December 27, 2013 (Davao City, Mindanao) – The Filipino Channel (TFC) takes its partnership with the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) further and supports the Philippine Migrants Rights’ Watch (PMRW) as the network joins the 2nd regional forum on migration held recently in Ateneo de Davao in Jacinto, Davao . The regional forum, the very first one held in Davao City, is part of the 2013 Month of Overseas Filipinos (MOF), a month-long undertaking mounted by the Inter-Agency Committee on the Month of Overseas Filipinos (IAC-MOF) chaired and co-chaired by the PMRW and the CFO respectively.
Dubbed “Balik Pilipinas: Empowering Returning Overseas Filipinos and their Families,” the forum recognizes the reverse phenomenon that is the return of OFs to the Philippines and discussed the joint support that that these Filipinos can get from government and civil society as they reintegrate to Philippine society. Carmelita Nuqui, president of the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch and chairperson of the IAC-MOF said the general objective of the forum is to “mainstream the concept of migration at the local level.” Specifically, Nuqui said: “the forum aims to empower returning overseas Filipinos and their families by way of introducing them to various initiatives offered by the government as well as civil society groups so that they can fully reintegrate, make use of their learned skills and experiences or even invest some of their resources for nation-building.”
Professor Lourdesita Sobrevega-Chan of the Ateneo de Davao University said that the OFs continue to play a huge role in nation-building and so the need for the OF sector to reintegrate physically including financially and psychologically including emotionally, are as important. Given the weight of these needs, Chan assured that the forum theme “BALIK PINAS carries a message of hope, and evokes that there is dawn for returning migrants and the reunification of their families.”
In pursuit of this positive outlook for OFs, the forum attended by 310 participants from the government and civil society organizations, academe, OFs and their families, and other stakeholders in the migration process including TFC, noted essential points from representatives from government agencies and civil society representatives regarding available services specifically for Filipinos returning to their homeland under the forum segment “Services and Opportunities for the Economic Empowerment of Overseas Filipinos and their Families.”
To kick-off the first part of the forum, Elizabeth Marie Estrada, OIC director of National Reintegration Center for OFWs, corrected the notion that the forum is asking OFs to return home but is instead, just providing them options for their choice of livelihood plus a multi-sectoral support system should they decide to do so.
Establishing the framework of government support, CFO Project Manager Raul Alcantara, proudly announced the launch of BaLinkBayan Integrated Web Based Services for Overseas Filipinos. According to Alcantara, the BaLinkBayan is aimed to be a portal of all services that OFs need should they decide to come home and especially if they wish to set up their own business.
With focus on the financial aspect, Arnel Adrian Salva of the Economic and Financial Learning Center of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas stressed Chan’s discussion on the important role of remittances to the Philippine economy and how OFs can put their remittances to more productive use through BSPs financial literacy programs.
In support of these learning programs, Lilia Silda of the Region XI Department of Trade and Industry, presented her agencies’ programs for OFs to build their own businesses and explore investment opportunities in order to propagate a “cycle of prosperity.” These include business development services (BDS) to the identified micro enterprises and small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), which will make OFs competitive in the domestic and export industries.
Other institutions with support programs for OFs include Atty. Antoinette Diaz of the Region XI Pag-IBIG Fund who said that to address the three million OF members, the Pag-ibig has mounted the following programs: savings; housing loan, multi-purpose and calamity loan as well as specific programs that help OFW: special assistance programs which provides aid during Middle East and North Africa conflicts and tragedies such as the Japan Quake and Tsunami; and OFW Center, a one-stop shop for all Pag-IBIG transactions. Atty. Diaz encouraged OFs to contribute more in order to get more benefits.
In the second part of the forum anchored on the theme, “Civil Society and International Organizations Initiatives in the Economic Empowerment of Overseas Filipinos and their Families,” the forum tapped resource persons to discuss the current scenario in terms of overseas migration and options for returning OFs in terms of the financial, psychological and cultural aspects.
Benjamin Lelis of the International Organization for Migration kicked off the discussion by focusing on the decentralization of government programs and services through the establishment of migrant resource centers, “time and space-shifting facilities” whose objective is to provide government services to the grassroots level or the local communities where OFs, more often than not, avail of migrant services.
These services can range from financial to social and Maria Angela Villalba of the UNLAD KABAYAN said that the local government unit (LGU) of Davao for one can provide the avenues for the returning migrants.
Earlier in the forum, Davao City Councilor Antoinette Principe addressed this need for LGU intervention. Delivering the speech of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte she said: “as a public servant, the welfare of Filipino people always comes first, even those who are abroad. The city of Davao actively encourages its OFs to participate and be involved on issues of national concern and hoped that overseas work merely becomes an option and not as a perceived necessity for the development of the city of Davao.”
In addition to this role of the government units, Atty. Cecilia Jimenez, former Chairperson of the Geneva Forum for Philippine Concerns, shared that this role extends to the legislative, especially in policy-making, specifically on battling human trafficking and illegal recruitment. She said that the government should provide an “enabling environment” for returning OFs.
The forum attendees also heard for themselves how two successful OFs’ migration turned out for the best given the opportunities presented them. Myrna Padilla, former domestic helper for over 20 years and a successful owner of Mynd Dynamic Team, Inc., an IT-BPO company located on the southernmost island of Mindanao, talked about the road to her success. Getting computer literacy from her seven year-old ward and inspired to do something for others, she built OFW Watch.com, an online based community that tracks and caters to the needs of an OFW through an online forum patterned after Facebook. Retired captain Norberto Bajienting was a former seafarer for 20 years talked about how he established Southeast Mindanao Transport Multi-purpose Cooperative. As co-founder of Southeast Mindanao Transport Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SEMTRAMPCO), he said that one of the challenges of putting up a business is the fear that the capital might not return, knowing that what is at stake is the fruits of his labor from working abroad.
Dr. Marla Asis of Scalabrini Migration Center ended the forum with the mission to support these dreams and resolve certain apprehensions. Dr. Asis said: “we have to accept that not all OFs would want to come home. The best that we can do is to help them prepare when they decide to come back.”
Recommendations included a single database for all returning migrants including their demographics, business venture and other valuable data; integrated policies and programs; a performance audit of government agencies that cater to returning migrants; over-all decentralization of government services; and OFs’ physiological reintegration.” She hoped that with these improvements, OFs have wider options when they decide to come home to Philippines.
The regional forum was also supported by Pag-IBIG, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the Ateneo Migration Center. Co-chair CFO and TFC, are partners for programs that aim to support OFs journey overseas and back to the Philippines.
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