How politically involved are overseas Filipinos?

It will be interesting to see the real effect and the actual influence of the overseas Filipinos’ votes in the May 2004 election (assuming that it will not be cancelled or postponed with the many uncertain developments between now and election day) Having lived in America for more than 25 years, I feel that the real influence of overseas Filipinos in America in Philippine politics is highly exaggerated. Why? Filipinos here are generally not politically active as they are more concerned with their work and their socio-economic well-being and they spend more time in their weekend activities at home or other places of recreation like Las Vegas, which is also known as Lost Wages. Although California has the biggest concentration of Filipino population in the USA, I have serious doubts if Filipinos will take a day-off from work and pay for parking fees and snacks in the Philippine Consulate in SF or LA just to register and actually vote in May 2004. Of course, political campaigning with all the stars and starlets, Pinoy style, has not yet arrived in our cities! Time will tell.

As I sometimes attend Filipino gatherings, I dare say that the average Filipino does not yet know the requirements to be able to register and vote. There is a need for massive work in marketing and education to be done by the Comelec, the Philippine embassies and consulates and their deputized organizations to achieve a critical mass of voters. This scenario must also be viewed with the ongoing economic downturn of the US in the background, aggravated by a massive budget deficit and rising unemployment nationwide and particularly in California. For the Filipino family whose economic stability is shaken, Philippine politics will not be in his top l0 priority.

On the other hand, Filipino expatriates or OFWs in the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore or Japan and Europe are probably more motivated to be involved in Philippine politics than the Filipinos in North America simply because the vast majority of the former group are probably contract workers whose work is "temporary" in nature and they are expected to go home and have their own businesses or just enjoy their retirement if they have earned and invested wisely during their years of working outside the Philippines. Filipinos in Canada or in the USA, unlike their counterparts in Middle East countries, can become permanent residents (green card holders) and then after five years have the option to apply for US or Canadian citizenship once they have tasted higher standard of living, seen greater opportunities, peace and order, better education and stability for their families. I am inclined to believe that the US and Canada are still the top choice of many Filipinos who want to immigrate to other countries. Unfortunately, due to 9-ll, it is now more difficult to just come to America.

Another factor why it will be harder to motivate Filipinos in California to be more involved in Philippine politics is the historic recall of the California governor brought about by the huge $38 billion deficit (after a sizable surplus five years ago) in the California budget. Governor Gray Davis now holds the distinction of being the first governor to be subjected to a Recall Election. On October 7, 2003, California voters will vote Yes or No to the Davis Recall Initiative. If Yes wins, the candidate, presumably from among the Republican candidates, who garners the most votes will replace Davis and become our new governor to finish Gray Davis’ unfinished term for another three years. As this current development is affecting the massive cutbacks in existing government budgets causing a domino effect in cities and municipalities, increasing unemployment, rising interest rates and taxes, we in America, including Filipinos, are also being psychologically if not economically, affected. As Americans often say to rationalize many things: "It is the economy, stupid!"

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I vividly recall the excellent movie The Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, where both play prisoners, but their dialogues are quite profound as they go on their business of life as prisoners. Red (Freeman) tells Andy (Robbins) that "hope is a dangerous thing" and their ongoing discussions surrounding life and the future are quite profound. Go rent the movie, you will learn something about life, hope and one’s future. Who knows, you can become like Andy and become happier and more fulfilled than most people around you.

In a somewhat related manner, to provide hope and much needed assistance to our compatriots in the Philippines who are struggling to make a better future, ProgressiveTimes, a cyber-space forum which I created last summer, has given birth to its first son, ProgressiveTimes Action Group that will initiate, help fund and monitor concrete ProgressiveAction project(s) in the Philippines. ProgressiveTimes has now over l,000 subscribers from all over the world whose common bond is their desire to make a difference in the lives of our less fortunate brothers and sisters in the Philippines. Through the wonders of the Internet, we in America, for instance, are learning what’s happening in many places in the Philippines as far as a remote village in Samar, Koronadal City, Bacolod, Naga, Zambales, Cayagan, La Union or in Mindoro as well as other cities/countries in the world. We have unpaid ProgressiveTimes "press correspondents" and volunteer "bureau chiefs" in many areas of the world who describe to the Forum first hand, often with digital pictures, what’s happening in their turf or local environment. Although many miles or oceans apart, through our ProgressiveTimes Forum, we can easily nurture personal relationships as we become all wired and connected.

A few months ago, through ProgressiveTimes, a small group of PT members raised funds to send a pallet of about 50 boxes of elementary books to a remote barangay in San Antonio, Himamaylan in Negros, about an hour from Bacolod City, through the initiative of a reading teacher named Diane Verba Lamela and the assistance of Loreto Quevedo Dimaandal from the Books for the Barrios Foundation of Nancy and Dan Harrington in Northern California . The entire town led by their mayor is reportedly now involved by promising to build a decent library to properly house the hundreds of books for the children.

By next month, this PT Action Group will again select a specific project to assist, implement, and monitor its successful completion. With high hopes and financial contributions from PT members and their friends, we hope to have more ongoing project(s) every month. All activities as well as full accounting of contributions will be posted in our www.Katipunan-USA website.

So if you have a project in mind and/or desire to belong to our global forum to help make a difference, simply send an e-mail to subscribe to: ProgressiveTimes-subscribe@yahoogroups. com. Be a part, share and give hope to others and together we all can make a difference.

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E-mail the writer at erdelusa@hotmail.com or drbannatiran@yahoo.com.