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Strategies and Approaches

The movement of overseas Filipinos have time and again employed different strategies and approaches. These include welfare service provisions, policy recommendations to the Philippine government, campaign for the ratification of ILO and UN Conventions governing migrant workers and their families, international and local campaigns on specific migrant issues and concerns, education, solid organizing and mobilizing economic and political struggles on migrant and related issues.

But what prove to be more relevant and more empowering are the last three approaches mentioned above.

a) Education and Solid Organizing

1. Education

It is imperative to develop the sectoral movement of migrant Filipinos in the country. The direction of work is towards addressing the fundamental issues and problems in the country. Hence, the sectoral movement should be visible and active in pursuing the issues, concerns and demands of compatriots abroad as well as the major issues confronting the Philippine society.

In doing this, migrant workers must be properly equiped with the understanding and grasp of the basic problems of the Filipino people - the root causes of forced migration.

The series of campaigns launched by Filipino migrants would have not been successful if the migrant workers were not organized. In fact the campaign itself helped hasten organizing efforts in many countries.

Of course organizing and waging a campaign against anti-migrant policies will not be complete without undergoing education work among the rank and file members of the organizations concerned. All of those engaged in the campaign have to understand the issues and its implications on the rights of the migrants and how these are related to their daily lives.

Education that shares the lessons and experiences of its own sectors in dealing with their different issues is very important. It provides guidance among migrants on their day to day actions and decision making such as what forms of protests should they effectively employ and how to gather more support for the campaign even from advocates and other entities. Likewise, it is important to enlighten migrants by showing them the links of a particular issue among important national burning issues in their respective homeland.

2. Solid Organizing

Organizing takes various forms depending on the specific conditions in the given country. Migrant organizations usually take the form of associations along regional and sectoral groupings (i.e. Ilocanos, Visayans, women, youth, etc.) national minorities (Cordillera, Moro, etc.), territorial formations (West Coast, Bay area, etc.), lines of interests (cultural, sports, religious, etc.) or in alliances. Formation of support groups for mass organizations in the Philippines are also encouraged.

Forming an organization undergoes a process or step-by-step method. It begins with initial social investigation to building contacts, organizing groups, a committee of organizing groups and the formation of a formal mass organization that will genuinely uphold the interest of migrant Filipinos and the Filipino people.

The step-by-step organizing yields a solid and active participation of members in an organization. A solid organization is very important because it binds the membership into one voice that will pave changes to their conditions and to the situation of the Philippine society.

b) Formation of Strategic and Tactical Alliances

An alliance is an expression of unity and cooperation of various migrant organizations towards a common aspiration, interest or objective. An alliance may be built on a temporary or long term basis depending on the basis for its formation. A temporary alliance is formed based on the collective unity to launch an issue-based campaign. A long-term alliance is formed to pursue the continuity of assistance and cooperation.

Alliance building can be formed among Filipinos and among different nationalities of migrants. Its form may vary depending on its basis of unity and membership. For tactical alliances, this could take on the form against excessive placement fees, for repatriation of stranded workers or against high cost of travel documents for undocumented workers willing to be repatriated back home.

For long term alliances, one common form among traditional Filipino organizations in Hong Kong is the setting up of federations of province or region wide organizations. Another is based on defending the rights and welfare of Filipino migrant workers and linking them up with the whole Filipino progressive movement back home like the UNIFIL. Both are formal alliances in the sense that they have a general assembly composed of representatives of organizations under them, an executive committee and a secretariat. Formation of an alliance with different nationalities takes on another form. An example of this is the AMCB in Hong Kong. Although it is a long term alliance, it does not have any formal structure other than a spokesperson. This is because its membership of five formations of different nationalities work in solidarity with each other in defending the rights and welfare of migrant workers in Hong Kong and have different levels of consolidation. Each member formation also have their own issues that are better addressed to their own countries.

Alliances must also have active and mass based organizations under it as a prerequisite. If not, it will only become a paper formation with no mass following. We should also distinguish between a formation of mass or peoples organizations from NGOs which have no mass membership and whose main tasks are to provide services and support to grassroots organizations.

Guiding Principles in Alliance building

The following are guiding organizational principles that must be observed and practiced within an alliance: decision making by consensus; the majority cannot dictate on the minority; the minority cannot veto the majority; mutual help and protection; and mutual benefit and cooperation. These are principles that guide the continuing unity of migrant organizations wherever they are and in countries they are in. These principles will also ensure that the right of each member organization is assured and democracy is observed and practiced within the alliance. In a long-term alliance, the general assembly is the highest decision-making body. Under it is the executive body and the secretariat. The executive body serves as the implementing organ in between congresses, making sure that the unity and programs decided by the congress is smoothly implemented while the secretariat does the day-to-day operation and tasks within the alliance.

Reaching out to locals and other advocates

Local groups in the host country specially workers organizations, church individuals/groups, NGO's, students/academicians, legislators and other sympathetic sectors must be reached out to support campaigns and other needs of migrant workers. They should also be encouraged to join and actively participate in campaigns against anti-migrant, anti-worker proposals and policies.

This is in the context of establishing a strong solidarity between migrants and the local people, especially now when there is an unprecedented economic crisis wherein the migrants are being used as scapegoats by host governments on woes of local workers. At the same time, new anti-migrant policies are being introduced like in Hong Kong and Taiwan. A forum to discuss common issues with local workers and supporting also the local workers in their own struggles will help in forging a common front against against exploitation.

Coordinating local campaigns with the homefront

Beside what was stated earlier in the importance of education work, local campaigns of migrants must be coordinated in the homefront since the main target of any such campaigns should be the Philippine government. This is because the government has a labor export policy to the extent that it has targetted one million new jobs for abroad last year. As such, it is not sincere in addressing the numerous problems besetting the migrants but in fact is part of the problem.

It imposes various fees on its own citizens wishing and those already working abroad and remains indifferent to their plight. This extends to just accepting new anti-migrant policies such as those implemented in Taiwan and proposed in Hong Kong and just tolerating existing policies in several other countries. The Philippine government has this stance so as not to antagonize host governments importing cheap Filipino labor lest it hampers the earnings of the RP government through the dollar remittances sent by its citizens working abroad.

There is also a need to create a strong public opinion on the homefront on the disservice that the Philippine government is doing on a little more than 10 percent of its population working abroad and link it to the overall movement for national independence and democracy. The long term solution to forced migration is the resolution of the ever deepening crisis that Philippine society is experiencing brought about by a backward, agrarian and non-industrialized society.