Bayaning Pilipino Sa Asya Pasipiko 1997

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY

Garry Martinez (Country Winner)

• Kyong Gido, Korea
• Tatay Rizal

From a "scared" and "reluctant" overseas Filipino worker, Martinez soon came out of his shell and explored the world outside the premises of his workplace. His cheerfulness and optimistic character made him a favorite among the Filipino community and was elected president of the church's pastoral council.

In 1995, Maritinez led the Filipino community into a vigil for Flor Contemplacion, a Filipina domestic helper sentenced to die in Singapore. This he said, was one of the cases that politicized him and pushed him to know more about the roots of labor migration. He helped found the Kalipunan ng mga Samahan ng Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea (Kasamma-Ko), an affiliate of the Migrante International, which he now chairs. Their collective struggle, he said, force officials of the Philippine embassy to give them due services.

Martinez said that whenever a Filipino would die, embassy officials would ask donations from the Filipino community to pay for the repatriation of the remains.  Eventually, embassy officials then began to allocate budget for such.

Soon, the Philippine embassy also opened a mobile consular service even to undocumented workers and would, at times, be open on Sundays, due to the Filipino migrant workers' relentless demands.  They also began to hold protest actions on various issues in the country - from calling for the resumption of peace talks to the ouster of President Joseph Estrada.

He was nominated to become an awardee for ABS-CBN's Bagong Bayaning Pilipino para sa Asya Pasipiko.  But, Martinez said, he refused to sign the nomination form, saying that he needs no recognition for his efforts to reach out to others in need.

In 1997, Martinez returned to the country for the first time to receive the award.

When he returned to South Korea, his new company only required him to work for 12 hours a day, giving him an hour or two per day to visit other Filipinos in nearby factories.

He returned to the country in 2000 to be a full time migrant rights activist.  For four years since then, he would be sent back and forth to South Korea for at least three months to help his colleagues in Kasamma-Ko in their organizing tasks.

Martinez remembered how Filipinos there opened their doors to him.  "To show them how grateful I was for letting me stay, I washed their clothes and cooked for them.  They told me that I did not have to, but insisted."

In 2004, he returned to the country to help Migrante Party list campaign for the election.  He was assigned to campaign in southern Tagalog.  At the height of the campaign, however, Martinez suffered a heart attack.

After that, he rested for a while in Ifugao province, in the hometown of his previous partner.  But a few months later, he said it was impossible to resist not being part of the organizing work of Migrante International and so he returned to Manila.

This time, he became the spokesperson of Migrante International.

During this period, he said, Migrante was in troubled waters.  As they carried out a revamp, they also suffered financial problems.  They could hardly provide allowances for the volunteer.

"I could have just whine.  but I chose not to, " he said.

Martinez worked as porter in the market; half of his earning donated to Migrante International.  He was tempted to work again abroad but he could not say to those seeking for their help.

In 2008, he was elected chairperson of Migrante International.

COUNTRY FINALISTS

1. Elvira Tamayo-Okabe - Saitama, Japan; Fort Bonifacio, Makati City 
2. Encarnacion Montales - Singapore; Ilocos Norte
3. Vicente D. Perez - Saipan; St. Ignatius, Quezon City