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Sunday, June 18, 2006
Sunstar essay: Here comes the Pinoy
By Erma M. Cuizon
Sun.star essay
Despite the spate of bad news from a television channel, as though we weren’t entitled to happiness, it warms our heart to come across good news.
A lot of Filipinos are leaving the country, yes, and not just to work but to become citizens of these far lands and stay alive. The disenchanted have left us.
But something good seems in the offing. Some “lost” Pinoys are around or planning to come, with an eye for good old home again. Then they’ll be back with us or they will come often--–their dollars will find their way to the national coffers to buoy up the economy. Some friends are set to retire here, but even to come oftener while still working. Although they once lived in Manila, a couple of them are planning to retire in Cebu, Bohol or Dumaguete.
And this could happen in the wake of news that more and more “international” Pinoys, especially Fil-Ams, are going to Philippine embassies to apply for dual citizenship. Republic Act 9225, the Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act, 2003, could make the difference in their lives, and in ours.
Imagine this scene in the Philippine Embassy in San Francisco: Filipinos have just filled out applications and are lining up for interview---then they take the oath as emotional citizens of the country which, until today, was already just a memory. The occasion is quiet but deeply meaningful. Consul Gen. Meńez Rosal is saying, “The reason why you are all here is because it (the Philippines) is still close to your heart.”
Then one Pedro Garcia accepts his certification of citizenship with a sentimental reaction, “Pilipino ako.”
The dual citizen is able to vote, practice his profession in the Philippines, buy land under certain regulations, also invest in business. He can even run for office, except when he’s a candidate in the foreign land or is holding government office there.
A Fil-Am couple whose child was born when they were still Filipino citizens can have the offspring apply for a dual citizenship.
This year, still more Filipinos are regaining the old citizenship. In 2002, 12,000 “international” Filipinos became Filipino citizens again.
But especially among Fil-Ams, they could make a difference once they visit or live here. There’s much to work on--–the Filipino in America being the second biggest Asian-American group. Then add to this the rest of the “international Filipinos,” say in Canada or Australia.
But they’re even in some islands you might not have heard of. They’re many, the most in number among ethnic groups in Northern Marianas Islands, or 29 percent of the total population there estimated to be 82,459. In Guam, the Filipinos are the second largest ethnic group. In Samoa, they’re the largest Asian group.
We like to imagine that the Filipino is of pre-historic ancestry, with a tradition of migration that wouldn’t wear off. And the Filipino migration was for as good a reason as what the nomads had: in search of food in order to live and rear their families. In the case of the nomads in BC, they literally ran after animal herds. The animals were their source of meat, which tried to adjust or run away from the harsh deep-freeze in the ice ages.
But even if the ancestry of the migratory Filipino doesn’t go back that far, still it seems he has an undeniable tradition of migration. In search of work to feed the loved ones, Filipinos in the early 1900s started looking toward America for The Dream.
Young and single boys migrated there to work in the farms where Americans refused to, saying it was cheap labor. Filipinos saw no gold dusts in the streets but many of them stayed away from the country for keeps, nourishing their dream of a better life.
In contemporary times, the outflow continues, with some stop gaps from the government. The overseas worker program, encouraging “temporary labor migration,” is seen as a clever way to earn without losing citizens and remittances.
And there’s the hope that the Filipino migrants will come home to roost, with his dollars and new outlook. This one the pre-historic nomads had never heard of. A Foreign Affairs official hopefully calls it “reverse migration.”
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 18, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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