History may judge unkindly the Filipino Americans by the color of their tuxedos or party gowns and not by the context of their character. -- Bobby M. Reyes in paraphrasing Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1993

O verseas-Filipino contract workers and immigrants (OFCWI) not only keep the Philippines financially afloat but also undertake a lot of social activities in the foreign countries where they have settled and/or work. In the United States, Filipino Americans make their lavish social events proof of their living the American Dream.

The Overseas Filipinos spend annually hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in holding the omnipresent dinner-dances, pageants, festivals, fiestas and other events.

In 1993 I paraphrased Martin Luther King by writing, "History may judge unkindly the Filipino Americans by the color of their tuxedos or party gowns and not by the context of their character."

As discussed in this series’ Part III, the first step is to form a "mother federation" (MoFed) of the said professional organizations and regional or provincial federations, beginning in Southern California (SoCal). This means also organizing Filipino-American entrepreneurs such as realtors and mortgage brokers or travel agents or insurance brokers and other professionals into a national (business) consortium per industry.

The community will have to do more than merely organize a chamber of commerce here and there. People may be more interested in this proposition because they may generate income from, as against paying the usual expenses for, the said events.

The second suggested step is to persuade the members of this "MoFed" to turn their social events into coordinated and synchronized socioeconomic activities. Instead of holding a mere induction of officers accompanied by the ubiquitous dinner and dancing, an association can do a mini-trade fair or even a mini-travel show that will highlight the commercial, industrial or tourism potentials of the organizers’ home province or region in the Philippines. The pre-event meetings (held to organize the function) may be used also to rally the community to do a business exercise in a given location in the homeland.

Travel-wise, the association members must not make a mere trip to the Philippines for vacation or reunion purposes but go on a mission. Yes, the OFCWI can join, or better yet organize, a trade mission or at least a medical mission, even if they are not medical professionals.

Filipino Americans should turn their social events into socioeconomic activities, so as to maximize their economic-empowerment drive.

The third step is to coordinate and synchronize the procurement of corporate sponsors, preferably on an exclusive basis per industry. This means that the "MoFed" must sign up a financial institution to become the exclusive banking-industry sponsor of the various events that it will organize or join. And what can the bank get in return for the six- or seven-figure sponsorship deal? The "MoFed" for instance can set up a nationwide Filipino-American money-market or mutual fund, as may be managed by the sponsoring bank. To generate more income (aside from the interest income from the mutual fund), the "MoFed" may have a Filipino-American Visa or MasterCard from which it may receive part of the commission paid by merchants to the sponsoring bank. We have actually submitted this proposal to a few commercial banks in SoCal, with the idea of signing up with the financial institution that will give the best deal for the community.

To generate traffic for its airline sponsor, the "MoFed" can organize a Filipino-American travel club, in cooperation with the members of a Fil-Am travel agents’ consortium. This will not only afford the travel-club members of wholesale-priced airline tickets but it should generate additional income for the "MoFed.

And when Filipino Americans buy or sell or refinance real estate, a consortium of Fil-Am brokers and/or mortgage bankers may be able to make donations per transaction to the "MoFed," without violating the rules and regulations of the Real Estate Division of the State where it occurs.

Imagine a national consortium of professional Fil-Am insurance brokers and agents catering to the insurance needs of the community. It may be possible for the "MoFed" to obtain charitable-gifting insurance coverage for its members so that when death comes, the policy pays for a scholarship or a student-loan fund in the name of the insured (deceased) at his/her alma mater in the Philippines or in an American university for Filipino-American students.

Editor’s Note: The Media Breakfast Club has proposed doing the "Philippine Immortality Project" Deals with Charitable-Gifting Insurance for RP Beneficiaries

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