About Advocacies

Who is an Advocate?

Wherever you are, here or abroad, whoever you are, and whatever you do, you can still be an advocate. An advocate is one who believes in something, one who has a conviction—and does something about it. This may be on any issue or subject, like senior citizens, prisoners, grief, health like breast cancer, diabetes, hypertension, drug rehabilitation, street children, housing, abandoned children, sexually abused women, breastfeeding, and many more.

What it takes to be an Advocate

Believing in one thing is something, but doing something about what you believe in is another—that is being an advocate. A lot of people are passive about what is happening around them. No matter what happens, they still do not care at all. It is high time that we begin to care. One can never live alone. One can never tell—who knows, one time or another, it will be you or me who will be on the receiving end of one’s compassion, empathy, or help.

If you have a calling, try to do something about it. Say, if you feel that street children need your help, find out more about them, what their needs are, the demographics, what is being done about their plight, what groups are involved, and how you, as an individual can contribute.

Do not just hand them some money, this may be a relief to them, but it is only temporary, not a long term solution to their problem. Even if you are in a foreign land, you can still make a difference—actually a lot of difference.

First, you can check on what your local Filipino community is doing. There might be some projects, like fund-raising or awareness projects that they are involved with. Find out how you can get involved. You may also check the Internet—but be wary for there at lots of scams.

Be an advocate NOW:  silent or active

You can either be a silent advocate or an active advocate. Silent means you can support the advocacy by giving some money for the different projects. As an active advocate, you may be directly involved with the projects that are being handled. Say, be a member of the various committees, be there onsite whenever you have the chance, if you are a writer, write about the projects for awareness, or launch a personal campaign so that your friends and relatives can become involved.

There are so many ways to be involved in an advocacy. The most important thing is to know what your heart really believes in and do some action NOW.

Mano Po Lolo, Mano Po Lola

Lolo, Lola

They are closest to our children, they are our parents. Most often than not, when either or both parents go abroad to earn a living, the children are left to the care of the lolas and lolas, either directly or indirectly. Indirectly, in the sense that it is they who oversee how the children are taken care of by aunts or yayas.

But lolos and lolas soon grow old. Time would come when their wards are old enough to take care of themselves, or when they join their parents abroad, or when they get to have a life of their own. Sometimes, it cannot be helped, when lolos and lolas are left by themselves. Lucky are those whose children bring them along with them to their host countries, and so are those who have children in the country to take them into their homes.

What about those who have no one with them? Those who are left with no choice? The Filipino culture leaves the children responsible for their aging parents—unlike those in the western countries where elders are ready or foresee themselves moving in homes especially designed for the elderly—where they can spend the rest of their lives in comfort, without getting into the way of their children who have families of their own to support.

Heavy in the Heart

How difficult it is for the OFW or for the immigrants, how heavy it is in the heart, to think of their parents living on their own. It would have been easier perhaps if the elderly were computer savvy, communication would be easy.

Homes for the elderly are not yet as acceptable in the country as it is with our western counterparts. There may be one or two, like the Golden Acres, an institution that cares for senior citizens aged 60 and above, both male and female who are abandoned, neglected and needy. Golden Acres is located in Quezon City under DSWD-NCR and the two Homes for the Elderly are located in Regions IX and XI. This is not a place though, where OFWs and immigrants would want to place their elderly.

Options

In the Philippines, the elderly people are led by the Coalition of Older Persons Association of the Philippines (COPAP), and the Federation of Senior Citizens Associations of the Philippines (FSCAP). Check with your local government authorities on how these NGOs work, and how they can include your elderly in their programs.

Measures to enhance government-NGO cooperation for older persons should be identified. NGOs should perform an important role in the care of the elderly, be it in the form of residential care, day care, rehabilitation and nursing care, and financial assistance. There is also a Bill that proposes a social pension to financially disadvantaged elderly in the amount of P1,500 month.

Mano po, Lolo, mano po Lola—mahal po kayo namin.

Photocredit:  here

Save our “new heroes”, the Filipino OFWs and their families

Modern Day Heroes In the Filipino Families

Truth is, almost all Filipino families have an overseas Filipino worker in the family, either as close of kin or to the next degree. They are what our government dub as the modern day “heroes” as they bring to our country a profusion of dollars that would boost our economy.

In my travels the past 15 years, with myself perhaps considered a semi-OFW traveling a third of my time to foreign countries as part of my work, I have met a lot of OFWs working in different conditions, some even in countries poorer than ours. Majority of them leave their children either to the remaining parent or to their own parents or siblings for a long period of time, with infrequent vacations back home. Lucky are those who are able to negotiate for a yearly holiday.

I have met nurses, singers, domestic helpers, band members, quality control workers in factories, and many others who work for menial jobs. Some are luckier, like nurses, and other professionals in banks, financing companies and IT firms, but still, they are OFWs just the same, far from their families. They would talk about how lonely they are and how they miss their families way back home. Oh yes, there is the Internet, with all its possibilities, but this is no replacement for the warmth that physical closeness to a family member brings.

Here at Home–The Sad Truth

We are witness to real life stories, watch in movies and television or read in newspapers the sufferings and loneliness of the OFW dependents/families, missing the children’s growing years, milestones, birthdays, anniversaries, religious events, homecomings, etc.

At the same time, we also see how some OFW dependents/families behave. While the OFW parent toils abroad, lonely, bored, and craving for anything Filipino, here is his/her child/ren spending money like as if
money comes in abundance. Some are hooked on drugs, alcohol and drop out of school. Extended family members ask help to finance their needs or solve their financial problems. Because of this the poor OFW spends more than what he/she earns, not telling his/her family the real situation. Loan sharks also thrive where there are lots of OFWs. By the time the OFW is ready to come back home, there is not even any
savings left to start a new business. Because of the social impact of being separated, some become broken families, and the children are left out to fend on their own.

Save Our Modern Day Heroes–Save Our OFWs

These are the very reasons why I have thought of an advocacy—save our modern day “heroes”, save our OFWs and their families/dependents—through awareness, to both sides. It is high time that something be done. Other than deploying our foreign service staff to represent the country and taking care of protocol and workers’ documentation, our authorities can initiate a regular gathering of the Filipino community—to make them aware of the realities that are true to the lives of the Filipino diaspora. To aggressively campaign for a
better life, give them tips and options, open doors to micro-investments, and connect them with their families.

Families/dependents of our OFWs need all the support we can give them—to educate them, initiate support groups and make them aware of the harsh realities of the life of an OFW, be more down to earth, and
be more caring of their OFW parents. This way, even if families were dysfunctional (the absence of one or both parents), the dysfunctionality may be as minimum as possible.