Mas mabuti raw na hindi ako magtrabaho kasi sapat naman da

1
When Elsa said, I am Victim No
More! re/claiming and celebrating
contestations, negotiations and resistance among
filipino women in marriage migration  

• Elmer Malibiran, Research FellowAction Research
  on Marriage Migration Network (ARMMNet) 

The Action Research on Marriage Migration
Network is a Manila-based formation that focuses
on issues surrounding marriage migration in
Asia. The network is a joint initiative of the
Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives
(ARENA), Isis International Manila and
Kanlungan Center Foundation.
2

• Marriage Migration in Asia A Brief Background
•  
• The movement of people across national
  boundaries is a visible and increasingly
  important aspect of global integration. Three
  percent of the worlds population --- more than
  190 million people --- are now living in
  countries in which they were not born. The forces
  driving the flow of migrants from poor countries
  to rich countries are likely to grow stronger in
  the future. (World Bank, 2007)

3

• International migration is one of the important
  forces that is shaping our communities and the
  globalizing world today.
• This significant potency of migration is inviting
  us to reflect and revisit our assumptions and
  perspectives on migration as related to
  development.
• However, despite its importance in providing us
  in understanding the dynamics of migration and
  development, it neglects other dimensions. One of
  these neglected dimensions is marriage migration.
  

4

• Marriage migration is a collective term referring
  to cross-border marriages which often involves
  women migrating to the home country of their
  husbands.
• The trend shows that most women in marriage
  migration come from developing countries while
  the husbands-to-be are from developed and
  advanced economies as the study conducted by Asia
  Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM 1997, cited)
  indicates that women in marriage migration are
  increasing in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hongkong.
  The same report also claims that the Philippines
  is considered as a popular place of origin of
  marriage migrants, as it is for labor migrants.

5

• As the data shows, of the over 175,000 Filipinos
  engaged or married to foreigners between 1989 and
  1999, over 91 percent involved Filipino women.
• The geographic distribution of the foreign
  partners is not surprising when we consider the
  historical, colonial and post-colonial ties
  between the Philippines and the United States and
  Japan.

6

• Approximately 40 (over 70,000) of the foreign
  partners are from the United States 30 (over
  53,000) from Japan 8.8 from Australia 4.2
  each year until 1997, with 1,463 such marriages
  in 1993 7,683 in 1995 and over 10,000 in 1996.
  In 1997, the number dropped to just over 7,000
  and in 1998 decreased again to just 6,000, the
  drop most likely attributable to the Asian
  Financial Crisis. (Constable, 2007 cited in
  APMM, 200720)

7

• Based on the initial readings of related
  literature and interviews, there are four
  emerging arteries where interactions or
  information leading to marriage migration are
  coursed through. These are through (1) marriage
  brokers and recruitment agencies, which is the
  major artery (2) common network and friends, (3)
  the internet (ie chatrooms and email), and (4)
  the recruitment through the Unification Church
  (The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification
  of World Christianity or Moonies).

8

• On the other hand, many current studies,
  including our initial data gathering, suggested
  that some reasons of women in marriage migration
  are (1) economic rise from poverty, (2)
  passageway to Korea to secure work, (3) romantic
  love, (4) curiosity/desire to live in foreign
  countries, (5) escape from family problems, and
  (6) to catch up with their age (Madiguid, 2005
  APMM, 2007 PRPT, 2007). And our field work
  research validates these information.

9
Marriage Migration in South Korea

• Focusing in South Korea, where out of 495,622
  foreign residents, 74,176 (14.97) are marriage
  migrants. Based on the official statistics
  (Korean National Statistics Office as cited in
  APMM), majority of them are women migrants
  (65,846). In 2005, Filipina shares a small number
  as marriage migrants (997--- 3.2) compared to
  other nationalities like Chinese/Chinese-Korea
  (20,635 --- 66.2), Vietnamese (5,822 --- 18.7),
  and Japanese (1,255 --- 4). Marriage migrants
  coming from Mongolia, former Soviet Republics,
  and Thailand shares 1 of the pie.

10
However, as NGO activist Kukyom Han (2007)
observes that among 30,200 marriages in 2006,
Chinese/Chinese-Korean were 14,616(48.4),
Vietnamese 10,100(33.5), and Japanese
1,500(4.9). International marriages of Korean
men to Chinese/Chinese-Korean women were
decreased while marriages to Vietnamese were
increased on a large scale. Despite these
numbers, the trend suggests that numbers of
Filipinas in marriage migration will increase in
the next years.
11
In terms of geographical distribution, Han (2007)
wrote that 75 of marriage migrants are found in
key urban cities (Seoul, 25 Gyeonggi Area, 25
25, other urban areas). And a quarter is found
in rural areas which are basically farming and
fishing village.
12
Contestations, Negotiations and Resistance of
Filipino Women in Marriage Migration
In understanding issues and concerns of marriage
migration, cultural politics as a frame can
provide us insights that privileging the voices
of empowered women and their exercise of agency.
Cultural politics suggests that in analyzing our
realities, we need to revisit everyday practices,
especially in an environment where
multiculturalism is a government policy and
multiracialism is a common practice.
13
Everyday practices, both public and private, are
informed by our cultural and social institutions.
And the readiness to resolve conflict and
misunderstanding that may arise from cultural
difference can be done through negotiations with
respect and commitment to pluralism. It is the
task of cultural politics to put privilege
everyday experiences and practices, to be
critical to our own assumptions about and our
tendencies to discriminate other notions and
views. cultures and to radically change it. Thus,
cultural politics is the politics of changing our
own everyday practices, notions and perspectives,
be conscious of our discriminatory tendencies and
change it towards a multicultural practices.
14
For the purposes of presentation, I would like to
share stories with you on how women reclaim their
identity using spaces of cultural politics. These
are through Contesting own spaces as women,
Negotiating cultural identities as migrant-wives
and Resistance to be victims.
15
Elsa I am victim no more
When she first came to South Korea as a foreign
wife around eight years ago through the
Unification Church, she remembers how life is
difficult. She summarized it as   For 3 years
under development akoalmost give up, almost
mamatay -matay ka na... Ang pinakamahirap talaga
ay yung relationship ng familysa mga in-laws.
Feeling ko ako lang mag-isa wala akong
kakampi...   (For 3 years, I tried to adjust.
And I almost give up. The most difficult to deal
with are my parent-in-laws. I felt so alone and I
have no one to turn to.)
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This feeling of the difficulty to adjust cannot
be described with words because of different
environment and the lack of facility to speak
Korean. It is in this episode where Elsa feels
she is a victim... a helpless victim   Sumunod
ka muna bago ka sumuway. Unang-una wala ka namang
alam. Ang tawag ko nga samin ay disabledhindi ka
makapagsalita..para kang pipi...yung mata mo lang
ang gumagana.
17
Even in adjusting to local food and language, she
had difficulties   Dati hindi ko gusto ang
Korean food but I tried my best kasi inisip
nag-asawa na ko ng Korean e. Sabi ko nga, kung
nasa Pilipinas ka, itapon mo na yung
pinaggalingan mo. Turn to 180degrees ang life
mo   Noong nagka-anak ako nagising ako sa
katotohanan,nagkaroon ako ng idea na kapag wala
kang alam in Korean hindi makayang buhatin kung
anong nasa damdamin mo...Hinidi ka marunong
magKorean, pano kayo magkakaintindihan. Nonsense.
They cant understand you.
18

• Her capacity to reflect on her own situation
  makes her realize that she dont need to be a
  victim and what she need is to help herself out
  of the situation. She started to adopt the
  culture of her husband, but at the same time
  asserts herself and her agency
•  
• Sabi ko sa sarili ko kailangan kong matuto ng
  Korean kasi hindi ko alam kung minumura niya na
  ko in Korean... (3010)
•  
• ...parang sunud-sunuran ako sa asawa ko. Pero
  kung hindi ko rin matiis hindi ko rin sinusunod.
  Pag nasabi kong a ito mali ito. Wag. May
  limitasyon. (5730)

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• Sa ngayon kapag naga-away kami may ganoon pa
  rin, lumayas ka pero at least alam ko na kung
  pano sya sagutin. Hindi kagaya noon paiyak-iyak
  lang. Ngayon may iyak pa rin pero alam ko na.
  (3150)
•  
• Dito sa Korea, mas mataas ang asawang lalaki
  kaysa sa babaehindi pwedeng pantay. Pero ngayon
  naiintindihan na rin kahit papano. Ipinapaliwanag
  ko sa asawa ko na magkaiba tayoiba ang
  pinagmulan mo, iba ang pinagmulan natin. Hindi
  pwedeng sabihin mo sa akin na sa Korea ako
  nakatira, Koreana ako, Koreana na ang pangalan
  kohindi pwedeng sabihin na lahat ng inyo ay
  tatanggapin ko, lahat ng akin ay kakalimutan ko.
  Hindi pwede yun. Ang problema lang, mostly hindi
  niya naiintindihan yun. (5915)

20

• Kapag asawa ka ng Koreano maid-wife ka
  talagaasawa ka na katulong ka pa. (011035)
•  
• Sa ngayon kapag naga-away kami may ganoon pa
  rin, lumayas ka pero at least alam ko na kung
  pano sya sagutin. Hindi kagaya noon paiyak-iyak
  lang. Ngayon may iyak pa rin pero alam ko na.
  (3150)
• Kapag nagasawa ng Koreano kailangang matatag.
  Kailangang matapang ka, malakas ang loob mo.
  Lalaban ka, hindi pwedeng bow-ng bow. Iyan ang
  buod (0008)

21
Iyong pagtatrabaho ko una ayaw rin ng asawa ko.
Kasi yung mga bata, 2 sila. Mas mabuti raw na
hindi ako magtrabaho kasi sapat naman daw yung
kita nya. Pero parang sabi ko wala ba kong
ginagawa sa sarili ko. Gusto ko ring magkapera,
makapagpadala rin ng pera sa Pilipinas kung gusto
ko, makabili para sa sarili ko. Gusto ko ring
makatulong sa asawa ko kasi kung hindi sya
makakapag-trabaho ng kayod, kulang din talga.
Ngayon, ako na nagbabayad para sa education ng
anak ko.
22
These contestations, negotiations and resistance
show that our notions of victimization can be
fluid. The switching of experience from victim
to agent and from agent to victim is a reality
that women marriage migrant experience.
23
In the literature, women in migration are often
seen as victims. Women in marriage migrants are
called as mail-order brides or foreign brides in
cross-border or international marriages. The
former refers to manner how women are chosen or
matched by mails while the latter is a term that
connotes women as a foreign wife and therefore
outside the sociality or sense of society of
their husbands. Both terms are politically loaded
terms in favor of partriarchy and victimization.
They are exclusive only to the situations of
women as victims of commodification discounting
the exercise of womens agency --- or the ability
to act individually.
24
The challenge is to view marriage migration from
lens of cultural politics and feminism both in
crafting policies or providing support services.
In cultural politics, everyday practices are
sources of identities. Our everyday practices
define who we are. Thus a society is defined by
its everyday conduct of its citizens and
non-citizens alike. In viewing marriage
migration, it is important to privilege women and
let their voices be heard, to ground our
perspectives in their everyday struggles,
politics, conditions and desires. After all we
all have desires, be it public, private and
anything in between.
25
For most women, marriage migration, as Constable
(cited in APMM) used it, is hypergamous (means
towards upward mobility for women). If we are in
the thrust to advance the conditions of women, we
can imagine that marriage migration can be a
first step to empower them. We should not look
them only as a foreign bride. We must see them as
women. And in a society where the desires of
women are restricted by social institutions
through political and cultural instruments, it is
imperative for us to provide platforms in order
to reverse the cultures of patriarchy and
exclusiveness.
26
We must also consider that women in marriage
migration are faced by complexities of marriage,
on one hand and migration on the other. Migrant
or not, marriage is a condition with
complexities, difficulties and for some, success.
27
As a migrant, most women in marriage migration
experience difficulties in adjustments. Some of
them were not able to adjust, having psychosocial
effects on their womanhood. But others were able
to resist the conditions, negotiate and assert
their sexuality and cultural identity. They were
able to convert their everyday space as spaces to
exercise their agency the ability to exercise
their capacities in decision-making, in coping
and in understanding their situation making
something positive out of it.
28
Women have abilities to exercise their own
agencies to adjust, to resist and to celebrate.
The challenge is to capacitate them to develop
their own selves and not just limiting them as a
wife --- a foreign wife. This is my reason why I
resist calling women in marriage migration as
foreign brides. It reflects our values, on how we
see these women.
29
The presentation shared some stories and voices
of Filipino women in marriage migration in South
Korea their stories of hope, survival and
victory. Their stories showed me how they contest
their own spaces as women, how they negotiate
their cultural identities as migrant-wives and
how they resist to be labelled as victims. These
stories are stories of their everyday lives,
struggles, multiple realities, experiences and
their small victories and hopes as women marriage
migrant.
30
There are many Elsa waiting to tell their
stories. As I said, it is not my intention to
discount nor trivialise women migrant stories of
difficulties, but only asking to listen openly to
them, not to boxed their identities as victims.
Seeing them, their struggle to contest, negotiate
and resist I know will empower more women to come
out and say I am Victim No More!