From brain specialists to care workers - Filipinos at ease with Britain

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine community in Britain is making an ever-stronger mark on the country – that was my overriding conclusion from meetings last month with some 100 Filipino representatives in London. My meetings were the result of an initiative by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who encouraged those of his Ambassadors with sizeable diaspora to get out and meet them when we were in the UK for a conference.

With help from the Philippine Ambassador to London, Ed Espiritu and his staff, my “outreach programme” ensured that I met a wide variety of Filipino groups in the UK, ranging from care and domestic workers to caterers, businesspeople, musicians and teachers. I also saw another group, including a sizeable representation from Kilburn in North London, thanks to the help of the Catholic Bishop of Southwark, and some of his priests, including one who has founded a wonderful orphanage in Bulacan.

My impression from these encounters was of a group which has settled comfortably into British society, and is largely at ease with itself and the communities in which it is based. So far the impact of the recession does not seem to have hit most Filipinos in the UK, and there were scarcely any tales of unemployment.

Two concerns did come over. First, and a sign of the deepening Philippine roots in Britain, I met a handful of second generation Filipinos, whose accents were in some cases as “cockney” or “estuary English” (a term used after the suburban communities along the Thames estuary) as any Londoner! Not surprisingly some of this younger generation are keen to re-establish their Philippine roots, but the prospects of leaving well-paid jobs to explore the country of their grandparents must be daunting. I suspect there will be challenges for the Philippine community as the second, and third, generation increases.

Another concern raised by some Filipinos is the potential impact of our new UK Border Agency’s Points Based System on migration by relatives. While we do not have a system of automatic petition for family members, I re-assured the Philippine community that skilled workers will be able to continue coming to the UK, especially to work in the care industry and other occupations on the shortage list. In addition special transitional arrangements are in place to minimise the impact on existing work permit holders.

It is difficult to obtain an accurate figure for the number of Filipinos now living in Britain. But our and the Philippine Embassy’s best estimate is no less than a quarter of a million, and growing – Ambassador Espiritu reckons his staff register six Philippine births a day.

So Britain now represents by some way the largest home for Filipinos in Europe. I like to believe, having met such a wide cross-section, that the country does indeed feel like “home”. There are various signs of the Philippines’ growing influence in Britain. Like the Australian community, Filipinos now have at least two of their own UK newspapers, which in turn advertise Filipino restaurants and food stores. Oscar Lopez told me last month that ABS-CBN has about 50,000 cable subscribers in Britain, and BPI has opened full-service branches in London to service OFWs. And, as a telling sign of the positive impact of the Philippine community, one of Britain’s most respected authors, Ian McEwan, refers to Philippine brain specialists working in London in one of his top selling novels, and last week’s Economist notes the impact of Filipinos on the Catholic Church in Britain.

As we celebrate the Queen’s birthday this month, I am delighted to see first hand that the Philippine community in Britain has never been more visible. Little wonder that Her Majesty was happy to see President Arroyo during one of the latter’s brief visits to London, when no doubt they discussed the Filipinos’ growing impact in Britain.