Public Education and Outreach on the Amerasian Issue

On July 2-3, 2011, the Bayanihan Foundation partners with WeDpro and Buklod, nongovernmental organizations (NGO)s in the Philippines to support the Filipino Amerasian community leaders in an important two-day conference celebrating their heritage and contribution to local Filipino society.

The conference goals include:

1) to set up an organization of Amerasians in the Philippines that shall serve as a strategic venue for the promotion of their rights and welfare;

2) to come up with a strategic plan of programs and activities for the welfare of the Filipino Amerasian community; and

3) to support the foundation’s public education and outreach in the US through a partnership program that will hopefully deepen the understanding of the Fil-Am communities of the Amerasian issue.

Who are the Filipino Amerasians?

In 1992, the United States military left the Philippines. I thought they took everything with them. But they left behind 50,000 Amerasian children whose fathers were American sailors and their mothers were assumed to be prostitutes. These Amerasians are America’s forgotten children.

In 1982, the United States Congress voted to grant U.S. citizenship to Amerasians from Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, and other Asian countries, in what was known as the Amerasian Homecoming Act. Although the Philippines has been a United States ally for more than a century, Filipino (and Japanese) offspring of soldiers were not included: they must be claimed by their former American G.I. fathers if they wish to claim their U.S. citizenship.

Why is the Bayanihan Foundation making this one of its partnership priorities?

Many Amerasian children are labeled Iniwan ng Barko (left by the ship). I met some of them during my first visit to Angeles in January 2011. I heard many of their tragic stories of discrimination and prejudice.

Many are unaware of this important issue yet it involves  many complex issues and moral issues.  What does the future hold for these forgotten children of the post-war world? What moral obligation does the US have to America’s forgotten children?  Do they have to find their fathers in the US to find peace? Will their fathers and their families accept their Amerasian offspring? Will these Amerasians even adjust to life in the US after living in the Philippines all their lives? Or does the local Filipino society have to accept these forgotten children and not discriminate against them?

So it is important for the foundation to bring this issue to the forefront. Stay tuned for more exciting, upcoming events about the Filipino Amerasians!