15 years of outstanding reporting for Filipinos in Italy
Via social media, web and print, the high standard journalism of Ako ay Pilipino effectively reaches the majority of Filipinos living in Italy with its reputation for solid and reliable reporting since 2002.
350,000 sessions – 280,000 users – 850 page views – 30,000 print readers PER MONTH – 18,000 Facebook likes
Ako ay Pilipino is a community-oriented social, legal and cultural point of reference supporting Filipino migrants in their quest for a better life in Italy.
We connect the Filipino men and women who have taken up the challenge of emigration and provide a forum where they can express themselves, build communities, develop a sense of pride and belonging, achieve representation and enter constructive dialogue with the host community.
We provide grounds for personal, social, political and economic empowerment, give access to legal protection, advocate for migrant rights and campaign against prejudice and discrimination.
We help newcomers understand what is happening around them, understand their new country and its cultural codes, overcome cultural and linguistic barriers, encourage societal conversation, challenge deceptive representations and facilitate reciprocal understanding and integration into the host society.
The Filipino Community in Italy
The number of Filipinos living, working and studying in Italy today is estimated to be over 200,000. The community is quite likely the best accepted and most beloved foreign community in the country, because of the hard work, reliability and competence of all those Filipino men and women who work hard in the field of domestic labor as ‘colf’ (domestic helpers) and who have grown so close to the hearts of Italian families.
After over a decade of Filipino migration to Italy, the language barrier remains the primary problem for first-generation Filipinos as well as for their family members and migrants who arrived recently in the country. The absence of an effective communication effectively hampers social inclusion and integration.
Editorial content
Through information, news and guides in Tagalog, Ako ay Pilipino has become the main point of reference for most Filipinos living in Italy, providing explanation and direction for effective inclusion and integration, helping them overcome language and cultural barriers.
Our editorial content includes:
Immigration news.
- policy changes, such as sanatoria (amnesty), emersione (legalization) and decreto flussi (quota agreements)
- current debates on immigration policy
- new immigration laws
- problems our readers face as immigrants in their host countries
- treatment and mistreatment of migrants and refugees
- the current so-called refugee-crisis, causes, and possible solutions being discussed at international level
Migration guides
Living in a foreign land can be a traumatic experience without basic knowledge of immigration rules and laws which in many European countries are frequently changed. As a way of helping our readers go through ever more complex bureaucratic procedures, we publish simple legal guide articles showing the practical steps to be followed in obtaining and renewing different types of documents and permits that allow legal stay and eventually lead to citizenship. We inform them on migration issues such as residency, employment, family reunification and citizenship. Such articles are normally prepared by immigration lawyers and solicitors. We also give information on OFW issues like OEC, passport, etc…
Helping Filipinos know their rights and duties
It is never easy for migrants to know what their rights and duties are in their new host countries. We help Filipinos in this regard by publishing a series of articles explaining their rights and duties as new citizens. It is only knowing their duties that they can fulfil them. It is also by knowing their rights that they can claim them: Ako ay Pilipino helps our Kababayans reach their full potential at work knowing better their rights and obligations.
Building community
Newcomers in any country feel lost without knowing people locally, and feel the need to connect with people from their own communities. Our newspaper, website and social media are platforms where Filipinos can get to know each other and establish contacts. Around them, Filipinos create a sense of community, define their collective identity, develop a sense of pride and belonging and gain social empowerment. They serve as community notice boards where Filipinos can find information about major issues affecting community members and where they can find out what community events are taking place and where.
Instilling a sense of pride
We use our media to instill a sense of pride in our readers by focusing on the good things they do. Unlike mainstream media who most often portray immigrants negatively, we focus on stories showing that there are many immigrants making tremendous contribution to their host societies.
Educating and Entertaining readers
We use our media to convey topical information to Filipinos on important issues that affect their everyday life such as health and education, but also we also leave space for entertainment: Ako ay Pilipino is a place where Filipinos can have fun and discover latest celebrity news.
Helping talents emerge
There are so many Filipinos and other migrants with exceptional talents in Italy, but most often they are ignored by the mainstream media. We easily notice such talents whenever we attend community events. Many of them also contact us through Facebook and either send us links to show what they are doing or request to meet us. We believe in such talents and always feature them so that they can get known. Quite often mainstream media pick such stories and help give these emerging talents further publicity.
Success stories of Filipinos, cultural events and sports activities of the community are also featured not only to promote a positive image of Filipinos in the host country but also to give inspiration to fellow Kababayans, to promote Pinoy local talents and to share best practices among Filipinos.
THE NEWSPAPER
Ako ay Pilipino, in its 15th year of monthly publication, is the only newspaper in Filipino language (Tagalog) in Italy.
The printed edition of Ako ay Pilipino is distributed free every month to cities and areas with a large Filipino population, reaching over 30,000 Filipinos all over Italy.
THE WEBSITE
Online magazine www.akoaypilipino.eu, provides daily migration news and even more updated communication raising public awareness on issues related to Filipino migration.
After many years of advocating rights, welfare and well being of Filipinos in the host country, Google Analytics, akoaypilipino.eu has an average traffic of 341,000 sessions – 277,000 users – 828,000 pageviews a month (July 2017).
The large coverage of readership not only in the Philippines and Italy but also other countries like United States, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates is a proof of an effective and credible media effort that helps build a new and better generation of Filipino community in Italy.
The Publisher
Ako ay Pilipino is owned by My Own Media Ltd, UK publisher with a network that reaches an average of 2.5 million readers in Europe every month.