Realizing our powers within

THE PHILIPPINE EMBASSY is often perceived as aloof, even hostile. The Consular officers that comprised the Embassy’s Community Outreach program team to Tsukuba City last October 27 showed that the government outpost in Tokyo is not really a brick wall, but people with human faces. Many residents in Ibaraki Pref., mostly members of the Ibaraki Christian Center (ICC), who have availed themselves of the consular services were grateful for their savings in time, effort and money.

To bridge this gap in public perception, the Embassy certainly needs to exert more effort in terms of information dissemination. Because of the geographic dispersion of Filipinos in Japan, it is difficult to address the entire Filipino community at once for purposes of giving information. But with the proliferation of Filipino publications in the last ten years, the Embassy still has to optimize the mobilization of these ready partners. Likewise, the Embassy has cut costs in an area crucial to its relations with the public—the Primer on Frequently Asked Questions and the Mabuhay website have long been shelved.

Perceived as patricians ensconced in a fortress, the embassy officers will not only break down this perceptual wall but also get a real grasp of the demographic changes in the Filipinos’ adopted turf through this outreach program.

Needs have changed over time and still continue to change. Some of the answers the officers gave to questions on immediate, actual needs show that they still need more grassroots exposure. Their four-wall framed response can still be enlightened by increased contact with the unbounded world of Filipinos out there.

On the other hand, the public also needs to be educated on the real capability of the Embassy to address their needs. Much of the discontent about Embassy services stems from unrealistic expectations on what the Embassy can do for the people.

For example, a question was raised on what the Embassy can do to help in the education of children of Filipino residents, specifically children of religious ministers and missionaries. Setting up a Philippine school, as was floated by some in the public, cannot conceivably be a near- or medium-term solution. For one, whether funding comes from public or private sources, it would require a huge investment. For another, the school has to get accreditation from both the Monbusho (Japanese Ministry of Education) and the DECS, procedures which are cumbersome.

My suggestion is to promote self-help programs through churches, which are traditionally at the heart of Filipino communities. As missions, churches should go beyond the traditional concept of offering venues for Sunday worship, but move on to becoming dynamic centers for mobilizing community resources to address real needs.

I gave the example of ICC. We have consciously made efforts to expand mission work to the Japanese, by providing bilingual Bibles and literature and translation for worship proceedings. Our foothold is the huge community of families of mixed marriages. As a result, we have a handful of Japanese members who are intensely concerned for the Filipinos. A Japanese member who works as a cram school teacher and tennis instructor teaches our elementary-school children kanji lessons and mathematics for a token fee. On a fixed schedule during the week, he helps the children with their school assignment.

Believing that individuals can be empowered through mutual support of the church community, we have extended this concept to helping members dislocated in their jobs and those who have been left homeless. Our church members provide the network for job information. Sunday worship is only the culmination of a week-long fellowship that includes Bible study, prayer service and community outreach service with NGOs. We are trying to transform our Church community not only from one that prays for people’s needs but also acts on them.

The more realistic role that we can expect of the Embassy is to help Filipinos kindle this innate mutual-help or bayanihan spirit. But first, the Embassy has to continue to be seen as being one with us—as they have shown in their outreach community service. On the other hand, we also have to learn how to tap the resources within our communities. The paradox of self-empowerment is that we cannot realize our capabilities within if we think it can only come from without. *

Back to top