By Margarita Locsin
THE term “silent majority” has been used and overused politically since the last election. Truth is, there is a real silent majority and they are not in the Philippines—but overseas.
Overseas Foreign workers, or Filipino expats, with the inclusion of Filipino permanent migrants and even our government’s representatives abroad, form a formidable force and influence. They do so often unnoticed or undermined. They are, as the cliché goes, out of sight, and therefore, out of mind.
Their remittances help keep our national economy afloat and more so, support local economies with family spending. Their hard work and perseverance to survive in tough and often lonesome situations overseas also creates a new generation of more well-informed and empowered youth. Their children will often have access to better education and opportunities than the parents and other family members that came before.
To date, I have not read many articles, or even social-media posts, that focus on how to communicate effectively with this multifaceted diaspora. In fact, most communications from the motherland to her children overseas have often led to “fake news,” and a mishmash of miscommunications and misunderstandings.
What follows are a wish list from two OFWs—one an active member of the Filipino community and the other, a government official who has expansive and extensive firsthand experience dealing with Filipinos living and working abroad.
I asked them to answer a simple set of question—based on their personal and professional, where applicable, experiences. How do they think OFWs can best be communicated to? What have they seen work, or not? What do they think can be done to be more effective? And, as the diaspora is diverse—do they think a one size fits all approach works, or should communications be better customized according to the audience.
DD, OFW, Singapore
DD, who is active in the Filipino community in Singapore and regularly interacts with Filipinos from all walks of life, believes that concerned parties, such as government and companies marketing OFW-geared products and services, should focus on directed and direct communications.
He feels that being direct “is most effective in engaging OFWs, so that you will be able to get their candid responses directly”. He stressed the need for establishing “good and trustworthy customer relationships” with the community. Talks and outreach programs, he feels, are also worthwhile and a good way to get engagement.
Being young and Internet-savvy, DD says communications is best done “through social media and basic messaging apps, including SMS, for those who have limited, or even no, access to the Internet.” Government, in particular, can utilize services like text or messaging blasts, as the Singapore government is doing to communicate Covid-19 updates. DD believes this is the most realistic way of communicating with OFWs around the world in one go.
“This means [the Philippine government] keeping record of all OFWs around the world, if possible. If it’s not, the government must make it possible as much as possible. We are in the digital era and government, and businesses must ensure they are optimized to serve the OFWs in the most convenient way. We know our personal data and information are being recorded with or without our consent, so they might as well use it in a good way, which is to make it much easier for OFWs to receive information pertinent to our welfare overseas.”
SV, policy implementer, Singapore, has lived in multiple jurisdictions.
SV’s response was incredibly thoughtful and comprehensive, and therefore best quoted in its beautiful entirety.
“I always have this feeling that OFWs are quite sensitive as they tend to react more emotionally to what they hear or read. This could be due to a confluence of factors, e.g., loneliness, financial pressures, feeling of entitlement, work stresses, etc. I put this in mind when I communicate with them. I think it is important that the messenger feels both the message and the recipients. This makes the message believable and sincere. This makes the messenger believable and credible.”
“I believe that it is imperative to communicate with OFWs in the language that they understand. But it is even more imperative to communicate with them in the language that they feel.”
“Take the case of Filipino domestic workers in Singapore. It is best to communicate with them with sympathy, always taking into account that these people have been through difficult economic struggles in the Philippines and social isolation while under the employ of their foreign households. You have to communicate with them by way of making them feel that you understand them. When they are the ones at fault for their problems, one should not be quick to blame them. The challenge is to make them realize that the problems are their own doing and the consequences are there for them to face. It does not work well to communicate a blame with OFWs as they tend to be defensive.”
“I think those of us in government dealing with OFWs should guard ourselves against the tendency toward indifferentism. When one deals with OFW concerns every day, one becomes indifferent and tends to communicate with them dismissively. This is something that will not work out well for OFWs. And this is something that has put many of us in trouble. I always tell my colleagues that when an OFW comes to us, what he/she brings is himself/herself with a need for himself/herself, oblivious of the need of the OFW next to him/her.”
“Those of us who deal with OFWs, on the other hand, tend to look at an individual OFW as just one among many OFWs, which may potentially result in communication failure. While it is true that we oftentimes have a uniform message to OFWs (e.g., documentary requirements), the message may not be received uniformly by OFWs since they come from different situations, backgrounds and experiences. Here, the way [and tone] the message is conveyed makes a lot of difference. A sober and sympathetic way of conveying the message will always do the trick. A hostile dismissive approach to communicating a message will more likely lead to argument.”
“I have also observed that it is more challenging to communicate with OFWs of higher occupational position and educational background. This is quite expected as they have broader grasp of things and they can easily form opinions. I believe they are less sensitive, but more “demanding” and engaging. I think it is best to communicate with them more firmly and straightforwardly, but never patronizingly.”
My own experience
And then, there’s myself, a member of the OFW community and a communicator by profession. After nine years as an OFW and 13 as a Filipino living overseas, not to mention having worked directly with the OFW community, I believe the foundation for effective OFW communication should be built on two things—respect and understanding.
In my years working overseas, I have experienced the most condescending of conversations with people from home who have an abysmal understanding of the needs of us OFWs. They stereotype and put us into a box that they decorate by themselves and for themselves.
OFWs are the ATMs of the nation and the convenient political tool of so-called politically-motivated representatives, many of whom have never been OFWs themselves. I guess it is because we are not there to represent ourselves and defend our rights that we are easy to negate—after all, and I will say it again, we are out of sight, and therefore, out of most people’s minds.
OFWs are also such a diverse diaspora, from domestic and construction workers to seafarers and medical and IT personnel, and also lawyers, bankers and accountants, and not to mention across different migratory patterns, from transient to immigrant, and furthermore, across all levels all the way to CEO, that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to communicating with them. Many come with different experiences and so the communicator must first strive to understand where they are coming from and what experiences they bring to the table.
Messaging must also be targeted and thoughtful, and relationships must start on a personal level. This is the importance of engaging with Filipino communities abroad. Since they are already away from home, going to them and spending quality time, not just coming in to handshake and take a few selfies, makes a difference.
Hear them out and you will realize that the Filipino abroad has very different needs than the Filipino back home. Being away and alone, especially for extended periods of time, molds and shapes OFWs in many ways and most of the time, the changes cause frustration and hurt toward people back home because “you all simply do not understand where we are coming from.”
And finally, OFW communication must, in the current state of play, be efficient and updated, and digital. If people back home are used to things taking next to forever and rationalizing it as “how things are,” OFWs are not. We rely on social and digital media because it is the most accessible. Therefore, if you want to reach us, that is the most efficient way. Invest in the technology and you will be better able to engage us and help us all make the Philippines, our motherland, a better place.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premiere association for senior communications professionals around the world. Margarita Locsin is an OFW from Singapore.
PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.