Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

Although a number of Filipinos in the United States have remained to be passive about American politics and fail to see the importance of practicing their right to vote, many others have gathered their efforts to make sure that the community understands the significance of casting their choice.

As the second largest Asian ethnic group in the US, Filipino-Americans are part of the broader Asian American group. They are a significant demographic, and among the most important consumer targets for ethnic and mainstream marketers. On the political mainstream however, Fil-Ams have been less than appealing. In an article in AsianWeek, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations’ (NaFFAA) National Chair Greg Macabenta concluded that, “We can gain political empowerment—but we must use Voting Power and we must be willing to accept trade-offs among ourselves.” He also stated the facts on how Fil-Ams fared in the political mainstream and the need for political victories to inspire activism.

Pushing the FilVote

To muster the Fil-Am voting power, Asian and Filipino organizations and groups have formed programs and campaigns to push for FilVote—a non-partisan voter engagement project aimed to unite Fil-Ams across ideological, religious and class differences toward gaining genuine political power in the US.

The Filipino American Service Group Inc.’s (FASGI) created the FilVote campaign in 1996, after an LA Times article wrote about the happy life of the Fil-Ams in the US but criticized their lack of united voice and political empowerment.

“Almost three-quarters of those [Filipinos] surveyed said they do not belong to a Filipino political organization,” according to the LA Times story, Filipinos Happy With Life in the US but Lack United Voice.

However, that story has changed. Since its creation in 1996, FilVote has registered over 25,000 Filipino-American voters in LA County, held multiple candidate fora and conducted voter behavior research. In 2000, FASGI partnered with AFL-CIO to implement a national FilVote project. This year, FASGI joined forces with ABS-CBN’s Balitang America to get push for the Filipinos’ participation and vote in the upcoming US Presidential election.

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