrants' Manifesto for Issue-based Electoral Contest: “We challenge those who want to become legitimate servants and leaders to articulate a concrete and doable developmental plan aimed at the Filipino migrant workers around the world. We pledge to support legitimate servants of the people running for any public position who aggressively promote the interest of our sector.” We pledge to support legitimate servants of the people running for any public position that aggressively promote the interest of our sector on the issues we have previously enumerated in the manifesto.
It is sad to note that our policy makers are more focused on deploying greater number of expatriates to toil in foreign lands while big business conglomerates keep us in awe with bigger malls and extravagant media blitzes that only perpetuate a consumer society but lacking the positive trickle down effects on large scale job generation. Thus the Philippines is missing out on the opportunities to be propelled out of the bottom ranks of the thriving Asian economy.
Lastly, while we see the issue of the opposition candidates on the need to debate the Garci scandal, vote tampering, impeachment, and other hot issues of the day, we want to hear a cohesive electoral reform on how we can have a clean, honest, and highly transparent electoral contest, and clear workable commitments to which we could hold parties and candidates accountable should they be elected to public office. Scandals used for grandstanding and garnering votes that will only be sidelined only to resurface next time around with different personalities involved is not solving the problem but only exacerbate a flawed electoral system that needs to be revamped in the first place.
We thank you in advance for your consideration on the above points in relation to the format and substance of the forthcoming debate.
Respectfully yours,
Overseas Filipinos Worldwide (OFW)
Contact address: Leila Rispens-Noel
Tel.: +31 (0182 514475
E-mail: leila@rispens.tweakdsl.nl
Blogspot: http://www.filipinosworldwide.blogspot.com/
Online Petition: http://www.petition online.com/ OFWMan/petition- sign.html
E-mail: ofwmanifesto@ yahoo.com
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