The Filipino American Agenda in 2024
The first iteration of the Filipino American Agenda, which was launched in 2021.
by Dr. Arcelita Imasa
Mabuhay, kababayans, and Hawaii Filipino Chronicle readers!
As an immigrant in Hawai’i, I am a proud member of the Filipino community.
As a people, we have struggled through so many hardships and challenges to be able to survive migration away from our beloved homeland, which brought us away from our families and made us brave new environments and cultures.
At the same time, we all work so hard to be able to continue providing support to our families back home in the Philippines.
But of course, we have also achieved so much in terms of community empowerment in many communities we have learned to call new home and adjusted to.
Many of us have been representing our people well in many aspects of life in the community we live in – politics and governance, healthcare and service industry leadership, business opportunities, education, and so much more.2024 is the election year here in the United States, and this is an opportune time to highlight the struggles as well as achievements of Filipinos abroad including here in Hawaii.
As a proud member of the vibrant Filipino community, I am thrilled to present to you an initiative that embodies the spirit of tulungan, bayanihan, panagkaykaysa, and the power of collective action in addressing the pressing issues faced by Filipinos.
In this election year, the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns or NAFCON, a 20-year-old alliance of grassroots organizations, non-profit institutions, and small businesses, will be launching the 2024 Filipino American Agenda, which is an initiative to garner broad support on issues impacting our kababayans including but not limited to workers’ rights, immigration, the housing crisis, and health and wellness.
The first iteration of the Filipino American Agenda, which was launched in 2021, was designed in the context of President Joe Biden winning the 2020 elections, during the public health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the political backdrop of Black Lives Matter protests, and a rise of anti-Asian hate crimes.
We were able to garner endorsements from over 100 organizations and institutions in 14 states across the country that supported the demands of the Filipino community to assert their social, economic, cultural, and political rights.
In the past few years, the alliance’s 28-member organizations across the country have contributed to informing and developing its campaign work by taking up issues of working Filipino migrants such as anti-Asian hate, wage theft, and the Lāhāina wildfires.
As the pandemic social protections were lifted and emergency funding sources were liquidated, Filipino organizations have continued to actively engage in advocacy efforts to promote Filipinos’ welfare.
The 2024 Filipino American Agenda seeks to build upon our rich history of organizing and collective action by once again bringing together Filipino-Americans and migrants alike to amplify the concerns and demands of the Filipino community and fight for a common cause: to foster unity and empowerment as contributors to positive change and to hold public officials responsible for meeting the needs of the Filipino community even after the electoral period.
As we prepare for the launch of the Filipino American Agenda, we hope to engage more organizations, small businesses, and provincial or regional associations in Hawaii to organize and join us in this journey of unity, purpose and community action.
At the heart of the agenda are key messages: collective action and empowerment.
We aim to present the agenda of Filipinos to the current and running politicians in our communities and get their commitment to champion the cause of the Filipino people.
If interested in learning more, please contact Filipino Amercian Agenda at filipinoamericanagenda@gmail.com.
As a Filipino in Hawaii, what are your specific concerns? Let us hear it!
DR. ARCELITA IMASA is a practicing family physician and the secretary of the Hawaii Workers Center’s Executive Committee of the Board. She grew up in the Philippines before migrating to Hawaii with her family more than a decade ago.
