The Straphanger Will Go Global Starting in 2023

by Bobby Reyes

Photo by Annalyn Gallego/Province of Camarines Sur via Wikimedia Commons

Part I: “The Straphanger Goes Global” Series

It is time to put into practice what this column has been preaching. To read again what his column has been advocating, and discussing how to bring about, socioeconomic development in North America — with inputs and contributions in human-and-financial resources from Overseas-Filipino workers (OFWs) and Overseas Filipinos — please use this link.

The weekly column started on Nov. 23, 2020, is geared to be a mainstream feature of the New York-based publication. Due to the insistent public demand kuno (a Filipino term for “said to be” or “alleged”), the PDM editorial staff urged me to do the column twice a week before it celebrated its first anniversary. I did.

And to mark the start of its third year, this columnist will run a series of articles from the second week of January 2023 up to the first week of February 2023 — from the Philippines. The series of interviews with Filipino policy-and-decision makers in the Philippines will be called “The Staphanger Goes Global.” The series will also feature community leaders and American retirees of Filipino descent that are living in the Philippines.

Readers may browse more details in this column to know how this columnist will implement or practice what he has been preaching. On November 23, 2020, “The Straphanger” made its debut with this op-ed piece: “Time to finally ‘reinvent’ the Filipino presence in New York and North America.” Its link:

On August 21, 2021, this columnist summarized what he has been writing since 1988. Yes, for nearly three-and-a-half decades, this journalist cum book author has been writing, nay crusading, why “North America Is the Biggest New Frontier for Filipinos.” Readers may like to reexamine why OFWs and North Americans of Filipino descent can help the United States continue its dominance of the world economy — of course, with the help of Canadians, Mexicans, and other American minorities. Here is its link.

This journalist discussed earlier on December 9, 2020, why “POTUS Biden, Americans, and Canadians Must Help in Turning Mexico Into an Economic Power” I said that “on April 2, 2014, I had the honor of meeting with former President Vicente Fox of Mexico in an event sponsored by the Milken Foundation in Santa Monica, CA.

“There is indeed a need for OFWs and the Filipino people — with the aid of North Americans of Filipino descent — to organize cooperatives (co-ops). As this columnist has been writing for the nth time, the main drawback of capitalism is the lack of capital among the workers and consumers.”

“Mr. Fox, who was the guest of honor, said in his speech that Mexico would become the fifth-biggest economy in the world by 2050.I was the first in line to ask the former Mexican President to sign his new book, Revolution of Hope. When I informed him that I was a Filipino, his eyes brightened, and he said that Filipinos are some of the closest people to Mexicans. I said, “Yes, Mr. President, Filipinos are like the first cousins of your people.” And I also remarked that the nearly four-million Americans of Filipino descent and Overseas Filipinos would help his country become an economic powerhouse even earlier than 2050.” Readers can read the column in its entirety at this link:

Hopefully, this series can explain town hall-style meetings in the Philippines as this columnist and his friends may organize them. There is indeed a need for OFWs and the Filipino people — with the aid of North Americans of Filipino descent — to organize cooperatives (co-ops). As this columnist has been writing for the nth time, the main drawback of capitalism is the lack of capital among the workers and consumers.

Last August 17th, this column discussed the topic of “How to Fund Florida’s Proposed New Socioeconomic-Development Evolutionary Projects” at this link: What the marginally-destitute North Americans (and struggling peoples all over the world) will need to see is a vivid demonstration of successful co-ops, credit unions and “cooperative unions” (a term to replace labor unions, as this writer has advocated) — that are organized by ordinary workers in alliance with consumers, especially from the ranks of the poor people. Hopefully, the columnist’s trip to his homeland, the Philippines, will result in positive concrete actions by the masses who believe in his mission and mission statements.

Talk to you more about this column’s agenda by this Wednesday.

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