In the latest report from the Philippine government, there are more or less 8.3 million Filipinos working and living abroad, legally or illegally. This is further reflected by the billions of pesos being remitted annually to support our economy. Hence they are called the new heroes of the republic for helping improve our economy. Moreover, the lifestyle and behavior of the migrants and their families improve economically in terms of better houses, private vehicles, better education for children, improved family and personal properties. This scenario alone invites and encourages more and more Filipinos to try their luck abroad to have a good life.

 College courses like nursing, care giving, marine training and other offers, that give opportunity to go abroad, become top priority choices from students. More and more Filipinos are taking huge risks, spending a lot of money and going after agencies that offer job opportunities abroad. They usually argue that they rather take their chances than be continually poor here in this country. It offers a lot of hope but there are high costs to this migration of people.

 At its very root, poverty drives people to go and work abroad. The government and the non-government institutions including the church seem not able to deal with such movement of culture and mindset. With less and less job and better living opportunities here, this generation of people plans of leaving the country for better life and job chances.

 Families are separated by migration. Formation of children is left to a single parent or to a direct relative. Material comfort is chosen over family values of closeness, being together and oneness. Migrants acquire and imbibe new experiences and new cultures from their host nations and gradually affect and change the prevailing local culture. More importantly, the deeply religious background of Filipinos is often compromised in countries where the Christian culture is not being practiced or otherwise unaccepted.

 This changing scenario continues to affect the basic Filipino cultures of family, faith, values and society. It is often argued that culture change is a necessary phenomenon that can emerge because of globalization and the turning of the world into a global village. Cultural change must however lead to improvement of life, family and society and not to its deterioration. We welcome the cultural changes that will improve the lifestyle, maturity and value system of individuals, families and societies.

 The Archdiocese of Lipa spearheads an effort to address the growing concerns related to migration. With practically half of the province of Batangas affected by migration, we cannot in anyway distant ourselves from the huge phenomenon of cultural change brought about by this mobility of Batangueños and the effect of this to the families left behind. The Lipa Archdiocesan Commission on Migration and Mission (LACMMI) initiates programs to improve the situation of migrants and their families in terms of their cultural, social, moral and spiritual well-being. We want to promote greater awareness, deeper formation, proper guidance, improved organization, viable communication and connection to them and with each other and to provide greater and meaningful services to them all over the Archdiocese.

 For these reasons, we take the following top five priorities this year to address this current situation of cultural change related to migration:

PASAMPA – Pamaparokyang Samahan ng Migranteng Pamilya – to initially get 2 good coordinators in each barangay or sitio who can lead and undergo training and formation.

ANAK BATANGUEÑO – Anak ng Nangingibang Bansang Batangueño – to strengthen the Catholic Schools organization and then reach out to the non-catholic private and public schools and organize there also the Anak Batangueno.

 MEMBERSHIP – to have a database and listing of all the members of PASAMPA in each parish and the ANAK Batangueño in each school member. 

FUNDING/ FINANCES – to develop a funding that will help run all our programs from government, non-government, business and private sectors.

 WEBSITE – to develop easier communication and speed-up our information campaign regarding our migrants program

All our efforts are meant to address the emerging culture that is prevailing right now. We might not be able to change it but we intend to put meaning and value to what is going on and to provide sufficient formation and information for the Batangueño migrants. At this juncture, we cannot stop the migration of Batangueños. We can only address this prevailing condition by information, formation and organization. If this will translate to the national level we are willing to take part in any church process to understand and directly address this situation.

 The Church, with the inspiration of Christ to evangelize all people and who desires that all may be one, cannot turn her back on these realities emerging right before our eyes. There are many concerns that the Church needs to face but to neglect and deny this reality might be tantamount to a poor awareness of the situation and disregard to Jesus’ command and invitation. We then invite everybody, priests, religious and the laity to help us in our effort to gather collective reflections and insight into this current situation. This will help us to be a better church of Jesus Christ!