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Filipinos are steeped in the international migration phenomenon.
The numbers show it: 2,000 leave everyday, eight million in
190 countries, and an $8-billion annual foreign exchange contribution
to the economy. Through media and advocates, and the fragile
partnership between the two and government, these figures
and the weight these represent have placed migrant Filipinos,
especially those temporarily working abroad on a contract,
among the pedestal of heroes and sought-after market niche.
However, other facets and faces of migration remain hidden,
despite the voluminous literature on overseas Filipino workers
and long-term migrants. We guess this is due to the equally
voluminous sad and sordid tales that Filipinos face everyday
away from their families and kin. We guess this is due to
the equally voluminous weight put on the shoulders of OFW,
public servants, and media to show these other facets.
Hence, the OFW Journalism Consortium was formed. What began
as a crazy idea in 2002 among non-mainstream writers and like-minded
advocates is now a media bureau on reportage of migration
issues in the Philippines.
Consortium members interview, dig data, write, and distributes
stories for free to achieve this aim. It gets funding from
agencies that believe in its work: to increasingly present
the myriad voices and faces of migrants in today’s society.
The bonus here would be civic action to further refine policies
for the progress of migrant workers and their families' lives.
The consortium requires its members to uphold the basic principles
of journalism: accuracy, fairness, balance, objectivity. Likewise,
the stories are tested on the crucible by how it has dissected
an issue or policy or event.
As Consortium members slice and piece together a story, it
is for the reader who should sit up or cry, laugh or get mad,
sigh or get even in their thoughts, organize or remain insulated
as they read the stories in Rome, Hong Kong, Riyadh, Los Angeles,
or Taipei. That, ultimately, is the Consortium's work.
JEREMAIAH
M. OPINIANO
President and Founder, OFW Journalism Consortium, Inc. |
