Men, Media & Politics: The Historically Undervalued Work of the Filipina by Melissa Dela Cruz

Men, Media & Politics: The Historically Undervalued Work of the Filipina by Melissa R. De la Cruz A Thesis Submitted to The New School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in International Affairs

The New School Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs August 2017

First Reader: Prof. L.H.M. Ling Signature + Date Approved: ______________ Second Reader: Prof. Michael A. Cohen Signature + Date Approved: ______________

Abstract This paper investigates why Filipinas have not gained greater political or economic status despite making the remittances that keep the country afloat. Here, I argue that there are several factors that contribute to this reality. Deeply embedded historical precedent trace the outlines of government policy and practice. These movements are quickly reflected into other sections of Philippine society. Films and television commercials and other outlets of popular culture have heightened these old gender norms. I conclude by contracting the analysis into an actionable framework- a studio to work with experts (broadly defined) in developing a framework to liberate the overseas Filipino workforce. The studio aims to tap on existing intelligences within government agencies and include the contributions of stakeholders that are already changing the options available to the Filipina. Ultimately, this studio recognizes that the solution to the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problems already lie within the systems itself and that the issue of collaboration in governance has plagued the country for decades. The studio hopes to provoke officials and key stakeholders to re-evaluate their own perceptions and channel their energy to achieving larger societal goals instead of only acting on short-term crises.

word count 13,406 keywords overseas Filipino | studio | history | media | government practice

Recognizing that reading strategies vary and most of us have less time for reading than we would like, the table of contents provides both a full and abridged version to suit the time and attention constraints of readers.

QUICK OVERVIEW __Summary > p.11 __Patriarchal Histories and His Stories > p.15 __Ideas as Currency > p.35 __Policies & Powerful Players > p.43 __Work-in-Progress: The Future of the Overseas Filipino Labor Force > p.57

Preface and Limitations_______________________ P 1 Summary___________________________________ P 5

Patriarchal Histories and His Stories____________ P 9 - 21 Pre-colonization > P 9 Spanish Colonial Era > P 13 American Education> P 27 Interlude: Sunday noon in the heart of Central Hong Kong Ideas as Currency The New Mediums of Philippine Popular Culture____________________ P 29 - 36 Ideas > P 19 Media > P 33

Policies & Powerful Players___________________ P 37 - 48 Policies > P 37 Practice > P 39 Players > P 44 A Studio Work-in-progress: The Future of the Overseas Filipino Labor Force___________ P 51 - 66 What is a studio? > P 50 Empathy in interrogation > P 54 > Problem > P 54 > People & Place > P 55 > Process > P 57

References________________________________ P 67

A preface and (some) limitations: This research tries to capture a handful of complex concepts and insights that shape the perception of the Filipina today. The country, its government officials and citizens, adopted a disappointing trend of (in)action allowing the Philippines labor export economy to persist for over 40 years. By adopting a capitalistcolonial perspective in describing the Philippines’ patriarchal system, I have identified key markers that have shaped the experience of being a woman amidst the country’s dismal labor market prospects by tracing back the country’s history, the evolution of ideas, and the institutions and policies framing this problem. Yet, I recognize (more than anything) that this descriptive process is not enough as it glosses over the solutions or frameworks necessary to solve these age-old problems.

The studio I describe in the last chapter of this thesis aims at bridging this gap. I have not completely lost faith in the governance structures and I am optimistic that it may all just be a matter of coordination and reframing the approach to the problem that could reignite the discussion. The descriptive content in the first three chapters addresses the question of “how we got here?” This will provide the foundations to weave the final blueprint chapter that will try to get at “How can we move forward?”

Over the course of writing this paper, I discovered that it is easier to identify concepts that will not be taken up (in great detail). More broadly, they are the data and story-based arguments applied liberally to draw attention to different ends of the spectrum. Why? They both tend to paralyze institutions, stakeholder, and Filipinos from acting on clear gaps in the system because they leave little to the imagination and room to possibly negotiate ways forward. There is a missing middle in the intellectual war between the country’s economists and sociologists. They lay claim to the intellectual prowess of each of their fields of specialization. On one end, economists often attribute the relative stability of the Philippine economy to the steady flow of remittances. Sociologist are then quick to point out that the data presented does not quite capture the

actual experience on the ground. They, too, have gone through great lengths to understand the working conditions of Filipinos across the globe from a qualitative point of view.

Their siloed approach has generated important insight into their fields but this has not meant any significant changes in reality. Their text often unapproachable for the average Filipino, so their ideas remain in the white castle towers of academia. This reality made me think more deeply into the mediums â&#x20AC;&#x201C; apart from words on paper, that could explain and intersect both points of view. For that, imagery and the occasional sketch are used in this thesis to develop the concepts and the relationship they have with one another.

Summary: For over 40 years, the Filipino identity has been shaped by its exported labor force. Filipina caregivers and healthcare professionals play an important role in the evolving global healthcare industry. Their impact, however, is most felt at home through their remittances, directly by family members but also indirectly by the Philippines government. Remittances are approximately 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and Filipinas now contribute to more than half of that figure because of their increasing share in the number of overseas workers.1

This paper investigates why Filipinas have not gained greater political or economic status despite making the remittances that keep the country afloat. Their increased contribution to the economy and to their families has not meant that women have increased their status within Philippine society. Rather, women’s “invisible work” abroad has pushed them to an even lower status in the country’s social hierarchy. Contrary to liberal economics and Marxian theory, labor markets do not appear to reward those who accumulate capital – especially if they are women.

Here, I argue that there are several factors that contribute to this reality. Deeply embedded historical precedent trace the outlines of government policy and practice. These movements are quickly reflected into other sections of Philippine society. Films and television commercials and other outlets of popular culture have heightened these old gender norms.

The graphic in the page before describes my approach to the question. I will begin by expanding the topic by looking at the pre-conditions and the driving trends that have built the existing system. I conclude by contracting the analysis into an actionable framework- a studio to work with experts (broadly defined) in developing a framework to liberate the overseas Filipino workforce. This studio, entitled Work-in-progress: The Future of the Overseas Filipino Labor Force is adopted from the model conceptualized by the Helsinki Design Lab, an initiative

The Philippine Star, February 2017, Remittances Rise 5% in 2016, hit record $26.9 B. Link: http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/02/16/1672562/remittances-rise-5-2016-hit-record-26.9-b 1

by the Finnish Innovation Fund to advance a new module of thinking and designing by examining the systems weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve inherited. The studio aims to tap on existing intelligences within government agencies and include the contributions of stakeholders that are already changing the options available to the Filipina. Ultimately, this studio recognizes that the solution to the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problems already lie within the systems itself and that the issue of collaboration in governance has plagued the country for decades. The studio hopes to provoke officials and key stakeholders to re-evaluate their own perceptions and channel their energy to achieving larger societal goals instead of only acting on short-term crises.

The following outlines sections further develop these arguments. Chapter 1 is an assessment of the patriarchal histories covering pre-colonial period, Spanish and American colonization. Chapter 2 discusses the power of ideas and mediums through the lens of Philippine popular culture by scanning print, online, and film. Chapter 3 looks at the powerful players, institutions, and policies are the institutional frames of the problem. Finally, I end with a description of the studio where the research in the preceding chapters is built into a workshop.

1 Filipino exiles and Spanish Officers posing before deporting

2 Filipino Ilustrados: Jose Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, Mariano Ponce

Chapter 1: Patriarchal Histories and His stories

“A healthy appreciation of the people’s debt to the past must be developed, but only in order that they may recognize more avidly still their tremendous obligation to the future”. Salvador Lopez A recurring theme in this chapter will be the role of global capital in shaping the culture, work, and governance structures of the Philippines. This will also help us better understand the current assignment of gendered labor in the Philippines.2

The governments labor exporting institutions adopted a marketing and recruitment strategy reflective of the normative role assignment between men and women in a capitalist society (Guevarra 2010). Engels (1887) first described this differentiation in The Origins of Family, Private Property, and the State. Males were expected to do physically strenuous work while women were handed ‘lighter’ tasks like housekeeping and caregiving in order to preserve her fertility and childbearing capacities. This assignment would begin to shape the type of work that will be given to her once the century of population expansion is over and replace with an uptake in farm production to meet the demands of the new additions. Women’s employment was seasonal and depending on farm and household production, men still controlled the means of production and received net benefit (monetary and non-monetary). This set up the hierarchical material base that would enable men to dominate women, more commonly known as patriarchy (Hartmann 1980).

This should not be seen as a comprehensive dive into Philippine history. Rather a selective discussion of the evolution of labor differentiation in the Philippines. There will be more than one issue that I will gloss over. For more information: please refer to the wealth of scholars that have spent their entire careers diving into the (untold) histories of the Philippines.

This chapter explores the origins of gendered labor in the Philippines; the institutions and characters that shaped the preconceived notions of what Filipinas can and cannot do. The benign beginnings of patriarchy in pre-colonial Philippines provides a revealing look into the normative power of culture in shaping the foundations of a country’s political and economic institutions. The institutional ‘flaws’ that exist today are a product of these historical occurrences and the capitalist transformation of work.

Pre-colonial Misconceptions Most of the country’s fabled past and pre-colonial history exists only through the oral traditions that have long sunk in the tombs of our ancestors. Possibly the only written work on this era in the Philippines was done by Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian scholar who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan in his mission to find the Spice Islands. Pigafetta, Magellan, and their Spanish crew made their way to the Pacific while working within the constraints of The Treaty of Tordesillas (1493). The treaty divided the world of exploration at the tip of Brazil between Iberian powers – Portugal and Spain, to resolve growing disputes on Christopher Columbus’ conquered lands.

Spices just happened to be the recent food trend, Europe was still reeling from the plague and needed a way to improve food safety and preservation techniques (quick!). The British controlled the market of course, India and their close proximity to the spice roads gave the empire an opening in areas yet to be discovered between modern-day Turkey and China. For Spain, the conquest of the Spice Islands would be a foot in the market and wealth being pushed to other more important sectors of the economy (i.e. palatial housing and other treasures).

Magellan and Pigafetta’s exploration were celebrated as the first successful attempt at circumnavigating the world but instead of reaching the highly desirable Spice Islands, the duo and their crew landed on the East Coast of the Philippines archipelago. Contrary to the less than friendly experience of the Spanish in the Americas, the explorers were greeted with open arms. The natives, explorers themselves, reached the Philippines in a similar fashion, the tribes led by the Datu (King) and his queen, hosted Magellan and Pigafetta as they made their stops across several islands before reaching modern-day Cebu where a chieftain in a neighboring island called Mactan did not welcome the foreigners.

In their quest for acceptance, Magellan set to convince the leading local warrior and lost his life in the infamous battle. However, it would be Pigafetta’s writings during this journey that would leave its mark on the political set-up of the Philippines. In all his accounts, women only performed ceremonial and religious roles in the community.

3 Fernando Amorsolo’s (1892 – 1972) Paintings of Precolonial Philippines

Filipino painter Fernando Amorsoloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brought Pigafettaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earlier accounts to life by carefully visualizing pre-colonial Philippines in the 1920s. In both paintains, women appear to have a primary role in pre-colonial society. The Filipina is seen trading with villagers amidst the approaching Spanish armada and on the right, she is a queen and/or a warrior leading her village in a skirmish. Amorsolo had drawn on the work of earlier scholars (Lauby and Stark 1988) that drew positive conclusions on the role of women by looking at the governance structures of the barangay. The barangay was the first form of communal governance adopted by the natives from the system that governed their transit into the Philippines- boats. In that context (and in the high seas) women played a vital role in the preservation of the community as a whole. Despite Amorsoloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s optimistic portrayal, this was not the reality of the time. Most women were relegated to the household and performed seasonal work in the field. They were expected to take charge of ceremonial matters while the men were given the important positions in the household and in the community (Rosero 2000; Quindoza-Santiago 1996; Eviota 1992).

Women worked and perform their role as part of the communal labor force as the population of the local barangay were kept to a minimum, often constrained by the geographical topography of the land. Separated by mountains and seas women became the lead negotiators and artisans. Without them, important food supply and defense supply would have never made it to the tribe and their warriors.

It was not until the Spanish colonial rule that the ideal Filipina began to take shape and the Catholic religion played a huge part in this. Over the 300-year period, women were held to a set of perplexing standards from their families, church and society-at-large. It was during the Spanish and American colonial period that these values were deeply embedded in the colonial institutions.

Lost in translation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Islands and 300 Years of Spanish Isolation Although the local culture created the foundations for the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s patriarchal history, they became embedded through the colonial institutions set-up by the Spanish colonial government. The success of the Spanish in colonizing through arms could only have been done through an ideological assist. Capitalism and Catholicism played a large role in the suppression of women and the local population (Quimpo 2009; Hutchcroft and Rocamora 2003; Eviota 1992; Blaut 1989).

The Spanish most lasting contribution to the Philippines was brought about by the structural changes that created and reinforced a gender hierarchy, while at the same time impoverishing millions, and institutionalizing inequalities in accessing land, resources, and power(Eviota 1992). Whatever power women had in the per-colonial era was quickly eroded by the tenets of Catholicism and greed (Pandy 2015).

They dealt with its most recent colony in a manner that was reminiscent of earlier versions of merchant capitalism. An important distinction needs to take place between merchant and industrial capitalism, as it became the foundations of Spanish rule in the Philippines. In the early 16th century, the Spanish were in the midst of developing their industries and faced demands for better working conditions and higher pay from over worked laborers. The royals needed to meet demand without jeopardizing their needs. A quick solution was to relegate half of the population to the household and offset worker supply. In their Pacific colony, the state of affairs was dictated by resource extraction , favoritism, monopoly practices and more (Cypher and Dietz 2004).

The demand for better working conditions and higher pay in Europe rubbed off in the outer colonies. Women were immediately demoted to the household while

Spanish officials quickly created restraints so that women would not go around floundering her “sexuality” at home and in public when their spouses were working. The home became the “domain of the woman” but also became the place where she was most effectively exploited and subordinated for her “invisible work” (L. L. Rodriguez 1990)

It was a battle to convince the locals that business and profiteering were essential parts of society. The Filipinos were used to barter as the main means of exchange and some women already had a foot in the door as the community’s leading traders. This made it difficult for the Spanish to relegate women from their established positions as a workforce in the barangay. The Spanish used the strategy of populating the ciudad in order to displace any established social relations. In the town centers the Spanish controlled all exchanges including behaviors. Farmers and families traditionally located near their subsistence were forced to move closer to town as the Spanish implemented large-scale land grabbing. Half of the population were left with no choice but to engage in monetary exchanges as they could not till their own land.

This mission would not be possible without an ideological partner. The Catholic faith became this tool through religious orders, missionaries and friars were sent to the new colony accompanying expeditions that traced Magellan’s route towards the Philippine archipelago. As their stronghold at the center of the country continued to expand, the role of the missionaries became even more important, each successful Spanish mission was not just the triumph of arms but also the triumph of ideas. Humility, sacrifice and other teachings in the Catholic faith were used to shape the ideals that will institutionalize the relegation of women to the household (Guevarra 2010).

4 Fernando Amorsolo – The First Baptism in the Philippines.

These together with Spanish Colonial ambitions would mix and effectively shape the male-dominated indigenous chieftainship. What would be known to be the padrino system, a male-dominated patrilineal situation where nepotism and elite collaboration, will shape the political landscape for the Philippines for generations to come (Cypher and Dietz 2004). Under this new order, women were at the bottom of the hierarchy. Women would be pushed further into their private households away from the public eye while the abuses of friars. 3 Their bodies and being used to pay debts and the brunt of daily living. The Catholic teachings of humility and virginity pushed women to the “lowest hierarchy of creatures on earth”. Quindoza-Santiago (1997) explains: They served a hierarchy of masters: first, God; second, the priest who was God’s representative; third, the alferez or gobernadorcillo; fourth, the husband and the landlord’s wife or mistress; fifth, her own father or husband. It was at this point that there was a hollowing out of Eviota’s (1992) complementarity of roles in the household. Women were now expected to be the champion of the household. Their ability to cook and clean at home, while being obedient, meek and unassertive were measures of her success in the public realm. As opposed to their shared duties with the men in the precolonial household, decision-making and the administration of properties became task of

Friars and priest particularly in the Philippines are notorious for having families and wives despite strict rules against such.

men alone and the women were solely in charge of the reproductive labor (Rosero 2000). Jose Rizal’s depiction of Maria Clara is the final glimpse into the colonizers lasting presence in the country for centuries to come. Rizal’s well-acclaimed work would create the sentimental stock figure for Filipinas for generations to come (Terrenal 1976).4 Rizal’s writing would become the foundations for the fragile femininity that will outline the Filipina. Maria Clara, the meek and oppressed starcrossed lover of the novel’s lead - Crisostomo Ibarra, was the metaphorical starting point of Filipina oppression. Her concern on appearance and her unfaltering devotion to Ibarra and her family are celebrated by the nation but unknowingly support the invisibility of women in our own history books (Quindoza-Santiago 1997). Pandy’s (2015) haunting recoils to the contemporary period and introduces the way Maria Clara’s femininity continues to plague the Filipina today, summarized here: The way Maria Clara was regulated within the confines of the convent, where she is first and last seen in the novel, has haunted transpacific Filipinas. Filipinas are confined as well, to the societal expectations of being a mother, daughter, wife, sex worker, and overseas contract workers, despite all these expectations they are held responsible for failing to represent the nation. These historical steps would lead to a seamless transition into the American colonial era. The pinnacle at which women will be cemented into the history books as the subservient member of the households. The Americans would bring tools more powerful than guns or God. They would bring books and pedagogy through the public education system. This would ensure the utmost loyalty amongst their newest subjects.

As Rizal emerges in late 19th century as a key political figure in the up-end struggle to overthrow the Spanish. Rizal, a member of the political elite, travelled across the European continent as a student, published two novels in Spanish meant to stir national conversation on the abuses of the Spanish.

The Fever of American Education American colonial education would shape the Filipino mindset and ideology for generations to come. It was first used as a means to pacifying the population who just won their freedom against an invader that posed as their ally. America’s greatest conquest was the molding of the minds through the public-school system. If any conflict arose between the goals of the two nations, the Americans used schools, teachers and educational material to guide actions toward American interest, which effectively quelled any nationalist movement during the time (Constantino 1982; Francisco 2015). Educational material would shape the country’s apathy toward industrialization and the economic attitudes surrounding conspicuous consumption early in Philippine Contemporary history.

In addition, The Philippines US sponsored nationalism quickly took off and became a dominant strain amongst the intellectual elite, most especially the next generation of leaders. The elite were adamant in proving to the world that the Philippines was not as uncivilized as what was perceived before. They quickly inhaled the western ideals fed to them by their professors at home and also by way of scholarships to US institutions. They, too, participated in shaping the knowledge being taught by schools by providing first- hand accounts of their experiences during the fight for independence amongst the ilustrados.

Philippine education therefore must produce Filipinos who are aware of their country’s problems, who understand the basic solution to these problems and who care enough to work and sacrifice for their country’s salvation. Renato Constantino

Two things would shape the education of millions of young Filipino boys and girls when the American’s opened education to the public. Maria Clara would be mass produced for the first time in history. Second, her image would be invoked to empower men and disempower women; instead of liberating them (Pandy 2015).

In 1932, Perfecto E. Laguio, a member of the Philippine Legislative Assembly, published a book against women’s suffrage. His words are summarized by Lilia Quindoza-Santiago (1997) in the following statement:

Now that the legislature has closed without having decide on the proposed bill on women’s right to vote, I am addressing this open letter to Tagalog women in my country, [e]specially the poor and the ordinary to let them know the great danger attendant to the implementation of the right to vote by women in the archipelago. The Filipina woman has ever been considered by Filipino man as having a high position and eminently worthy of respect. He placed her upon a high pedestal. His love for her is the purest that can be given by any created being. Looking around him, he sees the different between Filipina women and women of other lands. Her splendor immediately comes to mind: her dewy eyes, her raven hair, her demure smile, her soft hands, her attractive figure – he looks up to these in admiration and worships her from afar. But with the widespread occurrence of women’s right to vote, all these will chance. The leader of the women in this movement aims to be on an equal footing with men, to have the same rights and responsibilities. If these are obtained, the Filipino woman will no longer experience the same high regard that Filipino men have for her. She will be lowering herself from the shrine where she is “lord of all she surveys” only to be place on the level of men among whom the spirit of honor and valor are no longer to be found. She will undergo suffering to lose the potency of all that men have conferred on her over many centuries and the splendor that goes hand in hand with her history will also completely fade from her womb. And this only to gain the vote that was never her heart’s desire. Perfecto Laguio’s essay summarizes the fever of American education in the 1920s. In an attempt to homogenize the people, the Americans thought the best

way was through the public education system and the material used to teach the nation. Their idea of homogenizing the fragmented and divided population would decide the educational material that would shape the minds generation of students and leaders. They argued the country was not ready for self-rule and lacked a sense of nationalism because of the diverse religious and linguistic background in the archipelago (Francisco 2015). But they were also wary of stirring national sentiment and tried to quell and suppress any nationalist sentiment that had developed at the end of the Spanish colonization.

The country was ripe for education to take over. It is important to mention that during the Spanish colonial era; education opportunities were limited to the very few who could afford to send their children to the universities. When the Americans began offering free education for all, there was an incredible buy-in from most natives. Their army of teachers and not of men became the most effective tool for the emerging USA.

5 Thomasites were assigned to teach all over the archipelago

Almost akin to teaching a baby to his/her first steps. The Americans used the education system to shape the mindsets of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;newly liberatedâ&#x20AC;?. Filipinos now had access to books and material, something that was only a dream for many. However, Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts in their new colony were also reflective of the

developments in their own country. Remember that at this point, women were already relegated to the back of the homes because of the Spanish. The Americans were not exempt from this reality. Women were technically not allowed to vote in some parts of the continental US until 1920. So their teachings and tools reflected similar values that would effectively shape the Filipina through the public school system.

Tales of the intellectual prowess of the ilustrados and the warriors of the Katipunan (Kataastassang Kagalanggalanga Katipunan ng mga anak ng Bayan TK) would become common fair for even the most recent generation. More strikingly, they were stories about males that highlighted (once in a while) the contributions of women. Schools and the material taught would be a form of cultural politics to organize knowledge, power, capacity and the possibilities of the Filipino. The Americans complimented curriculum with scholarship incentives for the brightest minds to be sent to the USA for further studies. Curriculum alone could not effectively define the nationalist sentiment. It would encourage the local elite to participate in their efforts to homogenize the nation (Constantino 1966). Leaders and educators were put into the pensionado system, an educational exchange program meant to send the brightest Filipinos to their side of the Pacific. They were educated by the leading institutions in America and then would return home to pursue positions as leaders in education, policy and politics among others. The US governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s knowledge building project was most successful in providing the material and mental infrastructures for the Filipino people to trace its origins. For Mojares (2006), the infrastructure became an irreplaceable medium for the formation of the national culture. More concretely, Constantino (1976) argued that Rizal was an American sponsored hero whose role is magnified in the movement. Symbols that Filipinos would identify with were a product of a carefully assembled â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Filipino cultureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, to wit: If we trace the genealogy of the common symbols of what is Filipino, it is remarkable how many of them have their origin in the American-colonial period. It was in the time of self-

conscious colonial nation-building that the trappings of what came to be called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Filipino cultureâ&#x20AC;? were invented, assembled, officialized, and propagated (Mojares 2006).

If it was not for World War II, the Americans would have really cemented their hold in the Philippines. The Japanese had their sights set on military dominance and the Filipinos were fiercely loyal to their American friends. The Japanese were never able to insert themselves into the Filipino social fabric. It will take a few decades before the Americans will truly shape the womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work. After participating in several World Wars and starting their own war in Vietnam, the Americans were short of nurses and needed a fleet to take care of the wounded warriors. They quickly created mechanisms that allowed the migration of their most loyal subjects with the condition that upon their entry they would be nurses at their hospitals or caregivers at the homes of wounded warriors.

In order to have a true selling point, the Americans needed to convince Filipino families that remittances would make-up for the time lost with family members. This worked not only in the Philippines but also for other less developed countries (De Haas 2005).

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve spent the first few pages in Philippines history but let us return to the present. After all, it is here that our problem begins to take shape. It is also here â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that we can think strategically about ways forward.

6 Sunday in Hong Kong by Xyza Bacani, 2015

It’s May 2017 and we are deep in the heart of Hong Kong – the city is asleep today. The buzz has already died down from Saturday night’s ruckus in Lan Kwai Fong when they emerge in throngs out of Central Station. It is a Sunday after all in the city, but its noon now and markets are only beginning to fix-up their shops from the late weekend rush. The stench of the streets also shifts from booze and boiling dumpling soup to a familiar mix of soy, vinegar, and chicken – adobo, a Filipino favorite. Almost instantaneously, the public squares south of Victoria Harbor are filled by makeshift mats and picnic tables. A buzz emerges again but different from the booming sounds of LKF, it’s a sound only made when one hears a combination of 150 dialects. It’s a familiar sound of voices, stories, and laughter, almost reminiscent of home. Pay attention to space says the towering regional headquarters of HSBC and The Bank of China Tower. “No littering” screams the incessant, repetitive street signs but this is of no interest for today’s users, they are here to relax and spend their only day off in the week with friends and new acquaintances. “How long have you been here?” “10 years…5 years…10 months….3 months…2 weeks.” Were their responses. This sea of women all clad in similar dark blue jeans, slip-on shoes, a graphic hoodie for the afternoon breeze, and of course, an umbrella for the rain. “They are girls scouts you know”, says my cafe table neighbor. I shrug. A man joins the picnic, oh, maybe one of their husbands has come to town. Today, like every Sunday of the week I was told, it is the women of the Philippines – the domestic workers that keep this city clicking – that rule the streets and public spaces. The rest of the week they are home serving wealthy owners as live-in domestic helpers in one of the many towering condominiums and apartments that line the harbor. “Balik kayo (Come back)! See you next Sunday! We will be here.”

Chapter 2: Ideas as Currency â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The New Mediums of Philippine Popular Culture

Social order stems from inertia, from habit and indifference, and not from consensus. Joseph Femia

The first chapter outlined the historical movements that shaped the patriarchal landscape of the Philippines. The early forms of patriarchy were important precedents for the expansion of contemporary Philippine society. The Roman Catholic religion and earlier forms of merchant capitalism were important ideological tools for the Spanish colonial government. This was supplemented with the American model of mass education â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the public school system, books and teaching methodology further embedded these ideas into a solid institutional framework.

In this chapter, I investigate the role that mass media has played in visualizing these ideas. This will help readers understand the third root of the deeply embedded Philippine patriarchy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; mass media (L. L. Rodriguez 1990).

Ideas, imagery and institutions per-determine the fate of millions of Filipinas even before they enter the workforce. They give shape to the opportunities available to women in the country. Despite their ability to accumulate wealth, this does not determine their increased social status in society. It actually operates in reverse.

A social order is held in place through the power of ideas. Ideas organize human masses, and create the terrain on which men move, acquire consciousness of their position and struggle (Femia 1987). Hegemony is established by a dominant group getting a larger population to adhere to their moral, political, and cultural values. These effectively shapes behavior and choice by molding personal convictions as a replica of the prevailing norms. The Philippines is one country where the confluence of cultural norms, history, and religious ideals continue to influence the perception of women. Material possessions could never define the elite’s status in Philippine society. They operate on unquestioned privilege established by generations of the elite taking advantage of the economic and political fragments of the lower classes in society (Heywood 2005). Today, a family’s place in society is not so much determined by their wealth but by their ability to show their influence and reach from the furthest generations.

In that sense, it was an unexpected moment for many when women began to make headways in funding Philippine development in the last 50 years. helps. Storied histories seem to play a larger role in society as a result of this tellall type of show culture that the Spanish left with the country. Transnational migration and the access to wages arguably helped more women gain some personal freedom than access to suffrage (Ong 1991). Women’s advancing economic position is captured in the “nouveau rich” that has emerged as part of an emerging cultural construct in the Philippines that is a result of the manipulation of symbolic capital (Seki 2012).

Yet this, social class and identity is not as linear progression as it may appear to be for many Filipinos because class is defined more but perception and symbolic capital than actual measures of capital accumulation (Kelly 2012).

For women, their low status abroad allows them to gain status for their families in the Philippines. It is often the case that a woman’s low status abroad is her family’s ticket into higher classes of society (Parreñas 2001). These shifts are normalized in Philippine society and the allure of money traverses currency exchange rates and helps legitimate capitalism and the labor export system that the country has subscribed to (Anderson 1988). There is a higher social order above politics and economics that dictates society. Legitimacy is also an important part of a social structure with subjects conforming for convenience to ensure the reciprocal conduct of others. Howson and Smith (2008) summarize this notion through this powerful statement: Economic seems to give form to political society so that the nature of the critique of power is constrained to a ‘politico-economic’ operation. Crucially, it fails to recognize the vast resources that mobilized in civil society – such as media, education, the family, religion, law, communities, and markets – to ensure that the political economy can be and is maintained. This is the value of ideas and hegemony requires the manufacturing of consent through different sets of mediums. This means multiple strategies for institutions to release similar visual content. By enabling formal government institutions to build off the imagery pushed onto the airwaves (Encinas-Franco 2013; Bach and Solomon 2008).

Ang kapangyarihan ng biswal ay ang pagmobilisa ng emotive ng mga taong di naman magkakakilala’y tila may naunang pag-uusap sa isinisiwalat na pagkilos at pag-iisip hinggil sa biswal object. Rolando Tolentino

The power of the image is the ability to mobilize an emotion for people that do not know each other yet appear to have a common understanding about the action and thinking behind a visual.

7 Lumen and Lando â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A commercial by Surf

My type of girl? Simple, smart, sweet. I found all those in Lumen.

These are the words that ring through popular television in the Philippines. The story of Lumen and Lando for Surf detergent brand continue to floods the airwaves more than a decade after its release. Young, old, informed or not, millions of viewers tune-in between evening news, reinforcing the gender roles that the country is built on (Pandy 2015). Little has changed since â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a Filipinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s docility and obedience are still widely used to promote subservient femininity (Sontag 1982).Culture is what allows capitalism and ideas like this to persist. This is magnified by decreasing cost of the production of print material. These stereotyped images allow for the subordination of women as little has changed in media today. With almost every Filipino family laying claim to a television set as a prized possession of the middle-class family home.

Media

Language cannot be separated from the structures of ideology and power. Roland Barthes Despite the radically different way that women are leading their households today, little has changed in their public portrayal. They remain to be the doting spouse in the middle-class household when the country faces a much different reality of more women leaving to become overseas workers.

The media has strategically preserved the traditional roles of women in newspaper and film. The images, metaphors and myths are consistent with the set of norms and social roles that are expected from them. In 1987, Patricia Licuanan (1994) summarized the media’s portrayal of a woman as a victim, wife, and sex object. In a follow-up almost 30 years later, Encinas-Franco (2013) had looked at the media’s portrayal of overseas workers and came to similar conclusions. They are seen as victims-in-making, domestic workers, and poor. Two works almost 30 years apart in their analysis but still presenting a troubling reality caused by the retrogressive ideas that feed the general public especially the younger member of society (Rosario-Braid and Tuazon 1999; Lerner 1986).

News For Philippine news outlets, it draws particular attention when a woman is caught in between the law. Rarely does the headline news feature successful stories of Filipino woman. They engage the general public by highlighting the failures of the government but also put the blame on the overseas workers, themselves. This is most evident in the experiences of Filipina OFWs from Flor Contemplacion in 1995 to Mary Jane Veloso in 2015. Newspapers begin with a notification of a trial involving an overseas worker in crisis that continually builds into the narrative until they eventually reach “peak publication” where the nation is tuned in to the outcome of the trial. On the next page are the headlines published on national newspapers during Contemplaction’s trial in Singapore in 1995 and at the heat of Veloso’s trial in April 2015.

9 Flor Contemplacion Headlines 1995 from Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia

10 Headlines for Mary Jane Veloso Trial in Indonesia by Philstar

Having gone over 30 years of news archives of the country’s biggest newspaper - The Philippine Daily Inquirer, there is some evidence that points to its inability to escape the traditional gender narratives. There is little counter-narrative for the strong, independent, and successful woman.

In addition, online platforms send no different of message than their print counterparts. By filtering through over 3,000 articles on online databases, the chances of hitting a feature on a “successful Filipina” story led to only approximately 10 features. On the contrary, news about Filipinas in peril and you could come up with more than 1,000 hits.

After reaching peak publication, news cycles are volatile and information no longer filters through to add to the narrative or storyline. Questions like: What happens after the rescue? Or how can we negotiate for better recognition in international labor discussions that goes beyond words on paper and bilateral agreements?

Popular TV and Films 11 ABS-CBN’s Noontime TV Show Showtime

12 Dolce Amore – Teleserye ft. Liza Soberano, Scenes in Milan, Italy

Noontime television shows and evening telenovela series (colloquially known as teleseryes) are deeply ingrained in Filipino daily life (Brillon 2015). They are the escape that Filipino families return to after a long day at work or in between lunch hour in their office. It is no surprise to see the show in local eateries during the noon time rush. Showtime is a long-running popular series featuring celebrities, special guests and the occasional audience participation. There is a definite complexity to the kind of language used and in the exchanges with the hosts and how they engage with the studio and watching audience. Women presenters are out rightly shamed in front of national TV by the shows lead host. Yet, no calls for harassment have ever been fielded since the tone is “friendly” and less they be called and accused for being a bad sport.

While evening series like Dolce Amore, that ended in 2016, exaggerated the dream-like experience of living overseas. The story revolves around the life of Serena, who is lives with her step-parents in Milan. She lives a picturesque life as a princess and surrounds herself with the upper echelon of society. All this before she discovers her past as a child of a Filipino family that were trapped in the middle of a war in the Middle East which was the reason for her separation from her real parents. She begins on a quest to reunite with her original family members. This is just one of the many teleseryes and movies out in Philippines

media considered as blockbuster hits because they cater to an audience that resonates with tales of living abroad and being separated from family members and loved ones. The show’s writers have capitalized on story telling hooks that the audience can relate to. Popular media has never meant a sustained critique into the country’s ruling ideas and institutions (Durham and Kellner 2012). Instead it is seen as an escape from reality and the chance to watch our favorite celebrities on the air. Print and TV outlets refuse to recognize their role in upholding the norms on gender and overseas work.

In the 1980s, popular bomba films were used to distract attention from growing social issues. The subjectification of women became common fare for the millions of Filipinos that flocked for a weekend screening in the classic downtown Filipino cinemas. Lino Brocka’s popular films were no exception and despite their award-winning content, they also reinforced the gendered norms surrounding women at the time. More recently, Velasco (2008) evaluated films release in the early 2000s and found evidence of the masculinization of the Filipina. This highlights the existential crisis that men are facing amidst the increasing role of female sin the household. The role reversal in films is reflective of this reality, where “macho” is seen as feminine and women as masculine.

Today, we are now witness to a combination of the 1980s and 2000 film cultures. Women are still being subjectified through the lens of the media but because she has an increasing role in the households, the films of blockbuster success have been films that describe or show the overseas experience as many could relate to such happenings. The commercial imperatives of the films cannot hide the fundamental gender issues behind it (Velasco 2008). Now more than ever, there needs to be a serious evaluation about the kinds and types of knowledge being passed down to the younger generations, whether it is through religion, educational material, and popular culture.

Chapter 3: Policies & Powerful Players

In this final exploratory chapter, I ground this conversation by discussing the reality of overseas workers through the lens of the policies, institutions and powerful players. For Filipinas, this has been a long and agonizing road of gaining visibility and recognition as a powerful intermediate in the labor export economy. Flor Contemplacionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s case in 1995 is pointed out as a key breaking point in the Filipina migration issue. On a positive note, it was the first step to institutional changes sorely needed for overseas workers. Yet, it was also viewed as a recognition on part of the government of the blaring hypocrisy of the systems that they created. In an infectious cycle, the policies, institutions, and people feed off each other, preventing any type of progress to be made.

The status quo has been so difficult to change because revisions to the labor export economy does not just fall under a singular government agency. Rather, it falls under different areas of expertise and interest, budgeting, and oversight, which make any kind of redesign difficult at a systematic level. This is the reason why I consider the 3 factors operating in a continuous cycle instead of three separate silos.

The invisibility of the Filipina is a reaction to the long tradition of imposed docility, whether it was for some religious imposition on her sexuality or institutionally

through the right to vote (Pandy 2015). In the first two chapters, we saw the evolution of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political history and how they, too, play a role in the perception of women in media. After all, ideas are closely bound to the imagery that presents itself in popular television shows and films. Contemporary and films of the past have become ideological points at which the image of the woman is embedded in popular culture. Whether it is the Bomba Films of the late 80s that seek to subjectify the woman for her looks and being or the contemporary films of today that exaggerate of the overseas experience.

There is no doubt that migration has shaped the country, its institutions, its identity and its people (Kelly 2012; R. M. Rodriguez 2002). Countless efforts to bridge the gap between awareness and recognition have come from activist groups, labor unions, civil society and even some outspoken government officials. Yet, there is still a lack of systematic support for the diaspora, especially for women. These unaddressed lapses unfortunately give shape and form to the cultural norms that are built in the past but sustained through these contemporary tools of popular cultureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s institutions. Finally, I cannot stress enough the need to distance policy work from the damage control politics that characterize the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reaction to an overseas labor crisis. Rather, as we will see in the following chapter, we need a stronger political response that addresses the systematic crisis that have allowed these to persist over time.

Policy ď&#x192; The Philippines is not short on laws and bilateral agreements to protect Filipino workers abroad. However, this never guarantees actual implementation and enforcement. In 1995, the Philippine government passed the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act after the trial of Flor Contemplacion in Singapore. The law was passed in response to the collective uproar of the Filipino people calling for the government to protect its overseas workers. Filipinos at home and abroad were united for two reasons: first, their income generation capacities were at stake and millions of Filipinos were advised to return home until a set of standards were implemented. Second, the trial hit close to home as many were reminded of their families and their own vulnerability within the framework of the labor export economy. It could have been them, a mother, an aunt or a best friend living overseas that could be trapped in a similar situation.

That was a big ask for many politicians, who were essentially products of the second generation of teachers and professors trained during American colonial era and public education system. They were accustomed to women being in the backlines of the household, making sure that children were fed and the housekeeping pristine. For Filipinas to engage outside the common mold and breaking out of this usual way of life was unheard of for many of the elite politicians that grew up in the woman-led household. The events in the early 1990s challenged most politician and policymakers to rethink their own assumptions and stereotypes amidst a rapidly changing demographic and family life in the Philippines. It is important to remember that this happened just within a decade of a revolution that overpowered the Marcos dictatorship and politicians were keen on implementing a concrete vision for the future of the Philippines. It was the constructs so deeply embedded in the society that ultimately got the better policymakers reinforced the same values that reflect the clear cut vision of gender norms in society (Pandy 2015).

87 bilateral agreements 38 general agreements on employment welfare and cooperation 9 agreements on social security 40 agreements related to seafarers 5

In a broader global context, the country has over 80 bilateral agreements and relations with governments across the world to ensure the working safety of Filipinos abroad, 38 international agreements on employment welfare and cooperation, 40 agreements specific to seafarers and including most if not all international agreements related to migrant workers rights and protection. These agreements are just handwritings on paper and agreements hold no bearing on court in the host country especially when an overseas worker is seemingly caught red-handed. It is the domestic economic after all that are a pre-condition to the overseas labor market.

Back home, citizens and overseas workers are technically protected by Republic Act (RA) 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, which was further revised to RA10022 and included implementing rules and regulations. R.A. 8042 even mentions a gender-sensitive approach that the government needs to take. Other documents like the Philippines Overseas Employment Agencies Rules and Regulations, and the Labor Codeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Provisions on Overseas Employment are meant to supplement the laws with monitoring and implementation capacities.

Although, the government commits to the protection of the overseas labor market, the decision/ judgment ultimately rests from the host government. As seen in the vivid case of Flor Contemplacion, a migrantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lack of rights in the host

As of November 2013, speech of Ex CFO Head Imelda Nicolas

country supersedes any effort on the part of the sending country to rescue them. Moreover, this commitment to protect does not make the government accountable to change the status quo. ď&#x192; and Practice Ultimately, the devil is in the details (of implementation). Despite being mentioned over 30 times between R.A. 8042 and 10022, there is not even a hint about gender or women in the rules of implementation which are vital frameworks for implementing government agencies like the Philippines Overseas Employment Agency. This could well be traced back to the ineffective and decaying governance structure as well as increasing apathy on the part of citizens and civil society as whole. These gaps in policy have allowed the government to control womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choice of occupation and sexuality based on their own normative framework (TK). Since changes in any policy in the Philippines are subject to intense scrutiny at different levels of government and society. However, this ensures some caution in implementing reckless risk taking at the expense of lives but more importantly for the government - the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic well-being.

Laws have been historically difficult to change for the Philippines government. They attempt to address this matter by targeting short term needs through administration or annual campaigns. Whether it is through, short term projects or long-term development plans, they fall into the trap of becoming watered down agendas that have not driven any meaningful change over time.

In the early 2000s, the Philippine government launched the BalikBayan campaign to attract Filipinos (i.e. overseas workers, immigrants and etc.) back to the Philippines as glorified tourists. Balikbayans were given special tours of their motherland and this was quickly adopted in secondary cities and smaller municipalities across the archipelago. These buses would shuttle Filipinos from one town to the next, promising a truly â&#x20AC;&#x153;Filipinoâ&#x20AC;? experience for the returnees.

For the government, it was not enough to receive the remittances being sent home or the balikbayan boxes that came in throngs to Filipino homes during the Christmas season. They used this program as an income generation strategy for less urbanized sections of the Philippines and it also meant more dollars coming into their own bank accounts.

Earlier this year, President Rodrigo Duterte passed the Philippine Development Plan between 2017 to 2022. AmBisyonNatin2040, is a blueprint with countless targets but more strikingly most targets will have to be met by the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s labor institutions, among them: 1. Philippines will be an upper middle-income country 2. Growth will be more inclusive as manifested by a lower poverty incidence in the rural areas: From 30 to 20 percent 3. The Philippines will have a high level of human development 4. Unemployment rate will decline from 5.5 to 3.5 percent 5. Greater trust in government and in society 6. Individuals and communities will be more resilient 7. Filipinos will have greater drive for innovation

They are clearly visions with end goals in sight but missing the means to achieve these goals. Historically the PDP has remained an ideal mark, almost abstract, that has been missed the mark more than once. President Duterte would not be the first president to release a Development Plan that citizens and government officials would not pay any attention to. Outside the capital city of Manila, there is little understanding about what these targets actually mean and how local administrators can reframe these targets into realistic goals within their community. Local administrators and politicians continue to operate on an entirely different agenda - one that involves the preservation of their power in time for the next elections.

The highly centralized nature of governance in the Philippines means that Mayors and city administrators act as middle men for citizens to receive basic government services. They are elected or re-elected based on their ability to be masterful bureaucrats instead of innovative public officials. Basic access to healthcare is often taken for granted in larger developed countries but for citizens of smaller cities in the Philippines, this requires an almost God-like intervention by public officials in order to qualify for a hospital bed.

Decisions on overseas employment has been left to the national government when actually, the key to resolving the crisis will involve increased attention to the local labor market and getting local officials to understand the bigger picture and impact of the local labor market in resolving some of the issues that the national government has been paralyzed. Until then the key government agencies in this discussion are entirely national institutions.

 Institutions and Players Key to the regulatory measures in place are the implementing agencies in the Philippines, that are directly involved with the management of the overseas labor: Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the Commission of Filipinos Overseas.

1. Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA)

POEA was established well before the enactment of RA 8042 in 1995. Initiated by the Marcos Administration to trach the movements of overseas labor markets, so that the Philippine market can respond to it accordingly. Early officials quickly realized that education differentials between countries meant that workers were applying for lower-skilled occupations in both Western developed countries and developing countries in Asia and the Middle East.

Today, the agency has been widely criticized by scholars and journalist alike for its role as the government’s overseas labor broker (Guevarra 2010; Parreñas 2001). However, this argument disregards the inner workings and operations of the POEA that might contribute to this. Two bodies within the POEA stand out: first, the POLO or the Philippines Overseas Labor Office housed in the Labor Attaches of Philippines Consulates and Embassies across the world are the real brokers of Filipino Labor. In fact, the POLO makes the connections by starting initial conversations with governments or private agencies to fulfill the demand

A Historical look at the POEA Governing Board YEAR

POEA Secretary

2000

Bienvenido Laguesma

2001

Patricia Sto. Tomas

2002

Administrator & Vice-Chair Reynaldo Regalado

Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Patricia Sto. Tomas

Land-based

Ezekiel Alunen

Luzviminda Elbinas

Sea-based

Ricardo Valmonte

Private

Vicente Aldanese

Gregorio Oca

Rosalinda DimapilisBaldoz

2003 2004

Guillermina Gabor

Alexis Cruel

Isidro Aligada

2005 2006

2007

Leonardo De Ocampo Arturo Brion

2008 2009

Marianito Roque

Jennifer Jardin-Manalili

Rosalinda DimapalisBaldoz

Calos Cao Jr.

Apostol Poe Gratel

2010 2011

2012

Hans Cacdac

2013

Alexander Asuncion

2014

Felix Oca

Estrelita Hizon

Milagros Cristobal

2015 2016

Silvestre Bello III

Dominador Say

The second body is the POEA’s Governing Board. The governing board has the highest position in the agencies organizational structure and is a powerful authority making key administrative and executive decisions for overseas laborers. The “Board” consists of the POEA’s Secretary and Administrator (ViceChair) including the representation of 4 stakeholder groups, namely: Women’s, Land and Sea Based, and the Private Sector.

I looked broadly at the functions of each of member of the governing board starting with the POEA Secretary, which is usually seen as having the highest position within the agency. They are the face of the nation and the agency during deep crises. However, their term is almost coincidental with the change in presidency. Any “lasting reform” faces the crux of continuity during transitions between administrations. However, power should not be defined by the capabilities of the head figure also but should also take into account the members that share the responsibility in the decisions and have a role in its implementation.

The 4 seated stakeholders in the governing board are too represent the interests of women, land-based, sea-based and private sector. Each member is elected to three-year terms and is eligible for re-election for another three-year appointment. The historical overview of personnel provides us with a brief scan of the POEA’s short history and personnel involved. It is clear that the appointment rule was broken more than once.

Moreover, there is an interesting dynamic that is emerging through this visual. We see that Rosalinda Dimpalis-Baldoz has worked with the POEA for almost its entire existence. Serving first as administrator and vice-chair and moving into the position of Secretary during Noynoy Aquino’s administration in 2011. Guillermina Gabor, on the other hand, served as representative for the Women’s sector for almost a decade. For now, there is little to no evidence of their impact as representatives besides their ability to sign governing board resolutions.

2. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)

On the outskirts of Old Manila on the corner of Harrison St and Gil Puyat Ave is the ever-bustling front door of OWWA, as it is more commonly known. The early mornings are filled with eager applicants waiting to be called for a pre-departure seminars while mixing with the steady flow stream of government fixers and new applicants that go through the OWWA’s revolving doors.

Through a joint initiative with the POEA and other relevant government agencies, most foreign workers (legal) are not allowed to leave the country without completing the pre-departure seminar. This highly secretive affair is a half or full day seminar that briefs overseas workers on the task ahead and gives workers tips on surviving overseas.

In the last 6 months, I conduced informal interviews with a small set of overseas workers located in different sections of the world. Their experience at the OWWA’s pre-departure seminar is summarized as the government’s attempt to convince workers of their importance as heroes for their families and nation and ensuring them that their sacrifice is a worthwhile investment.

The OWWA describes itself as an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment. The institutions itself dates back to 1977, even earlier than the POEA, and is mainly a training institution that ensures that workers are briefed and educated well-before landing in the host country. In addition to preparing potential migrants, they also support migrants transitioning into their new lives abroad. They are the closest thing to a labor union for the country’s overseas workers as there is a one-time membership fee that gives migrants access to legal services, training, psycho-analysis and etc.

3. Commission of Filipinos Overseas (CFO)

The Commission of Filipinos Overseas is a group working under the auspices of the Office of the President. In comparison to the first two organizations, the CFO has a more flexible mandate captured in a broad set of goals, specifically: policy advocacy, socio-economic development, integration and re-integration, culture and education, finally, institutional development and organizational strengthening.

The Chair of the CFO is also a presidential appointee, similar to the case of the POEA Secretary position. The group does have relatively interesting and innovative projects by Philippine standards that aim to bridge the divide between migrant and home country. Like many other projects, their success is hard to measure formally and informally but under the leadership of Imelda Nicolas during the Aquino Administration (2011 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2016), the CFO focused on capitalizing on remittance power by flipping the terminology to remittance for development. Their online platform BalinkBayan meant to engage the diaspora to contribute to development policy by sending their remittances to fund education infrastructure, agriculture development and etc. The program received over $2 million in donations in 2015, a measly number compared to the $29 billion sent to the country in the same year directly to beneficiaries (i.e. families or spouses).

Finally, every two years the CFO is in charge of nominating outstanding overseas workers for the Presidential Awards. Four categories aimed to capture the breadth of achievements of the overseas workers. In 2016, an entire category for professional excellence was awarded to 8 men.6

Commission of Filipinos Overseas, 2016, Source: http://presidentialawards.cfo.gov.ph/images/PRESS_RELEASE2016-Conferment-of-Presidential-Awards-to-23-Filipino-Individuals-and-Organizations-Overseas.pdf 6

Innovations carry risk, but so does the status quo. Bryan Boyer & Justin W. Cook Helsinki Design Lab

Chapter 4: A Studio for the Future Filipino

How do ideas gain shape? How do they persist over time? Why has the government left these questions unanswered for years? Is it a coordination problem or an ideological one? These are just some of the burning questions at the end of my investigation into the evolution (or stagnation) of the Filipinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s identity. Yet the linear approach to problem solving does not appear adequate in addressing the sheer complexity of the issue at hand. How can we, as researchers, offer something more than just thinking differently? Is it possible to preempt an institutional problem you know is barreling forward at full speed?

The last three chapters were spent investigating the crisis of the Philippine labor market through varied perspectives: history, media, institutions. However, in order to close without the standard 5 recommendations required from thesis, I have instead contracted the analysis into one concrete recommendation: a studio that aims at meeting the problem head on by building a team of stakeholders, practitioners and experts.

The last chapter made it clear that there needs to be innovations at the systems level and solutions that are not a product of the 20th century institutions that are ill-equipped and to slow to respond to the growing needs of the international workforce of the Philippines. There is hope that there is replicability to this collaborative model.7 In addition, I would like to believe that there is at least some sense of urgency between government agencies.

The studio will address some key challenges facing the world today. 1. The growing interconnectedness of the world today makes it difficult for practitioners to describe the issues neatly. 2. Experts including those in power often do not know where to start and the gaps between specializations have only deepened making it even more difficult to address the challenges between the gaps (Boyer, Cook, and Steinberg 2013). 3. Many of the problems faced by other states today are much the same. Some inkling about what is wrong but absolutely no roadmap to ensure a safe transition. It is akin to being a pilot and carrying the future of the country on your plane but the windshields offer you zero visibility. 4. On the flipside, when governments are ready to discuss – they are often left in dreary age-old discussions that only result in watered-down ideas that leave no room for any meaningful change to happen in society.

The studio model requires the right people, a flexible process, a carefully defined problem, and place that is conducive to collaboration – all applied with an open-minded spirit.

This chapter is an ode to designing strategically for the future using the tenets of some very useful “open source” information. They are the following: Creative Collaborations by Dowie, Eshkar and Kaiser; The Collective Action Tool Kit from frog design group; and Recipes for Systematic Change by the Helsinki Design Lab. Both projects set the foundations and some loose guidelines by accounting all the ideas and inputs

What is a studio?

Unlike most workshops, this studio will also deal with an aspect often left unaddressed in social research and that is the ability to shift scale; between the individual and the collective. The studio will be run by an independent entity but funded by the government. This will allow a sense of objectivity on the part of researchers but also provide the government an opportunity to learn from the conduct of the workshop.

It will be an opportunity for the studio team and myself to better understand the situation as it is affected by differing scenarios. Experts and practitioners are sometimes blinded to the necessity of innovation by virtue of their highly developed coping skills. There are indefinite amounts of conflicting information â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as any social problem would have. However, it is in the conflict that a solution could emerge.

This is by considering the ecosystem of the problem and not just a section of the pie. Instead of the usual coping mechanisms or damage control exercises that Filipinos have become accustomed to why not think about improving the instruments being used in the system. The entire workshop will be documented from start to end. From bad idea to good ideas and everything in between. At the end of the day and even after the completion of this workshop, the problem will not be resolved. However, whoever is involved the tools and connections necessary to rethink the conversation and to focus their efforts on the bigger picture. Many of the experts invited have adopted highly complex coping mechanisms when dealing with the problem instead of creating the right instruments to ensure the longevity of their projects. Yet, they are the most important people to have on board in this process because they execute the policies and programs outlined by the government. They have power. THE STUDIO Empathy in interrogation

This is an argument in favor of a world not dictated by the rule of data and algorithms alone. They are part of monitoring progress and ensuring accountability amongst government officials in the current or previous administrations but it is no guarantee that systematic efforts are being changed to better government services.

Instead, the studio is a nod to the expertise and experience of those with the ability and desire to shape the future of the Filipino work force. As a researcher, my role is to merely facilitate the conversation and the process of discovering/reflecting for many of these practitioners. My own bias being that contemporary problems of today can be solved by bringing together people with different backgrounds but all with the same feeling of discontent with the status quo. More than discontent, they are united by the ambition to change the current state of affairs.

In Detail: The studio is an intensive 5-day workshop that gathers the brightest of minds to work through the complexities of the given scenario and question. While they are creating affinities with one another, this will drive the conversation out of the usual spectrum of conversation through a series of provocations set up by facilitators. In addition, the workshop aims to include a series of field trips and conversations with outside speakers (leaders of civil society organizations) to gain a better understanding and grasp of the problems at hand.

The problem setting and investigation happens in the first two days of the workshop while the real ideation and framework construction take up the most of the last three days.

What is in a title? Work-in-progress: The Future of the Overseas Filipino Labor Force

A title to describe the work needed to fill in the gaps and mistakes of the past. The title is broader to give a general feeling that we are talking about work. While the subtitle is more specific to the overseas labor force and that we are talking in future tense. “In progress” is an essential part to the framing of the studio as it gives the feeling that there is work needed so that we can get to the future. Small and menial steps that will allow the country to achieve overarching government goals. Problem Setting – What and Why? First thing is first – let us begin by asking the right kind of question. Not too simple nor complex but something that will help participants better understand the root cause of the problem and a practical and actionable solution. The risk of inaction has already proven itself to be more than the root of all evil. Some possible questions: 1. What steps do we need to take to ensure the return of our overseas labor force? 2. How can we ensure the next generation of Filipinos remain within the country’s labor force?

People I created my own wish list of stakeholders. Some in the government but most are those who have worked quietly on the back ends to drive innovative ideas from far off places. I have admired all these people from afar, not because of their status as leaders and experts in the field but because they oppose prevailing wisdom by engaging in a screaming match with their opponents but they do so silently through their projects and work.

They convince me that the Filipino dream is something worth fighting for. In no distinct order:

EDUCATION Clarissa Delgado Teach for the Philippines

EDUCATION Henry MottMunoz Edukasyon.ph

OFW Xyza Bacani Photographer

GOVERNMENT Ernesto Pernia National Economic Development Agency

OFW Cristina Liamzon Ashoka Fellow

PRIVATE Diosdado Banatao PhilDev

GOVERNMENT Stacy Alcantara Department of Foreign Affairs

GOVERNMENT Adrian Agbon Philippine Institute of Development Studies

PRIVATE/MEDIA Gina Lopez Lopez Group of Companies

YOUTH Mark Lozano One Million Lights

YOUTH/OFW Rexy Josh Dorado Kaya Collaborative

MEDIA Maria Ressa Rappler.com

One of the key features in this lucky group is that there is little overlap between their fields of expertise. This will allow contributions to filter from different points of view and ultimately, the creation of intersections amidst silos. Intellectuals are a heterogeneous group of people with differing and often conflicting loyalties, stances, and perspective (Ileto 1997). They are rarely evaluated but this complexity is glossed over and left unexplored (Hau 2014).

In addition, there will be no leader in this group. Despite different levels in their own organizational hierarchies, the workshop will serve as neutral ground for the exchange of ideas between young and old. This is an important assumption, beforehand as it allows greater flexibility and openness within the group. Downie, Eshkar and Kaiser (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Creative Collaborations - Helsinki Design Labâ&#x20AC;? 2017)

summarize this necessity of fostering diversity within the group powerfully through this statement: A group of diverse individuals – all intelligent, but with different backgrounds, perspectives, and ways of working – will look all over the place for the solution. Together they will search more expansively for possible solutions, and if the best solution is to be found in an outlying area, one of them is much more likely to discover it there.

Finally, each part of this system presents its own challenges. The work needed to find a solution to this age-old crisis requires the work not just of one working in a silo but rather an approach that covers all contexts, and each expert will represent that. Instead of forcing or controlling the conversations that will take place, the aim of the workshop is to make sure that the right people are sitting around the table, that they’re comfortable to speak to one another, and that the problems being set are realistic (Boyer, Cook, and Steinberg 2013) Place – All about location Place and physical infrastructure will play an important role in making sure the studio goes smoothly. Ideally, the workshop will take place in a space where team members are comfortable and can draw meaning and inspiration from the location and the conversations they have with one another.

It is with that in mind that I propose Hong Kong in the heart of the Central District as an ideal location for the workshop to take place. As the story in the second chapter presented, squares in central district proved to be the starting point of the story of most overseas Filipino workers. It is exactly where we can begin to trace the historical precedents that have led the workers to this day.

I envision that for team members the shocking transitions from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning will be inspiration for the studio team. Process

Image 8: Collective Action Tool Kit by frog design group

The goal of the Studio is to continually clarify and prioritize an actionable plan. Each phase in the toolkit is centrally like to the idea of being able to clarify the problem and the envisioned outcomes. It is also designed to integrate the multiple silos of expertise within the team.

The studio builds off 6 basic themes established by the Collective Action Tool Kit by frog design group: build, imagine, clarify, seek, make, and plan. These themes allow the group a flexible but systematic process in figuring out priorities.

PRE- WORKSHOP! Defining the Problem

Knowledge Hunt

Identifying participants + skill share

POSTWORKSHOP!

Follow - up

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE Descriptions are in the following pages.

SUNDAY, DAY 1: BUILD & IMAGINE

MONDAY, DAY 2: BUILD &SEEK

TUESDAY, DAY 3: SEEK & PLAN

WEDNESDAY, DAY 4: MAKE & PLAN

THURSDAY, DAY 5: FINAL REVIEW

9:00 Start

7:00 Field Trip

9:00 Start Idea Remix: Pattern Quest + Rings of Connection

9:00 Internal Review

9:30 Exploring the Status Quo â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Series of Lectures 11:00 Build Action Plan

12:00 Studio Lunch Welcome, Introductions & Goal-setting

12:00 Lunch with Discussants

12:00 Blurb + Working Lunch @ Studio

13:30 Ripple Effect

13:00 Pattern Quest

13:00 Rings of Connection

12:00 Working Lunch

16:00 Day end

16:00 Studio Review

19:30 Working Dinner

18:30 Closing Dinner

14:30 Four-square story 15:00 Day end

16:00 Day end 19:30 Working Dinner

16:00 Day end

PRE-WORKSHOP Administrative Tasks | Ensuring funding from a relevant state actor is available (1 year) and recruiting the right support team. Securing the space and drafting a plan at least 4 or 5 months before the studio.

Defining the Problem | Establishing the guides and key questions to answer during the studio. Broad but specific enough to turn into an actionable item for the group.

Identifying Participants | Matching team skill set with the problem. Begin reaching out to them and providing adequate compensation/incentive for participating in the studio.

Knowledge Hunt | Pre-workshop research will be aided by concepts discussed in earlier parts of the thesis. This will aid in the drafting of the challenge briefing.

Preparing Materials | Challenge Briefing The Challenge Briefing ensures that members of the studio team are (literally) on the same page and that debates on definitions are avoided and precious time not going to waste. The two-page document will have the following components: 1. Opportunity Space | What will we lose as a result of inaction? What will we regain through strategic redesign? Some questions to provoke an overarching goal for the studio. 2. Background | c/o the findings discussed in the first three chapters, which will broadly include a few introductory paragraphs on history, media, and institutions. 3. Dimensions | They will help broaden the perspectives and discussion from the original set of 3 by proposing a bullet section of other relevant topics.

DAY 1 BUILD & IMAGINE

Studio Lunch | This meal aims to orient both the studio team and the support team to one another. There is no better way of learning about your counterpart through a meal. With the underlying goal of creating a space for affinities and partnerships to be made. All meals during the studio week will be flexible enough to create separation from “working time” but structured enough to encourage team building. Ideally, the workshop will be in the (my) place of choice – Central Hong Kong, and will start on a Sunday. Hong Kong is a central point not only for international business in Asia but also home to the largest set of Filipina domestic helpers.

Roles and Goals | House rules will also be discussed. Encourage a space for honesty and conversation. The first order of business will be checking the goals of the team and adjusting accordingly. The facilitators (support team) should be very clear to mention at the start the expected outcomes of the studio. Sometime will be spent identifying the roles that each team member will play. The studio team begins their skill share to orient each member to the unique talents that each individual is bringing to the studio through a roundtable introduction.

Expected outcomes (tentative) 1. Framework of improvement 2. Identifying the ecology of the problem 3. Architecture of solutions

Ripple Effect | The day will end with a short exercise for the studio team. Instructions: 1. Divide into teams of three 2. Individual effects o

Have each imagine what would happen if the problem was solve

On the first circle, write the effect on those closest to them.

3. Community effects o

Imagine again. Studio team draws another circle

On the second circle, write down the effects on the community. Draw more circles to include the effects on the city, nation and world.

4. Share with rest of the group o

Compare similarities and differences between groups

Create a speculative timeline of seeing the impact of the effects that the team wants to focus on.

Sheet remains in studio

DAY 2 BUILD & SEEK

Guided Discussion | The day will begin promptly at 9 am and to set the stage for a lengthy studio session, a series of lectures from practitioners and other stakeholders help give more context to the challenge briefing.

Working Lunch | Lecturers are invited to stay for an extended but informal Q&A session during lunch break. Inviting the studio team to engage in an open discussion with key experts so that they can make informed and thoughtful solutions to their problem.

Pattern Quest | Groups are given three different dimensions of the issue to address. 1. Small teams begin to pull out key concepts 2. Discuss and review important notes

Four-square Story | Clarify information and engage the larger group each dimension through a visual presentation and discussion. 1. Sell their story through a tapestry of images 2. Each team member will vote for their favorite.

DAY 3 SEEK & PLAN

Field Trip | The group will do an early field trip to visit civil society organizations or non-government organization based in Hong Kong serving the Filipino community at large. This will help the studio team gain insight into the realities from a first-hand account from members of the organization.

Blurb Share + Working Lunch | During the working lunch, the studio team will share a brief insight gained from the trip by writing a “tweet” and posting on the common board.

Rings of Connection | Discovering who or what can help address specific challenges. 1. Form groups of three, assigning each group with a dimension of the problem. 2. They begin by identifying “trusted circle” people 3. A larger ring extends the relationships and looks at other possible connections 4. Figure out individuals that you are most likely to talk to.

Working Groups | Riding on the wave of activism and movement, the studio team will be moving into production mode by having a brief meeting to discuss initial ideas.

DAY 4 MAKE & PLAN Idea Remix | Using text from the blurb exercise during the third working lunch. 1. Studio team will pick any blurb and begin to expand on an idea 2. A quick speed dating exercise will be done between studio and support team to share their ideas 3. Support team introduces a challenge and therefore, changes will be needed. 4. Grow new ideas.

Building out | The rest of the day will be spent doing desk research and iterating the solution/framework. Prepare for presentation the next day.

DAY 5 FINAL REVIEW Internal Review | A quick review will be done by the support team before the studio review in the afternoon. Iteration to continue until the end of the day

Studio Review | The final review is an important step to end the studio. Five invited guests who would ideally have positions of power will be tapped to evaluate the new frameworks or ideas that the studio team has come up with. A. Leni Robredo, Vice President of the Philippines B. Loida Nicolas, Activist-Philanthropist C. Rosanna Villamor-Voogel, Vice Consul of Washington DC Embassy D. TBD E. TBD

POST-WORKSHOP

Following up with the studio team and observing progress in implementation of the studio output.

In an ideal world, the implementation of a project will happen with the support of final review members. More broadly, the hope is that the group will adopt some type of model that will accommodate a labor market intervention that will give better options for Filipino/a workers at home or facilitate the return of exported talent back to the Philippines.

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