On this second weekend in March, I’m here to participate in a voter mobilization training project. The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) is among those organizations that has done a lot education and outreach work to this burgeoning Filipino population. It has also shared its wealth of experience with various ethnic groups, training their leaders to conduct voter education, voter registration and get-out-the vote campaigns.

NaFFAA’s FilVote program - launched at the federation’s Hawaii convention last year -is among the beneficiaries of APALA’s wealth of experience and expertise. What’s significant about this initiative is its bipartisan nature. As Perry Diaz, Gloria Caoile’s co-chair puts it, “we need to put a stop to a slugfest between two warring parties,” referring to the Democratic and the Republican partisans in the community. Dictating this imperative, of course, is the Filipino Veterans Equity Act  which requires bipartisan support in Congress. Clearly, this is one issue that draws the collective strength of loyalists from both parties. Perry, the Republican based in the West Coast, and Gloria, the Democrat based in the East, are leading the way.

To gear up for the upcoming election, NaFFAA’s FilVote gathered its key leaders from all its 12 regions this weekend. The mantra: to influence policy-makers, we need to get into positions of power by using our votes to elect officials who represent our interests, or getting elected ourselves. Power is being in a position to allocate resources (i.e. taxes) in order to better the lives of people. Power is being in a position to influence legislation that affects the vulnerable and the voiceless among us.

As it happens, the headline in this weekend’s Las Vegas Asian Journal, <D>is a wake up call: “Filipinos Highest Deportation Rate Among Asian Americans.” The story goes on to say that since 1996, more than 4,000 Filipinos have been deported, and since Sept. 11, 2001, Filipinos have experienced the greatest increase in deportation among all Asians. According to the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs, there is an estimated one million undocumented Filipinos living in the United States today.

Comprehensive immigration reform that would legalize the undocumented is definitely a policy issue that we should advocate for. Efforts to educate the community about the legal and social justice implications of this measure are being undertaken - thanks to groups like the Filipino Ministry of Northern Virginia headed by Ed Tiong. A community forum held this month at the St. Charles Borromeo church addressed the community’s concerns. Participants all agreed that the undocumented among us should be treated fairly by facilitating their integration into U.S. society.

In this light, the political behavior of Filipinos in America will determine how effectively we can affect policy debates with outcomes in our favor. There are currently 1.8 million Filipinos of voting age in the U.S. today. Of that number, 29% are not citizens and 32% are citizens who have not registered to vote. In the 2004 elections, only 594,000 voted - a decline of 7% because 122,000 registered Filipino Americans did not vote. Potentially, therefore, there are 715,000 Filipino American voters, or 40% of our total number, who can be mobilized to go to the polls come election day and make a difference..

Filipinos have a 67% naturalization rate - among the highest of all ethnic groups - and yet we have among the lowest voter turn out. Getting more Filipinos registered and going out to vote are FilVote’s goals this year and next. The impetus: getting the veterans equity and the comprehensive immigration reform bills passed.

These are the marching orders to those who gathered here this weekend. And what happens here doesn’t necessarily stay here. And that is a good thing.

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