The challenge of NaFFAA

In late August 1997 over 2,000 delegates from all over the United States converged at the Marriott Hotel in Washington DC for the 1^st Filipino American Empowerment Conference. I was assigned to write the rationale for it. This is what I wrote:

"Why an Empowerment Conference? Major events are occurring and laws are being passed that affect the interests of Filipino Americans, such as those on immigration, affirmative action and social services. But our community is simply being swept by the tides of change and circumstance. We are not playing a significant role in shaping these events and enacting these laws, despite the fact that we make up the largest Asian ethnic group in this country.

"We appear to be impotent in the face of the adverse circumstances, not because we lack the numbers nor the social status nor the intellectual capacity, but because we, as a community, have not been able to harness our full potentials as a socioeconomic and political force.

"We have not struggled hard enough for empowerment. This is our challenge."

A united front was the goal of the conference. But gathering enough delegates for it was the first major challenge. Alex Esclamado vowed to literally drive across America to persuade people to attend — a promise he actually fulfilled.

Getting the delegates to agree on a common agenda was an even bigger challenge. In fact, it was considered an "Impossible Dream" — Quixotic. But Esclamado, still publisher-editor at the time of pioneering FilAm newspaper Philippine News, was an Impossible Dreamer. Decades earlier, he had convened a Unity Conference of FilAms of diverse social, professional, and political backgrounds in Anaheim. The result was an organization called the National Filipino American Council.

But while it was envisioned as a national organization, there continued to be active FilAm groups both on the East and West Coast that were not affiliated with NFAC. The most aggressive of them was led by Washington DC labor leader Gloria Caoile and journalist-activist Jon Melegrito. They insisted on a place at the table in the empowerment conference, since it would be held on their home turf.

Thus was the 1st Filipino American Empowerment Conference convened from August 22 to 24, 1997. The first part of the Impossible Dream was achieved. As a result of that, the following year, also in Washington DC, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) was officially organized with Alex Esclamado as national chair, Gloria Caoile as national vice chair and Jon Melegrito as executive director. I was among the charter board members, as national PR director.

The delegates to both the 1997 and 1998 conventions — more in number than at any other similar Filipino meeting in the past — agreed on a common but wide-ranging agenda that would meet the varied needs of the community. Education, health, housing and social services, immigration and human rights, issues concerning the youth, seniors, women and the disabled, the overall interests of minority communities, such as affirmative action, the struggle of Filipino World War II veterans for equitable treatment by the US government, and, of course, aid to the Philippines — all these would be addressed by NaFFAA.

NaFFAA was not intended to be a super body that would take on all of these. The various tasks would continue to be undertaken by the member organizations based on their expertise, capabilities, and spheres of influence. NaFFAA would be a coordinator, integrator, and motivator. And most importantly, NaFFAA would represent a common front and a common voice before the decision makers in the public and private sectors, especially on Capitol Hill and the White House.

The ultimate goal would be socioeconomic and political empowerment.

The most immediate issue at the time of the empowerment conference was veterans equity and the opportunity to generate a lot of media attention presented itself. The delegates to the convention marched to the White House and aging Filipino veterans chained themselves to its fence, thus inviting arrest by Washington DC policemen. The event landed in national media.

Perhaps that initial effort, and the reality of the rapid decline in the numbers of the veterans, caused the leaders of NaFFAA, including subsequent National Chairs Loida Nicolas-Lewis and Alma Kern, to concentrate on the equity issue early on. Esclamado attempted to initiate programs in other areas, particularly the youth and aid to the Philippines, but it was in pursuit of veterans equity that NaFFAA became proactive. In other areas, the organization was reactive.

But its reactions had impact because of NaFFAA’s newfound ability to harness its 12 regional chapters nationwide and create awareness of whatever issues it confronted.

In Texas, 10 Filipino airline workers were unjustly arrested by immigration officials, victims of the nationwide paranoia in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. NaFFAA Southwest Region Chair Gus Mercado organized a defense team for the hapless Filipinos and NaFFAA called on its members to contribute to the defense fund.

Still another case of 9/11 backlash was the lay-off of non-citizen Filipino airport security workers in San Francisco. NaFFAA Northern California Region Chair Rodel Rodis, a lawyer, filed suit against the government in an effort to help the workers retain their jobs. He gained a technical legal victory, but the workers had already been laid off.

Another reactive move was the nationwide protest initiated by NaFFAA when an episode of the ABC series, Desperate Housewives, insulted Filipino doctors. NaFFAA and FilAm medical practitioners pressed the network and the producers for an apology.

But these moves were reactive, precisely because of the lack of clout of the FilAm community in the eyes of the American mainstream. Nobody would dare cross the black community the way Filipinos were insulted in Desperate Housewives. In California, authorities are careful in their dealings with the Chinese and Korean communities. And nationwide, tangling with gays and lesbians is literally asking for trouble.

But like most minorities, Filipinos are taken for granted in America. However, unlike the other minorities, we have the educational and professional credentials, the buying power, and the potential voting power to rise above our second-class citizen status.

In the 2005 update of the 2000 US census, there are 2.9 million people of Filipino descent, of whom over three-fourths are either US-born or naturalized citizens. That translates into a huge voting bloc. But this does not show in the voting rolls. The community is not famous for political involvement. In other words, Filipinos have the voting potential — but it is underutilized.

The impressive demographics should also translate into empowerment in the socioeconomic fields. But appreciating the need for empowerment is the first hurdle that needs to be overcome. We are a smug and complacent community that generally sees no need to get involved. And yet, when we are taken for granted or wronged, we complain about our impotence.

The task of NaFFAA, through its affiliate organizations, is to awaken within us the importance of involvement — particularly by the FilAm youth who are more integrated into the American mainstream and are in a better position to compete.

The challenge of NaFFAA is enormous but well worth it. I have often been asked to rate the federation on a scale of 1 to 10. I have rated it a 5 — which may be disheartening until you realize that we used to be a 1 and a 2. NaFFAA has come a long way since 1997, but the journey is far from over. Empowerment is still not in our hands.

At the 8th National Empowerment Conference in Seattle in late September, I was elected national chair of NaFFAA. Bringing that elusive goal within our grasp is now my mandated task. It won’t be easy. But in a country built by pioneers and frontiersmen, what else is new?

gregmacabenta@hotmail.com

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