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Students of the Ateneo de Manila University, affiliated NGOs and peoples organizations, friends, and past and present JJCICSI staff were present during the fourth and last installment of the JJCICSI Silver Café facilitated by Associate Director Jing Karaos. Resource speakers for said event held in August 27, 2009 were Marlene Gatpatan-Bedia and Percival Chavez who spoke about their professional and personal struggles in the advocacy for urban land reform, and Jeremaiah Opiniano who spoke on the issue of migration. An open forum was conducted after each talk.

Urban Land Reform

Marlene Gatpatan-Bedia was then a staff member of ICSI and Percival Chavez was with PHILSSA (Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies, Inc) when they both worked for the passage of the Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA), the Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Financing Act (CISFA) and the repeal of Presidential Declaration 772 (an act criminalizing the informal settlers). These successful efforts were due to proper advocacy supported by a good research base and participation of various people’s organizations.

Recalling her ICSI years, Marlene mentioned the tension she felt when she personally witnessed a demolition, an incident that helped define the work she would be involved in. She also recalled the eight-hour meeting in the office just to analyze provisions of the UDHA to lobby for its passage. She facilitated meetings of the urban poor until it created a movement called the Urban Land Reform Task Force (ULRTF) with Fr Joel Tabora as one of its forerunners.

Percy, on the other hand, acknowledged the experience of working for the urban poor as the happiest and most fulfilling job for him as he “saw many faces mostly of ordinary people doing extraordinary work”. He was grateful for being one of the lobbyists of UDHA, along with various people’s organizations, as it eventually became the basis of all the housing matters and issues in the country.

Both personalities extended the work toward establishing AKO (Adhikain at Kilusan ng Ordinaryong tao), a Party List group advancing the promotion of the rights of the urban poor. This movement may have had its fair share of struggles but for them, it was “sustained by the friendship shared, occasional defeats, and the thrills of victory.”

The two recognized that there is a lot of work to be done in addressing the issues of the urban poor, but there may be more effective ways to address the challenges. For Marlene, the sector should not be limited within its own circle; she challenged it to “forge partnerships with business and government, and to reach out and do advocacy with other groups.” Meanwhile, Percy dared the urban poor sector to “show force, stand up for what is right and come up with well-researched demands.”

Marlene is now the Executive Director of Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, while Percy works in the government as the Chair of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP). Both have varying struggles in the paths they have chosen to take but the same vision of a better society still remains in their hearts.

Pinoys Abroad As the Future of Filipino Modernity

Jeremaiah Opiniano was Project Officer of ICSI from June 2000 to November 2003 for the Overseas Workers Desk. With ICSI, he was trained to be a social activist for the overseas Filipinos and up to now, he continues to be an analyst of how the overseas migration phenomenon impacts the country’s development and the resiliency of the Filipinos. For him, overseas migration is “our issue, it’s the issue of civil society groups and it is affecting other aspects of socio-economic life”.

Jeremaiah recounted the efforts of ICSI to manage a funded media project called the OFW Journalism Consortium. It consisted of stories about migration phenomenon, which aimed to mainstream the overseas Filipino sector and its issues through various media outfits. ICSI was also the first to study and promote a phenomenon called “migrant philantrophy” referring to the sought-after resources for families of overseas Filipinos and development-oriented foundations and NGOs.

For Jeremaiah, overseas migration is a complex phenomenon inextricably linked with development; it really has its positive and negative sides. Overseas migrants bring in remittances that may be a potent but not an actual or sustainable tool for Philippine development. Families of the overseas workers may continue receiving monies but will also bear the changing roles and relationships in the family. He also stated that without migration, the country could have a bigger population management problem. Domestic unemployment was given a solution but the best and brightest of our people are now in the different countries. Granted that migration is inevitable and may be benefiting the origin and host countries, it can also be a more potent force for the development of the country.

Having said that, he stated his belief that the future of migration and development in the country can be helped by various stakeholders: (1) financial institutions like cooperatives and microfinance institutions which can help the families of the overseas workers stretch their earnings to benefit them and the countryside as a whole; (2) NGOs which can support overseas migrants and their families in addressing the socio-economic issues encountered by the latter; (3) Filipino families’ continued culture of relatedness and love; and (4) the overseas Filipinos themselves who help their families as well as their compatriots in the Philippines and abroad.

At the end of his presentation, he showed a short, compeling video entitled “Buhay Pinoy Abroad, Buhay OFW” produced by Economic Resources Center for Overseas Filipinos (ERCOF).

BACK TO ANNIVERSARY PAGE

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DAY 1
The Founding of the Institute by John J. Carroll, S.J.
JJCICSI as a Social Apostolate by Silvino L. Borres, S.J.

DAY 2
Philippine Electionsby Atty. Carlos P. Medina
Of Forests and Frontiers by Ruth Esquillo-Ignacio

DAY 3
Population and Development by John J. Carroll, S.J.
The Environment by Pedro W. Walpole, S.J.

DAY 4
Urban Land Reform by Marlene Gatpatan-Bedia with Percival C. Chavez
Overseas Migration by Jeremiah M. Opiniano