Migrants’ Election Manifesto

A group called “Concerned Overseas Filipinos Worldwide” is harnessing the power of Filipino overseas to
effect change in the country through this coming election.

It has come out with the following manifesto:

We, the Overseas Filipinos worldwide, urge each and everyone in the coming May electoral contest to
implore all political parties, emerging parties and their respective candidates to bring forth a platform-based
campaign so that the electorate can choose credible persons who are worthy to lead the nation. In order to
advance democratic governance in the Philippines, there should be a structure or process of reform that
promotes increasingly participatory and accountable governance. In this context, the will and voice of the
people should be respected at all times and the sanctity of the ballots must be safeguarded.

“The root causes of human insecurity in the Philippines – and thus, threats to overall peace and development
– include conditions of inequity, with an elite few controlling power and economic resources; abject
poverty; poor governance; injustice, abuse of authority and violations of human rights; and marginalization
of minority groups. And yet, squandering of billions of pesos from legitimate and illegitimate sources had
been a common scenario in a personality and patronage based electoral contest. The proposed platform
based campaign is envisioned to change this bad practice. In order to sustain poverty reduction, there must
be equitable growth and the poor people who are in the majority must have political power – i.e. with a real
voice and space. The powerful and/or the elites – whether political leaders, corporations or other influential
actors – must be held accountable for their actions; more specifically, they must be held accountable for
their success or failure in their individual or party platform of promised good governance.

We are calling for robust, transparent, internally democratic and accountable political parties in order to
develop a stronger democratic culture in the Philippines. Otherwise, the right to choose will remain to be
pre-empted by the elites that own the political process, including the political organizations.
We challenge those who want to become legitimate servants and leaders to articulate a concrete and doable
developmental plan aimed at the Filipino migrant workers around the world. We pledge to support
legitimate servants of the people running for any public position that aggressively promote the interest of
our sector on the following issues:

1) Institute meaningful comprehensive electoral reforms starting with the removal of the residency
requirement inserted at the last minute by congress in the Absentee Voting Law. Introduce laws that will
create a transparent campaign expenditures and verifiable financial source imposing a limit to individual,
group, and corporate campaign donations.

2) Creation of an office with a Cabinet status such as the Ministry of Migration and Development that will
truly work for the interests of migrant workers. This office must be led by a Minister whose primary task
is to manage orderly labor migration, harness the development potentials of migration and development
(co-development). Set up an advisory board composed of qualified, dedicated, and credible Overseas
Filipinos to advice the Ministry. In addition, the Ministry must:

• See to it that the rights of migrants are protected.

• Facilitate return migration and in such a way that overseas Filipinos who wish to return voluntarily remain
active in the labor force or has the necessary means to secure his or her financial future including their
families.

• Monitor the performance of government agencies in charge of migrant workers (OWWA, etc.) and
particularly to review structures relating to the migrant workers trust fund to enable migrants to have an
effective voice and meaningful representation in policy formation, and to ensure proper administration and
management of their fund.

• Explore ways to address present gaps and barriers that hinder the effective mobilization, distribution,
monitoring, and accountability procedures, in order to achieve economies of scale in current Filipino
Diaspora giving, including possibilities of replicating the Mexican experience

• Facilitate creation of an enabling environment (investments, provide financial services including housing,
insurance, education, savings, etc. for migrants) that fully harness the development potentials of Philippine
migration.

• Encourage multi-stakeholder approach to development and promote public-private partnerships.

• Support and stimulate the transnational role of Overseas Filipinos so that they can contribute to the
country’s development; while the government on the other hand, should establish a systematic way of
tapping these skills (not only waiting for their remittances).

• Strengthen the capacity of Philippine consulates and representative offices worldwide to better serve the
needs of migrant Filipino workers.

3) Promote good governance, honesty, and accountability of our government servants from the highest to
lowest position. The virtue of servant-leadership must be practiced.

4) Promote the welfare of our women, elderly and children.

5) Access to a better education and health services for all. [iv]

We urge government groups, media facilities, civil society, church organizations, and other responsible
citizens, to organize and support pre-election public forums and other similar initiatives requiring
candidates or party representatives to debate and publicly present their platforms on where they stand
regarding these migrant issues. This will enable the citizenry, including eligible overseas voters and
members of their families in the Philippines , in making informed decisions and to help ensure that only
those candidates with clear and sincere intentions of promoting the welfare of the migrant sector, their
families, and millions of poor people in our country are elected to public office.