“IF WE want respect, we must demonstrate that we have political power!”
This was the consensus at a recent meeting of members of US Pinoys for Good Governance, the group that grew out of US Pinoys for Noynoy-Mar, which raised money and actively campaigned and voted in the last presidential elections.
The group agreed to draw up a short list of senatorial candidates and actively campaign for them, contribute to their war chest, and persuade friends and relatives in the Philippines, particularly those who depend on their financial support, to vote for them.
“Only by showing that we have a potent overseas voting bloc will we be given the respect we deserve,” the agitated Fil-Ams declared.
Why the USPGG members, all immigrants or dual citizens and all qualified to vote in the forthcoming senatorial elections, became so hot under the collar was because of the blunt answer to a question raised at the meeting:
How important are we overseas Filipinos to the leaders of our country?
Answer: As important as the money we send home. And not much more. That appears to be the harsh truth.
In late February, overseas Pinoys from the United States, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, countries in Asia and even South America answered the call of the Motherland, through the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, and attended the 2nd Global Summit of Filipinos in the Diaspora. The objective of the conference was to harness the skills and resources of the wandering Pinoys for national development.
At the same conference, delegates formally established the Global Filipino Diaspora Council, an idea proposed at the 1st Global Summit in late 2011 and developed further at a CFO-initiated gathering in Rome last year. The Council, led by Loida Nicolas-Lewis and Rodel Rodis, as chairman and president, respectively, would generate the desired synergy to effectively and speedily achieve the CFO’s laudable goal.
Unfortunately, the enthusiasm of the delegates to the 2nd Global Summit was dampened by three things. Firstly, President Aquino was too busy to personally speak at the conference. He sent a videotaped message instead. Secondly, according to Palace insiders, Aquino was also “too busy” to oblige a request of delegates to witness him sign the amended overseas voting bill that does away with the requirement for foreign-based voters to execute an affidavit stating that they would return to the Philippines within three years, under pain of imprisonment (as it turned out, the bill had not even been passed by Congress – a fact that the “Palace insiders” should have known in the first place).
Thirdly – and this was the unkindest cut of all – the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) ruled that 238,000 overseas Filipinos were no longer qualified voters, ostensibly for failing to cast their ballots in the last two elections.
It took a meeting with the COMELEC, arranged by leaders of the Global Filipino Diaspora Council, to persuade the poll body to reinstate the disenfranchised voters. But there’s no reason to celebrate yet, because some consular offices are still waiting for clear and specific instructions from the COMELEC, and those have yet to be given. It’s the classic chicken or egg impasse.
These grievances were aired at the USPGG meeting in Daly City. Being pragmatic, I suggested to the members that they should not get mad. They should just get even.
“Let’s face it,” I said. “We’re only important to the government because of the 20-plus billion dollars that we remit every year. That money keeps the Philippine economy afloat. But if the politicians and the COMELEC can have their way, they would prefer that we do not vote in this election or any other election in the future.”
It is the specter of an overseas voting bloc that the politicians are wary off. They don’t want voters who are not under their control. Theoretically, overseas Pinoys cannot be bought off or intimidated and we’re supposed to be more enlightened, having been exposed to the political process in more advanced countries.
But the theory is as real – or unreal – as the vaunted Catholic vote. There could be a Catholic vote if Catholics were as regimented as the members of some religious sects. Similarly, there could be an overseas voting bloc if Filipinos abroad could rally to a common cause.
This was proven, to some extent, in the last presidential elections. It was the perceived struggle between the corruption that the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo represented and the hope for honest governance offered by Noynoy Aquino that galvanized overseas Filipinos. In America, prominent community leaders organized US Pinoys for Noynoy-Mar, set up chapters in several states, raised money, persuaded relatives in the Philippines to defeat the candidates they saw as surrogates of Arroyo, and actively exercised their right of suffrage.
Whether or not the overseas vote provided the winning margin for Aquino is hard to tell. But the zeal which the overseas supporters demonstrated motivated many others to register as absentee voters, and encouraged a large number of those who had become naturalized citizens of their host countries to recover their Philippine citizenship and become dual citizens.
The key elements that fired up the overseas voters were, firstly, a cause they could identify with and, secondly, a set of candidates championing that cause.
At the USPGG meeting, I pointed out that these two elements were lacking in the forthcoming elections. We are aware that the Aquino government, waving the banner of Team PNoy, is promoting a set of senatorial candidates, and the triumvirate of Jojo Binay, Erap Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, represented by the UNA, has its own senatorial slate. We are also aware of several independent senatorial aspirants. But they all seem to be running on the strength of name recognition, political war chests, media hype and provincial ward leaders. No one represents a distinct ideology or platform of government. No one stands out as a champion of a cause to which the overseas voters can rally. And they are all mouthing the same cookie-cutter Motherhood pronouncements.
As a result, the overseas Filipinos are not as passionate about the coming elections as they were when it was a choice between Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Noynoy Aquino, with Manny Villar and Erap Estrada threatening to become spoilers.
“Frankly, we don’t know enough about the candidates to make an intelligent choice,” I told the USPGG members. “With no other basis for making a choice, those who decide to vote will likely do so along regional lines, while others will vote on the basis of name recognition.”
Having said that, I suggested that we look into the background of each of the candidates, check out the legislative performance of those currently in office or who are trying to regain their senate seats, dig up any negative records, check out rumors of corruption and other violations of the law – and then draw up a short list of candidates considered worthy of our support.
The suggestion was readily adopted. In fact, it turned out that in an earlier meeting of the national officers of USPGG, the same consensus on creating a short list of candidates had been discussed and agreed on.
We all agreed that, after drawing up the short list of candidates, we would actively campaign for them not just in the US but in all the countries where the Global Filipino Diaspora Council has members, as well as in the Philippines, among relatives and friends. This will be a test for overseas Pinoys. We either deserve respect, because we stand for a cause and prepared to back it with or votes – or we should, henceforth, keep our mouths shut.
“Unless the government and the politicians back home realize that we constitute a potent voting bloc, we will always be taken for granted,” I said. “They’ll take our money, say thank you, and turn their backs on us.”
And we will deserve to be ignored.
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