Ithaca College

One of four predoctoral diversity fellows, Eric Pido from the sociology department will speak about his research during the noon hour on April 21 (Clark Lounge). Eric's presentation is titled, "The Balikbayan Hotel: Tourism Development in the Philippines and the Anxiety of Return".

This presentation examines the role of balikbayans, specifically those Filipinos who return after living in the U.S. for several decades, in the economic development of the Philippines. The Balikbayan Hotel provides an illuminating case for understanding how emerging trends within the Philippine tourism industry aimed at exploiting return-migration has become a crucial means for propelling economic restructuring within the larger Philippine economy. By transforming repatriating Filipinos into “retirees”, balikbayans see themselves as patrons of the state who, through decades of overseas labor, patronage, and performing their duties to the Philippines, are entitled to enjoy various luxuries that they could not partake in the U.S. In this presentation, I argue that the complexities felt by balikbayans and the ambivalence that they experience represent the common challenges and contradictions confronting the Philippines as it attempts to situate itself in an increasingly globalized economy.