NATCCO’s commitment to the socio-economic development of Filipinos has grown to include Overseas Filipinos (OFs) who are active contributors to the country’s economic growth. The power and potential of the OFs are not only limited to their economic contribution through remittances but a gamut of social, political, ecological, and technological dimensions. Realizing the urgent need of the cooperative system to be active allies of the OFs in community development and nation-building, NATCCO has partnered with the Ateneo Leadership, Innovation, and Social Entrepreneurship Program (ALSE OF LIFE) of the Ateneo de Manila University’s School of Government. The partnership aims to provide the OFs and their families with the technical skills and tools to improve their socio-economic security through the cooperative system.
Building bridges and cooperation among cooperatives-
Keeping the principle of cooperation among cooperatives alive, NATCCO aims to connect with the primary co-ops and federations in the countries where the ALSE OF LIFE Program is implemented. As social and financial organizations, co-ops all over the world can make migration as one of the focal issues in fostering local and global development. Through the facilitation of ICA-AP, NATCCO connected with iCoop Korea, to discuss the potential for collaboration on activities related to training of OFs. iCoop Korea is an ICA-member federation that promotes people-centered and sustainable economy, ethical consumption, and partnership for development. On December 9, 2019, Lasalette Gumban of NATCCO and Fe Gimarino-Kim of Filipino-Korean Spouses Association (FKSA), met with Juhee Lee of ICoop, in their Seoul office. The meeting proved to be fruitful in establishing linkages for the ALSE OF LIFE in South Korea in the areas of entrepreneurship and community exposure. iCoop’s expertise on fair trade and social entrepreneurship strongly resonates with the goals of ALSE OF LIFE Program. The ALSE program in South Korea was launched in September 2019. As one of the resource persons in the 6-month training program, NATCCO facilitated the session on Social Investments and Cooperatives.
(L-R) Ms. Juhee Lee, iCOOP, Korea and Ms. Lasalette Gumban, NATCCO, the Philippines.
Migration for Development and the Holistic Response to the Filipino Diaspora Phenomenon-
The ALSE OF LIFE Program was started in 2008 in Rome, Italy and is a collaborative effort of the Civil Society Organizations, academic, and government institutions. An initial study conducted by Dr. Cristina Liamzon, with the collaboration of a Filipino Migrants’ Association, the Associazione Pilipinas-OFSPES and the Sentro Pilipino Chaplaincy under the Diocese of Rome, identified a range of issues and challenges affecting migrants, particularly the youth. As a response to this situation of the increasing social costs of migration, the ALSE OF LIFE Training Program was designed as a collaborative effort of the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) under the then ASoG Dean Antonio La Vina and Associazione Pilipinas OFSPES to inject a new awareness leading towards changing the situation and mobilizing the migrants to empower themselves and contribute to family and social development towards nation-building. This has since been integrated as an executive education course under ASoG.
Following the first pilot program, several more programs were launched successively in other Italian cities to include Milan, Naples, Turin and Florence within the first two years. As of 2019, the Ateneo OF LIFE Training Program has been expanded to cover Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, and South Korea in East and South East Asia as well as in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Egypt in the Middle East. The Program has also been conducted in other cities in Europe: Paris, Brussels, The Hague, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Madrid, and Barcelona.
Harnessing remittances for local development through Co-ops-
In 2015, a program was initiated by the Ateneo LSE Consortium on Migration and Development with NATCCO to actively mobilize the savings and investments of overseas Filipinos and their families for development of the local economies of their hometowns through the local cooperatives. NATCCO partner cooperatives provide financial education and access to wealth building programs to the OFs and their families. The co-ops also provide psycho social services to make the program more inclusive.
People on the Move Today and in the Future-
As of today, there are 20,100 OFs and OF Families who are actively saving and investing in the co-ops. The goal is to help the OF and OF families build wealth in preparation for their eventual reintegration in the Philippines. While doing this, they are also building the wealth of the community towards nation building. Through the support of ICA, NATCCO aims to advocate migration and development as a tool for global cooperation and for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
