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That the Philippine diaspora is so pervasive, so global, is no longer news. What will be news is when the Philippine government, which is the main acteur in the decades long tableau of exporting the country's number one resource, human labour, will put an end to this phenomenal process. In the meantime, Philippine labour migration or transnational migration as it is called in academe, continues unabated, often incomprehensively so, even to those who are intimately involved with it in their everyday lives, as most migrant Filipinos do in all corners of the globe. As transnational migration fills an ever larger part of Filipino reality and consciousness, both at home and abroad, a new bill on migration, awaiting second reading in the Congress and expected to be passed in early 1999, recommends teaching grade school children the phenomenon of migration, the reasoning being that today, there is hardly a Filipino family that remains unaffected by it. Is this a move to institutionalize migration in the national psyche? Or is the government trying to dignify this nation-conserving instrument which has nevertheless broken families up, but has also kept family coffers filled and the national economy afloat, thereby contributing greatly to the over-all economic well-being of the country? International labour migration has also been the source of what some academics identify as feelings of "transnational shame" by a nation over the unwished for identity we Filipinos have today in many parts of the world where our being Filipino is synonymous with being tied down to conditions approximating slave labour. And which from time to time has given way to eruptions of cumulative and nationwide anger as well as energy, e.g. as when Filipinos spontaneously burned the flag of Singapore in the aftermath of the Filipino domestic Flor Contemplacion's execution in that shopper's paradise. Another was the overwhelming outpouring of sympathy for the Moslem girl Sarah Balabagan who killed her employer in the U.A.E. when he tried to rape her. This global public hue and cry led to the mitigation of her sentence and her speedier return to the Philippines. The Personal becomes the political Recently, being part of international media invited to Morocco for an autumn festival in the Middle Atlas town of Imilchil, and landing at magical Marrakesh, I noticed the presence of some Filipinos at the airport. Later, I succeeded in localizing them to the duty free area where I chatted with them. Clutching the miniature Dior perfume bottle they rewarded me for being their long lost kababayan (compatriot), I was wide-eyed when they further told me that Filipinos also manned Casablanca, my next stop, and the film that put Morocco on the world map. Film buffs will remember Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart's dewy Goodbye at Casablanca airport, as one of the most unforgettable scenes ever in film history. At that precise moment and spot, I thought about being touched a little by cinematic history while indulging in the most banale but also most typical of Filipino tourist pursuits: duty-free buying with the extra treat of being served by co-Pinays! On the flipside, I once was on a plane bound for Europe when the Filipino seaman seated next to me asked if I could give him my pair of complimentary socks from the airline that came with the free toothbrush and toothpaste. At the end of the journey, he had collected quite a number, including those that had already been used and discarded by the other passengers. When asked why he was doing this rather unsavoury bit, he reasoned that it could get very cold on those ship decks on wintry nights, without wearing layers and layers of socks. I regretted much later not getting his address because I cuold have easily sent him a boxload of thicker and warmer woolen socks! But is there any country at all on the globe where there are no Filipinos. I asked the Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who had invited us women migrants from Europe - me and a Swiss colleague - to an inter-agency consultative meeting at the DFA after hearing our panel on women and migration during the recently concluded International Congress on Women under the auspices of the Centennial Commission early in December in Manila. Her answer was succinct as it was trite:"Probably not!" Personally, I have come across Filipinos in quite unlikely places such as in the Faroes, and in the Norwegian Lapp town of Karsjok above the Arctic circle, home to the indigenous Saami. A number of times, I have felt grave embarassment upon reading about some country I did not even know existed, e.g. those floating small republics in the Pacific, making room for immigrants from my impoverished country. And so on and so forth... And so the migrant wheel churns. The nation and its heroes Philippine administrations since Marcos, each in their own way have expended efforts to alleviate the conditions of Filipino workers abroad by entering bilateral agreements whenever possible, as well as championing migrants rights in international fora. But these are but drops in the bucket. For there indeed is so much to be done. The grim statistics of 4 to 5 Filipinos coming back in coffins to NAIA every day according to immigration officials tell of unspeakable conditions under cultural codes that criminalise normal behaviour of the fun-loving and homesick Pinoys. And of unscrupulous operators of sweat shops, factories or floating coffins that for filthy profit daily tread on their human rights. What kind of blind loyalty to family make them go on voluntary exile, sacrificing their own personal happiness for the sake of family who may not always be worthy of such grace. The Public Forum in The Hague Efforts to illuminate many important questions regarding international migration as exemplified by the Public Forum on Philippine International Migration, held in The Hague in November 1997, are much needed in the current climate and culture of condemnation instead of constructiveness. During this meeting, the insider look at the host society that is the Netherlands, a typical member state of the European Union, in the context of a hermetically closing Europe which purportedly houses close to a million Filipinos has given invaluable European insights specific to Philippine migration. The efforts expended by FFON and its member organizations in this connection, i.e. organizing the Conference and arranging the equally important pre-consultations in 5 localities which entailed research in the field, amongst the main groups of Filipinos in the Netherlands, au-pairs, oil-rig workers, seafaring men and women, the residents and last but not least, the undocumented - who are treated as illegals because of their lack of necessary papers are likewise commendable. During the Public Forum itself, insights and viewpoints from many sectors, the migrants themselves, from NGOs and governmental representatives and agencies were candidly expressed thus making for a fruitful dialogue with the host society as represented by government officials, experts, NGOs, etc. Nationalist Perspectives for the Future For the next volume on migration, we should look forward to paradigm shifts that look at how immigrants abroad can achieve rights of voting and representation such that the ca. 10% of the Filipino population that keeps a significant portion of the economy afloat can also exert political clout and influence in the running of the country. Lobbying must be a skill that should be honed for the purpose. We can reflect on how international migration has slowly broken down class barriers, precisely by the mechanism with which expatriate, largely non-elite Filipinos exhibit and achieve greater economic equity with the elites at home and abroad through sheer purchasing power. A dollar is a dollar whether spent by a DH (domestic helper) or by a haciendero from Negros. Perhaps it is high time for Philippine nationalism to be infused with new blood, new insights from a sector in Philippine society that has been disenfranchised long enough. It is about time that Filipinos abroad participated in the body politic on equal footing with the rest of the nation: small gains from the Filipino diaspora. Filomenita Mongaya Hogsholm is a Philippine-born journalist, editor and documentary film maker focusing on women, migration, ethnic minorities, cross cultures, human rights, environment and development. After finishing at the Inst. of Mass Comm. at the University of the Philippines, she went to Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse, New York for her Master of Science in TV-Radio and Film. Since 1971 she has been based in Europe, notably Denmark and Holland (1975-1982). Ms F. Mongaya Hogsholm has edited a number of international publications and currently edits a newspaper on asylum issues for the Danish Red Cross.