The $8 billion Fil-Am remittance

Almost ten years ago, I chanced upon a US market research study which showed that Filipino-Americans were spending $50 billion annually as their collective cost of living. The $50 billion does not include what Filipino-Americans own, what they have in their bank accounts or their investments, just what they spend – their rent or home amortizations, car payments, electricity, water and phone bills, groceries, shopping, etc. The same study gave tips on how to relate to Filipino-Americans if a company or group wanted to sell products or services to them, outlining cultural traits and behavioural patterns.

$50 billion is a substantial amount. It is almost double the Philippine government annual budget. Yet, staggering as this amount is, and more staggering if we take present-day figures, there is a phenomenon that is even more awesome. There is a cliché which says the worth of a person is not what he owns, but what he gives. Records show that Filipino-Americans remitted $8 billion to the Philippines in 2009, representing almost 60% of all remittances by Overseas Filipinos (OFs) and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) – despite 2009 as a recession year in the United States. This means that beyond the more than $50 billion they spent to live in the US, they sent another $8 billion to the Philippines.

I know that the perception of Filipinos worldwide is not exactly flattering. This stems from the reputation of the Philippines as corrupt and poor. Painful as it is, we have had to accept the reality of corruption and poverty in our country at levels which are scandalous and shameful. It is not an excuse that other people and governments in the world have their own share of poverty and corruption. This reasoning is not only defensive, it is also insensitive to the harmful and painful consequences of poverty and corruption on their victims.

The historical pattern of exploitation by the governing elite who have ruled the Philippines for centuries, in cooperation with Spain, America and Japan for three and a half centuries and all by themselves in sixty-five years is pinpointed as the fundamental cause of poverty in what could be the richest land of the planet Earth. The poverty of Filipinos is not rooted in the aridity of the land, it is instead the ugliest visible anomaly of an environment that has been acclaimed as one of the richest, if not the richest, in bio-diversity. Bio-diversity means different life forms, how life expresses itself, the many ways and forms that represent what we know as existence. Our poverty is a greater anomaly in the context of overwhelming natural wealth.

In the face of cruel exploitation, not of the land, but of the people who are deprived an equitable share of their divine patrimony, corruption has emerged the worst evil that enslaves the many for the proverbial few. Yet, the strength and beauty of the culture of Filipinos have withstood serious attacks on its virtues and have endured. Once in a while, beyond the drama of Filipinos showing extreme generosity and heroism when calamities visit our people, simple statistics about what people earn, what people spend, and what people give reveal silently but more consistently the generosity and heroism of Filipinos.

In shameful acceptance of the negatives that have become part of the image of Filipino, not only the poverty of a people in a rich land or the greed of a small minority at the painful expense of the majority but including the divisiveness that we inflict on one another, Filipinos have the worst in them to hide the brilliance of the same culture which is extremely generous aside from being extremely talented. It is time that we confront what weakens us and find deliberate ways to dismantle them by setting a course to let the best in us lead the way. A new political administration led by a Noynoy Aquino who is a stark contrast of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo offers a rare opportunity for change. The sterling example of Filipino-Americans in lending a consistent helping hand symbolized by an $8 billion remittance to relatives in the motherland is an affirmation that they continue to love the Philippines.

Feudalism and aristocracy have outlived themselves and fast changing to more democratic ways. It used to be that democracy was more a theory than practice in the Philippines, but a maturing consciousness, especially among the new generations, appears more attuned to egalitarian principles than oligarchic ways. There is great hope for meaningful change from a combination of political opportunity and the inevitability of evolution. As Filipinos in the motherland must not let go of the spirit of volunteerism and active participation which earned for them being called by Noynoy Aquino as his “bosses,” Filipino-Americans can also appreciate more consciously their collective capacity as major builders of a nation they can be proud of.

It is the word and meaning of “Collective” that begs to be understood by a people so viciously conditioned to be divided by their historical rulers. When the governing elite is obsessed with control, wielding power, and holding on to it, is its priority; likewise, applying the divide-and-rule strategy becomes its favorite tool for governance. In contrast, the empowerment of people, most especially of the weak and ignorant, is the challenge of Filipinos wondering if democracy can work for them. In America, Filipino-Americans are not wondering anymore about democracy – they are thriving in it. In America, too, Filipino-Americans are not wondering about their culture, their relationship to family and country – they are sending $8 billion home. What remains at the noblest challenge to all Filipinos, in the Philippines and in all other countries in the world, is the evolution of a collective consciousness, the active acceptance that family is not limited to family names but to the name Filipino, and a way of life that honors the oneness of a people.

Filipinos already have what it takes to defeat their weaknesses. We are a caring and generous people simply distracted by our historical bondage to masters who sought to perpetuate control and exploit. Generosity and heroism are stronger virtues than greed and lust for power, and we must seek recourse through them in our journey for unity, to be One Filipino, a people of honor. –Jose Ma. Montelibano, Philippine Daily Inquirer