Various efforts in the country and at the international level have direct- ly influenced the converging of initiatives of various stakeholders on migration and development in the Philippines. The increasing share of migrant remittances in the GDP of many countries drew much interest and attention from governments, development agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders around the world. The World Bank, for one, focuses its attention in ascertaining the development impact of remittances. Migration and development became a discourse not only among mi- gration-oriented NGOs, but also among NGOs involved in develop- ment work both in the Philippines and internationally.
In October 2005, Atikha,1 together with the International Network
on Alternative Financial Institutions (INAFI) Philippines,2 the Philip-
pine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM),3 the Institute for Migra-
tion and Development Initiatives (IMDI), and the New Rural Bank of San Leonardo were invited by Oxfam Novib, a development agency based in the Netherlands to attend a conference on Remittances and Development in Zacatecas, Mexico. The participants were exposed to the practice of Mexican migrants in pooling and leveraging resources for development such as the Programa Tres por Uno of the federation of migrants coming from Zacatecas. The experience in Mexico provided an opportunity for the delegates to learn, interact, share initiatives, and study possibilities of partnership. The Philippine delegates recognized the similarities of the philanthropic practices of Mexican migrants with those of Filipino migrants. The difference lies in the fact that Filipino migrants’ initiatives remain dispersed and lack a structure that can pool various initiatives.
Following the conference in Mexico, Atikha, INAFI Philippines and the PRRM agreed to jointly spearhead initiatives to converge the efforts of migration and development stakeholders in the Philippines. The group was tasked by INAFI International to organize an International Conference on Migration and Development in the Philippines.
The International Conference on Remittances, Migration and De- velopment was held in May 2006 in Tagaytay City. The conference brought together various stakeholders like government agencies, over- seas Filipino organizations, development NGOs, migration-oriented NGOs, microfinance organizations and social enterprises to discuss issues on migration and development. More importantly, the confe- rence provided an opportunity for various stakeholders to discuss coordinated initiatives to minimize the costs and maximize the gains of migration. The concrete action program which came out of the confe- rence was the setting up of a working group on migration and devel- opment. Some members of the working group became the steering
1 An NGO piloting initiatives in addressing the social costs of migration and mobi-
lizing overseas Filipino resources for local economic development in Laguna and Batan- gas; see www.atikha.org.
2 A network of microfinance organizations; see http://www.inafi.net.
3 An NGO with a long history of development work in the Philippines; see
committee, which later organized the Philippine Consortium for Mi- gration and Development (Philcomdev).
On 4 January 2007, a conference was organized to establish Phil- comdev. About 55 participants representing 34 NGOs, organizations, and advocates actively working for the involvement, participation, and re-integration of migrants and their families attended the conference. They vowed to link up, coordinate, and upscale their programs, strate- gies, and services related to migration and development.
The establishment of the Philcomdev was facilitated by the follow- ing efforts and initiatives:
• Overseas Filipino organizations involved in diaspora philanth- ropy have started to support development initiatives. The Overseas Filipino Worldwide Mutual Benefit Corporation (OFW-MBC) raised funds for the setting up of Coco Natur, a social enterprise involved in community-based coconut pro- duction in Laguna. Several hometown associations (HTAs) like
Damayan and Stichting Habagat in the Netherlands and Rom-
blon Discussion List (a virtual HTA) pooled and leveraged re- sources for community development.
• Organizations involved in rights, welfare and reintegration, like the Asian Migrant Center in Hong Kong, have established partnerships with organizations in the Philippines, like Unlad
Kabayan, which assist OFWs for their eventual return to the
Philippines. Some migration-oriented NGOs in the Philippines have engaged themselves on issues of reintegration and eco- nomic concerns of migrants and their families.
• Microfinance organizations, especially the members of the IN- AFI network, were looking at the links among remittances, mi- gration, and development and the role of microfinance in this growing discourse.
• NGOs involved in social enterprise development, especially the members of the Philippine Social Enterprise Network (Phil- sen)4, have realized the potential contribution of overseas Fili-
pinos in providing assistance to social enterprises in their ho- metowns.
• Development agencies like Oxfam-Novib and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung played a critical role in the setting up of Philcomdev
because they provided financial assistance in supporting pre- liminary organizational discussions and efforts.
After a series of meetings to thresh out issues and a program of ac- tion, the various stakeholders held the first Philcomdev general assem- bly on 19 June 2007. There were three networks that converged and formed the Philcomdev: INAFI Philippines, Philsen and Migrant Fo- rum in Asia (MFA)–Philippine members.
Philcomdev was formed as a “network of overseas Filipino organi- zations, non-government organizations, people’s organizations, micro- finance institutions, cooperatives, community based organizations, networks, and individuals that are involved in, and agree to converge their initiatives around, the issue of migration, human rights and de- velopment - particularly the empowerment of migrants, overseas Fili- pinos, their families and communities as social development actors, addressing the social costs of migration, optimizing the benefits of mi- gration, and contributing to people-oriented Philippine development” (Philcomdev, 2007).