Pinoy group marks 25th anniversary in Belgium

Pinoy group marks 25th anniversary in Belgium

By LOUI GALICIA, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau 12/14/2008 5:58 PM

A group of Filipinos promoting Pinoy migrant workers rights recently celebrated its 25th anniversary in Belgium.

The group called Samahan ng Manggagawang Filipino sa Belgium started with more than 100 Pinoys in 1983. Now however, they are down to 30.

According to Samahan, the decline in their membership may be due to the different Pinoy organizations that have sprouted in the country over the years.

“Noong maitayo ang Samahan, nagkaroon ng simbahan, nagkaroon ng relihiyon. Ang problema, dumami ang relihiyon. Noong una Ilokano, Bisaya, Tagalog magkakasama kami. Tapos nagkameron na ng regional. Me Kapampangan, Bisaya, Ilokano, Tagalog,” said Samahan founding member Lito Batacan.

RegularizationAlthough small in terms of number, the group said they are the most solid organization ever formed in the Western European country. In fact, the group was able to make giant steps, despite its small membership, in helping improve the status and lives of compatriots, especially undocumented workers, in Belgium.

Samahan members cites their contribution to the regularization of undocumented Pinoys as well as pushing for their membership in trade unions in Brussels.

“Noong 2000, after years of advocacy and lobbying with the trade unions, the major trade unions in Brussels finally accepted undocumented workers also to become members of the trade union. Bahagi ng trabaho namin doon eh ang pagpe-pressure din o paglo-lobby sa Belgian government na gumawa ng regularization,” Coop treasurer and Education Committee member Joyce del Rosario said.

Del Rosario explained that the regularization that happened in Belgium was not identical to the regularization in Italy which granted amnesty to the illegal workers.

“Ito ire-regularize iyong undocumented workers. Bahagi din ng trabaho ng Samahan noon eh tinulungan namin ang kapwa Filipino. Ang pag fill-up ng application form, pagkukuha ng requirements,” Del Rosario added.

Filipino chaiplancySamahan also initiated the establishment of a Filipino chaplaincy in Brussels so that now, the Pinoys can go to their own Catholic church every Sunday.

“Ang Samahan ang nag-request sa CBCP (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines) na magkaroon dito sa Brussels ng chaplain at makabuo ng chaplaincy. Through the Samahan, na-initiate namin dito na magkaroon kami ng chaplain na simula noon eh nagbigay si Bishop (Julio) Labayen ng awtoridad na magkaron dito ng chaplaincy,” founding member Aida Batacan said.

She added: “Naisip namin na magkaroon dito ng chaplaincy para lahat ng Pilipino dito sa Belgium at sa Brussels lalo na, na magkaroon ng isang lugar na pagsasamasamahin namin ang aming panalangin at pagkakaroon ng chaplain.”

The Philippine Embassy in Brussels and more than 200 Filipinos from different organizations attended the group’s anniversary to show their full support and gratitude to the group.

ServiceTogether, the Pinoys also remembered how the lives of Pinoys have progressed and changed for the better in more than two decades.

“Mas maganda na ang sitwasyon na ngayon ng mga Pilipino lalo na iyong mga may papers kasi parang secured na sila dito. Nakakabili na sila ng bahay. Ngayon pagkatapos ng regularisasyon, maraming nakauwi sa Pilipinas, para mabigyan ng pagkakataon na magkaron ng legal na papers, documents para mag-stay,” founding member Cesar Ambrocio said.

Since the day it was formed, Samahan has strived hard to promote justice, equality and the rights of Pinoy migrant workers in Belgium.

Samahan has proven that the success of an organization is not measured by the sheer size of its members but in its solidity and greatness in achieving its goals and reliability in terms of being of service to its fellow Filipinos.

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