Ex-HK OFW sets her sights on Congress

The Sun - HK: If the party-list election in the Philippines were held this month instead of May, Flora Baniaga-Belinan, 49, would surely end up in Congress. That’s because Belinan is the third nominee of Gabriela Women’s Party-list which, according to a Pulse Asia Survey last month, was likely to get at least three of its nominees into Congress. That’s one big boost for Belinan, who, having worked in Hong Kong for 12 years as a domestic helper before returning to the Philippines in 2004, is promising to bring the overseas Filipino workers (OFW) agenda to Congress. Objectives for running Belinan says she was convinced to run as a partylist candidate because, “unang-una, malaking trabaho ito, dahil lalong tumitindi ang labor export policy ng gobyerno." Another reason, according to her, is that there is no migrant workers’ representative yet in the legislature, when there are nearly nine million OFWs all over the world. For the first overseas absentee voting for Filipinos abroad, Belinan’s friend and fellow ex-HK OFW Connie Regalado ran as first nominee for Migrante International party-list, but failed to secure enough votes. Belinan said this was not due to lack of support from OFWs and their families, but because of several factors. In the Philippines, Migrante was not able to campaign in many areas not only because of a lack of resources but also because of security concerns. Overseas, it was mainly because the turnout in the first OAV did not meet expectations, except in HK, where the highest number of registered voters was recorded. Voter education But then, as now, there is also the problem of educating voters on the need to elect a party-list representative. Not only is the concept of sectoral representation still hazy to many voters; they also do not know what each party-list stands for. With the help of its many affiliates like Bayan Muna and Migrante, Gabriela is now focusing on addressing these problems. Belina, along with first nominee Liza Maza and second nominee Luz Ilagan, are running under Gabriela’s platform of championing women’s rights and welfare. “Seventy percent of the 8.5 million migrant workers are women and their families believe Gabriela will echo their interests in Congress," Belinan said in a statement. “This is no small number that would ensure the Filipino women’s victory in the coming elections." On top of this, Belinan is also vowing to advance OFW concerns, like opposing what she calls anti-migrant policies such as the recent guidelines passed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on the hiring of Filipino domestic workers. OFW fund misuse Belinan also advocates closer scrutiny of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Fund, saying the transfer of the Medicare fund to Philhealth and other such controversial transactions should be investigated further. But Belinan is also looking at taking on a more pro-active role of proposing policies that would directly benefit OFWs. On this, she says she is prepared to do extensive consultations not only with migrants, but also with their families. It is a task Belinan has had a lot of practice with. Even before she left her hometown of Sagada, Mountain Province to work in HK, she was already working as an organizer for the urban poor in Baguio City. While still adjusting to the difficult life as a domestic worker in HK, she founded and headed the Pinatud A Saleng Ti Umili, an organization of domestic workers from the Cordillera Region. Later, she also served as adviser to the Cordillera Alliance-HK, and became a volunteer at the then Mission for Filipino Migrant Workers. Community work As a community leader in HK, she also highlighted the plight of her fellow indigenous Filipinos being threatened with displacement and exploitation. When she returned home after her long stint in HK, Belinan went back to community organizing. With the support of her husband Paul who himself is working for the Cordillera Labor Center and their two grown-up children Michael and Michelle, Belina went on to found the Migrante Chapter in Metro Baguio, where she remains active. She is concurrently Gabriela’ deputy secretary general for external affairs. Asked what drives her to keep up her community involvement, Belinan simly says, “Kailangan lagi nating itinataas ang kamulatan ng ating mga kababayan." She hopes to do this on a bigger scale if she wins a seat in Congress. –The Sun - HK