On 24 November 1997, the Federation of Filipino Organizations in the Netherlands (FFON) organized a Public Forum on the theme, Philippine International Migration: Issues and Concerns of Filipino Migrants in the Netherlands. The forum was held at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The public forum was a joint effort of FFON, Alayon-Mindanao and Stichting Kapatiran. Kapatiran was the project holder, in-charge of submitting the project proposal to NOVIB and NCDO for funding.
In order to ensure wide coverage and encourage participation from the Filipino community, the initiators of the project decided to appoint FFON as the implementing body. FFON is a coordinating body composed of 10 Filipino migrant organizations in the Netherlands namely, Alay sa Bayan (ALAB), Commission on Filipino Migrant Workers (CFMW), Damayang Pilipino sa Nederlands (Damayan), Dutch-Philippine Association (DPA), Kapitbahayan, Kababayan, Philippine Seamen Assistance Program (PSAP), Stichting Bayanihan, Stichting Silangan, and Stichting Kapatiran. FFON in turn formed a working group composed of 10-11 individuals mandated to prepare, implement and follow up the project.
Why a public forum on Philippine
international migration in the Netherlands?
Compared to other "allochtonen" (foreigners), Filipinos comprise a relatively small community in the Netherlands but a fast growing one. Since the first batches of nurses and seamstresses in the 1960s, Filipinos, in groups or individuals, have come to the Netherlands as seafarers (beginning in the 1970s), spouses in intercultural marriages, performing artists, students and political refugees (1980s), and au pairs and oil rig workers (1990s). At least 300 Filipino seamen pass Dutch ports daily and around 500 Filipinos work in the oil rigs in the North Sea. At least one third of the au pairs in the Netherlands are Filipinas.
The growth of the Filipino community in the Netherlands is part of a major Philippine phenomenon - that of large-scale overseas migration, especially the diaspora of Filipino migrant workers. In the last few decades, over six and a half million Filipinos have left the Philippines in search of better economic opportunities abroad. Various factors like poverty, high unemployment and social inequities in the Philippines; aggressive labor export programs of the Philippine government, the globalization of labor, etc. have brought about this phenomenon.
Filipino migrants all over the globe have experienced a host of problems: defrauds, low wages, poor living and working conditions, physical and mental abuse, sexual harassment and attacks, discrimination, government neglect, etc. No matter how tolerant and liberal the Dutch government and society have been, Filipinos in the Netherlands have nevertheless encountered some serious problems. From time to time, one gets to read or hear of Filipino seamen, unpaid for months, being involved in a strike at the Rotterdam harbor, of Filipina au pairs being overworked or maltreated, or of Filipina "brides" being tricked into prostitution. Many Filipino residents encounter difficulties in finding appropriate work (even though most have had university-level education) or experience social isolation and racial discrimination.
It is in order to bring to the attention of the Dutch and Philippine governments, social institutions, and non-profit organizations the problems and concerns of Filipino migrants in the Netherlands, that we are holding this public forum on Philippine international migration.
Topics
Speakers
Leonides T. Caday is the Philippines' Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs with responsibility over Filipino migrant workers. He graduated from University of the Philippines with the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) in 1954 and passed the Philippine Bar the same year. Caday was chief of mission at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1981-86; director-general for American Affairs in 1986-88; consul-general at Los Angeles in 1989-91; and director-general for Middle East and African Affairs in 1991. He was appointed Ambassador Extra-ordinary and Plenipotentiary to Bahrain in 1992-94 and to South Africa in 1995-96.
Romeo Candazo is elected to the House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress from the City of Marikina (part of Metro Manila). He is a member of the House Committee on Labor and Employment and chairman of the Subcommittee on International Territorial Disputes and International Environment of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is also the chairman of the Special Committee for Overseas Contract Workers. Before being elected congressman, he was a foreign service officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Randolf S. David is currently full professor at the Department of Sociology, University of the Philippines. He has been a member of the U.P. Faculty since 1967, teaching courses in general sociology, political sociology, and development sociology. In 1983, the United Nations University in Tokyo appointed him South-East Asian Coordinator of its Asian Perspectives Program.. Prof. David is also a well-known TV personality. For eleven years now, he has been hosting the popular and multi-awarded TV program, "Public Life", a weekly public affairs talk show.
Ms. Villalyn Lachica is the head of the secretariat of KAAGAPAY (Overseas Contract Workers' Resource and Service Center) ) based in Cotabato City in Mindanao, southern Philippines. KAAGAPAY has mobilized local communities in raising funds, negotiated with government agencies, conducted media advocacy work and extended material and moral support to Filipino workers abroad and their families in the Philippines, especially those in distress. Ms.Lachica has been involved for five years in development work, particularly in local community organizing.
Panelists
Participants
The Forum on Philippine International Migration was attended by approximately 100 participants from different sectors: representatives of various Filipino organizations based in the Netherlands, the Philippines, and several European countries, Philippine solidarity and support groups, representatives of various funding and development agencies, social institutions, parliamentarians, policy decision-makers, academicians, and journalists. Five pre-forum consultations on Philippine international migration issues and problems involved about 150 Filipino migrants in the Netherlands.
Pre-Forum Consultations
Results of the pre-forum consultations - the gathering of experiences of the Filipinos in the Netherlands- were presented during the second half of the public forum.. Five consultations were held in Utrecht, Eindhoven, Groningen, Amsterdam and Rotterdam involving the major Filipino sectors: the Filipino residents, au pairs, seafarers/oil-rig workers and the undocumented. Approximately, 135 participants attended the five consultations.
To facilitate the consultations, the working group decided to form a research team. Data on the situation, problems and concerns of the Filipino migrants in the Netherlands were gathered which were later discussed and confirmed by the participants of the consultations.
The most common issues, demands and recommendations expressed by the participants of the pre-forum consultations are listed below (for details of the results of the research, please refer to Part II)
From the Filipino residents:
Serious and proper assessment of foreign diplomas
If the Dutch authorities are serious in letting the foreigners, migrants and ethnic groups be independent and in sending them to work, they should seriously assess and evaluate the foreign diplomas and other educational certificates in this country.
Customized courses and studies are needed to bridge whatever gap is found between the foreign and Dutch educational system. Only in this way, can migrants participate fully in the society giving them a chance to optimally use their capacities, talents, and skills.
Discrimination
The Dutch expression "Onbekend is onbemind" partly explains not only the unemployment problem but also the delay of the integration process. Without sincere efforts from the majority population to accept the allochtonen (the minority population) the problem of ethnocentricism and racial prejudices will remain. It is high time that something has to be done in order to minimize this problem in the future. Rules and regulations are necessary. Attitude building might even be more effective starting with grade school and high school levels. Learning cultures other than the Dutch and European can stimulate the interest of both the Dutch and the allochtonen children to come in contact with each other. Different methodologies should be used to make the lessons more interesting.
The Filipino residents, being the least vulnerable among the sectors, have expressed openness and willingness to support and engage advocacy work on matters related to issues and concerns of Filipino migrant community in the Netherlands, in Europe and beyond.
From the Au-Pairs
Issues and Concerns:
Recommendations
From the undocumented
Issues and concerns
Proposals
This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This would be an excellent opportunity for the Dutch government to ratify the Convention, and become the first country in Europe to ratify the Convention of Migrant Rights.
From the seafarers
Issues and concerns
Recommendations
The five pre-forum consultations also expressed the willingness of Filipino residents who were present to be involved in the assistance work for seafarers. Seafarers differ from other migrants in terms of their extreme mobility, and as a result their problems usually need immediate response upon contact. More often than not, the Filipino seafarer would find it easier and faster to relay their problems and needs to a fellow Filipino, who at least could understand his language and culture. Given the number of ports and the problem of personnel, it is worth considering how this goodwill and commitment could be transformed into something more concrete.
Therefore, the participants proposed the following:
From the oil-rig workers
There is no standard contract for this group. Many Filipino offshore workers do not have SOFI or taxpayer's numbers, specially during their first year of work.
Many Filipino offshore workers are thus not compulsorily insured through the Dutch industrial insurance law like the Health Law (ZF), the Disability Insurance Law (WAO), the Unemployment Law (WW) and the National Health Insurance Law (ZFW) even if they live in the Netherlands because their employer is often based outside the Netherlands.
Most of the offshore workers feel the need of timely, proper and reliable information regarding their legal status.
Recommendations
It was during the consultations that the participants clearly expressed to FFON and the members of the working group to follow up the above issues, concerns and recommendations. Creative and useful activities must be initiated in order to achieve concrete results. Failing to do this would mean wasting all the efforts exerted.
The Public Forum Proper
The organizer targeted about 100 participants. The actual number of speakers, panelists and participants during the forum itself reached 108 coming from the Philippines, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, USA, and the Netherlands (Please see list of participants.) It was interesting to note the attendance of second generation Filipinos who presented a new area of concerns such as conflict of interests, cultural identities, etc.
On the basis of the numbers of participants, we can conclude that the forum is successful.
The presence of a strong line-up of key speakers and panelists definitely contributed to the success of the forum. Of the original targeted speakers, only the Federatie van Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV) or the Federation of Dutch Labor Movement declined to participate. We would like to underscore our disappointment over the fact that the speaker from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs cancelled her appointment barely two hours prior to her scheduled presentation. The reason given was unacceptable to the working group and we plan to write a protest letter soon.
What we lost from FNV, we gained it from Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond (CNV) or National Christian Labor Union. Instead of one panelist, three CNV staff members attended the forum and they made significant contributions during the discussion.
The Philippine government through the Philippine Embassy, showed serious interest in the forum by sending a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs all the way from Manila. Aside from Mr. Rolando Gregorio of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Philippine government was represented by the Philippine Ambassador, the director of Overseas Workers Welfare Assistance, a representative from the Commission on Filipino Overseas, and the Minister Counsellor.
All the speakers came well prepared. Their presentation papers were sent ahead of time, giving the working group the chance to reproduce and distribute them to the forum participants.
As expected, most of the critique from the participants as well as from other speakers was mainly focused on the inadequacy of the Philippine government in protecting the rights of the Filipino migrants and overseas workers and in attending to their needs. The delegates from the Philippine government were disappointed about what they called unfair judgment on the performance of the government. They sent the working group a letter after the forum to express their objections. For details please see pages .
Publicity
The organizers launched a modest publicity campaign before the Forum took place. Announcements were sent to various magazines such as Vice Versa, International Samenwerking, Onze Wereld, Tambuli, etc. The group also paid for advertisements in a few Filipino community newsletters. 500 invitation letters were sent out.
An article about the consultation held in Eindhoven was published in a daily newspaper in Eindhoven. In the early morning of 24 November, a member of the working group was interviewed during the Onbijtshow, a KRO TV morning program. Another article was published in the Volkskrant mentioning the public forum.
A few days after the forum, the Wereld Omroep ( world radio service, ed.) called up requesting for an interview with one or two members of the working group. The interview will be aired on an Indonesian radio station. There is clear interest from the Dutch media to know about the condition of the au pairs and the Filipino women in the Netherlands.
Press releases were also sent out after the public forum to major daily newspapers in the Philippines via the internet. Two Netherlands-based Filipino community newspapers covered the event.
Feedback from the participants
During the forum, evaluation forms were distributed to the participants. About 35 participants filled up and returned the forms. The speakers were highly rated by the participants with Prof. Randolf David coming out as the best. A good number of those who attended also called up the members of the working group and gave their feedbacks, mostly very positive and encouraging.
The preparation, distribution of documentation papers, and the relevance of the forum were highly appreciated by the participants. Most of the Filipino participants liked the format of the forum very much. It was well-prepared, they said. The level of the discussion was high and the setting was prepared professionally. The organizers were also praised for initiating the project.
However, majority of the participants commented that there was very little time provided to present the issues and concerns of the Filipino migrants. They also found the open forum too short. The presenters had also problems in presenting the key issues. Some did not follow the format of the presentation as previously agreed upon by the working group. Some presenters expressed that lack of experience in reporting to a large group also made them a bit nervous which affected the quality of their presentation.
Sample comments:
Evaluation
During the evaluation of the working group, the members realized the weakness of the presentation of the results of the consultations, not only owing to lack of time but because most of the presenters failed to present the most important part of their reports. Instead, they decided to read the whole paper. Also thorough discussions on the issues as expressed by the participants (i.e. hold workshops) were intentionally not included in the program. This portion was planned to take place during the open forum that lasted about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The working group already anticipated this that is why the pre-forum consultations were conducted.
Nevertheless, this expectation from the participants must be taken into consideration in planning for the next activity.
Impact By working together, the members of the working group reached a very high level of cooperation. They became aware of the working styles of each member and learned to work as a cohesive group. Positive feedback giving was also encouraged. This level of cooperation is very important for the future work among the Filipino migrant organizations. This positive experience has provided them a clearer vision on what to do. It also encouraged them to continue to work among the Filipino migrants. FFON also projected the image as a serious coordinating body. At least two more organizations have signified interest to join FFON.
The consultations also paved the way for the formation of Tropa, a new group composed of oil-rig workers. At the consultation in Rotterdam, the participants expressed a desire to form a national network of Filipino groups/groupings under the auspices of FFON, the main objective of which is to assist and protect Filipina women and au pairs. These two initiatives are worth supporting while still in their initial stage.
FFON has also established cooperation with representatives of various Dutch institutions particularly with the CNV. There is an open mutual intention to cooperate with each other in the future. While the Philippine government representatives were a little bit disappointed, the organizers felt that they have conveyed their message to them, loud and clear. FFON plans to request the Philippine Embassy in The Hague to have a dialogue to clear some issues, improve relationships and establish clear working cooperation.
The group also realized that to be visible in Dutch society, Filipinos must be seen and heard. The public forum was an excellent opportunity for FFON to prove to the Dutch institutions and the Philippine government that they are capable and serious partners in dealing with the Filipino migrant issues and concerns.
However, the one-day forum was not sufficiently long enough to be able to come up with concrete recommendations and plans of action. There is a lot of follow-up work to be done in order not to waste the initial efforts. In this regard, most, if not all, the members of the working group have agreed to continue with the work. It is hoped that at least a couple of the concrete recommendations will be materialized. It is only then that we can conclude that the forum is fully successful.
Summary Recommendations
On the short term (5 months after the public forum), the working group hopes to achieve the following:
On the long-term (from 1-2 year period and on-going activities), the group hopes to achieve the following:
The complete proceedings of the Public Forum ,at dfl. 15,00 (excl. Mailing cost), is available from:
FFON
Attn.: Beulah Snijders-Japitana
Chairperson
Oudegracht 347
3511 PD Utrecht
Tel.: 030-2315253
Fax: 030- 2314582
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