Just do it

by BILL HUANG (CyberDyaryo)
OFW Journalism Consortium

"US officials are worried that informal overseas workers' remittances may be possible avenues for money laundering and terrorist financing," read the lead paragraph in a BusinessWorld story that ran under the fold on Oct. 2.

The story emerged from a meeting of Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho with US State Department officials where the US was looking for "the ability to monitor, like the way they monitor banking transactions ... to make sure it does not become a channel for money laundering, especially for terrorist financing".

Having said that, Secretary Camacho added that government had no plans to restrict overseas workers' remittances.

It was the kind of story that only a newspaper dedicated to business would put on its front page. It wasn't much of a story; it didn't have specific initiatives and proposals for handling an existing or even a potential problem.

And yet, juxtaposed with another story looming on the horizon, what the Philippines plans to do--or not do-about informal remittances may yet become a big story, and not necessarily because the US is concerned about them.

Over the weekend, coalitions of overseas Filipino migrants and contract workers, fueled by disgust over broken promises and the general lack of progress in getting the Absentee Voting Bill passed, called for concrete action to register their frustration. Their joint letter, which is being circulated for signatures via electronic mail around the world, noted that "after five Congresses, four presidents, and 15 tedious years, some 64 absentee voting bills have been filed, consolidated versions of which have been rigorously debated in Congress."

The letter pointed out that absentee voting advocates have done their homework helping craft the bills, attending meetings and legislative consultations here and abroad, consulting with local and international experts on how to prevent systemic fraud. "Unfortunately, our efforts have yielded an Absentee Voting Bill that now rots on the legislative shelf, simply because many legislators choose to default on their duty to study the proposals and to make informed suggestions."

Well, they're not about to sit and wait for Congress to wake up from its stupor. Aside from an international letter-writing campaign to pressure the Arroyo administration and Congress to pass the Absentee Voting Bill, the letter called on OFWs to put the squeeze on government and suspend "unnecessary visits to the Philippines", and remit funds "outside the radar screen of government", meaning through non-bank channels, such as "colleagues, friends, family or private agencies".

The letter warned (caps not ours):

IF BY THE END OF OCTOBER THE ABSENTEE VOTING BILL IS STILL LANGUISHING IN THE LEGISLATURE, WE WILL DESIGNATE A SPECIFIC PERIOD AT WHICH TIME WE WILL COMPLETELY REFRAIN FROM REMITTING FUNDS. WE ASK ALL OVERSEAS FILIPINOS TO BE PREPARED FOR THIS EVENTUALITY!

Not that Filipinos need an excuse to go "outside the radar screen"--some might argue that most of the country functions outside the radar screen anyway. But perhaps this outburst ought to be taken seriously, if not for the probability of a successful campaign, then for the justified frustration of migrants and overseas workers at the cynical way they have been treated by politicians at home.

The Philippines and all its political administrations since Marcos have enjoyed a free ride on the backs of Filipino migrants and OFWs. During Marcos' martial-law regime, when it was still known as a "brain drain", labor migration was embraced as an official component of national development.

Since then, remittances from OFWs have grown steadily, and now amount to anywhere between $7-14 billion a year in cold cash the country cannot do without. Which, until recently, made the overseas Filipino community the best political constituency of all: they have money, which they have to send home to support their families, and yet they don't need to be courted, because they can't vote.

Recently, Rep. Willie Villarama of Bulacan was reported to have suggested to OFWs that they form a political party, which, at first blush, appeared to be constructive. But it didn't take long for people to figure that, however nicely he worded his suggestion, Villarama may have actually been challenging OFWs to show whatever political muscle they claim to have before their desire to vote in absentia can be taken seriously.

Following traditional cynical political logic, it was the thing to say. After all, OFW groups are scattered all over the world, how could they ever unite, physically or philosophically? And yet, with electronic mail and the Internet, do people need to be physically together anymore to pursue a common cause? Do the politicians really want to test the resolve of overseas Filipino workers?

Considering how Philippine society and government have lionized OFWs, this inaction over voting rights for absentee Filipinos--spanning 15 years now-is unconscionable. Think of Juan Tamad lying in the shade of a guava tree, just waiting for fruit to ripen and fall into his mouth.

It is time for the Arroyo administration to do more than pay lip service to this vital sector of our economy-not to mention our society-and grant them this long-overdue right.

Just do it.