 Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (Unity for Progress) began on August 28, 1987 as a cause-oriented nongovernment organization aimed at promoting the integration of the Tsinoys (Tsinong Pinoy or Chinese Filipinos) into mainstream Philippine society. On one hand, Kaisa helps bring Tsinoys into meaningful participation in national concerns. On the other hand, Kaisa aims to enhance the Filipinos’ understanding and awareness of the true role of the ethnic Chinese in Philippine life.
Kaisa was founded and organized by a rare combination of young academicians, professionals, and businessmen who share a common belief: that they do not want to be bystanders in the task of rebuilding the Filipino nation.
Kaisa gives a voice and a face to the Tsinoy community in the Philippines. It proactively links up with government offices, academic, religious, and other influential institutions and other NGOs to make its objectives heard. Time and again, Kaisa’s position on the ethnic Chinese and on national concerns has been sought by policy-makers and the media.
Beginnings — Background
In the 1970s, when integration, activism, and volunteerism were still taboo words in the Tsinoy community, a group of young, committed, idealistic academicians and professionals organized the Pagkakaisa Sa Pag–unlad. The group espoused the idea that full integration of the ethnic Chinese into mainstream Philippine society is the only choice the Tsinoys can make and the only direction they can take. At the time, Tsinoys were quietly engaged mostly in business, though concerned with social issues; most prefer to be uninvolved and uncommitted; they prefer the status quo; they were bystanders as significant events in the nation unfolded. They were focused but only in what they do well – the pursuit of commerce.
But then, the younger generation of locally born Tsinoys who grew up and were educated in this country, articulate in Filipino and English, felt that looking out only for their own interests was not enough. They should serve, work harder, and make sacrifices for the country that gave their ancestors the opportunity to grow and prosper. Thus, Pagkakaisa was born in 1970. The volunteers dedicated themselves to pushing for integration while also bringing the Tsinoy youth into social development work. Unfortunately, it was martial law days and the government was paranoid about people who are socially involved. The Pagkakaisa caught the attention of the military who thought that only the leftists can harbor progressive ideas and only subversives can do social development work. Many of the Pagkakaisa volunteers were not even Filipino citizens yet, so they opted to lie low and to close shop in 1976.
After the assassination of former Senator Benigno Aquino upon his return from exile in 1983, the Philippines was plunged into political unrest and the economy was at its worst. With the experience of the ethnic Chinese "boat people" in Vietnam still fresh in their minds, former members of the Pagkakaisa Sa Pag-unlad mobilized other groups to discuss issues and thresh out ways and means to help the country of their birth, the only home they have ever known.
They laid the groundwork for the revival of Pagkakaisa and its rebirth into a new organization of young Chinese Filipinos who do not want to be passive onlookers while critical events unfold and the nation’s future was uncertain. The late Prof. Chinben See and his wife, Teresita Ang See, who were active in Pagkakaisa before, saw themselves at the forefront of reviving and revitalizing the old Pagkakaisa. They linked up first with alumni of the Xavier School through Harry Chua, the former Pagkakaisa President and former President of the Xavier Alumni and held several fora with parents and alumni on the burning issues in mainstream society as they affect the Chinese-Filipino community.
 Meanwhile, other events conspired to hasten the new organization in order to transform their ideas into action and to safeguard the interests and welfare of the ethnic Chinese community within mainstream Philippine society. The peaceful EDSA People Power Revolution in February 1986 installed Corazon C. Aquino as the President of the Philippines and restored democracy. There was an urgent need for a cause–oriented group (in contrast to the traditional organizations in the community then) to act as an effective bridge between the Filipino and the ethnic Chinese community. There was – and still is – an urgent need to reconcile differences and strengthen the relationship between the two cultures. The huge potential of Chinese Filipinos must also be harnessed and channeled toward rebuilding a nation ravaged by 20 years of corrupt dictatorship. There was ample space for the establishment of non-government organizations to fill up or address concerns which the government cannot, for whatever reason, act upon. The Pagkakaisa members and Xavier alumni linked up with Mr. Go Bon Juan and his fellow alumni from the Philippine Cultural High School and with that core group, the successor of Pagkakaisa, the Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran (or Kaisa) was formed.
The two words in the name of the organization are the motive force behind the group. Kaisa is unity, being one with the rest of the Filipino people, and Kaunlaran is progress for the Philippines — the dream and aspiration that the Tsinoys hold dearly with their fellow Pinoys. The name speaks of the need for unity to push forward development and to rebuild the nation. The formal launching on August 28, 1987 coincided with what turned out to be the bloodiest military coup in the Aquino administration — a baptism of fire in the truest sense of the word.
From a small group of academicians, professionals, and businessmen, today, 20 years after, Kaisa now has a nationwide network of volunteers. Its involvement in social development, national integration, peace building efforts is unparalleled in the history of the Tsinoy community. With meager resources, Kaisa members are nevertheless able to tap the vast potentials of the community which has been awakened to the need of their fellow Pinoys, especially those prejudiced and marginalized by poverty, illiteracy, indigenous origins and⁄or religious inclinations.
Kaisa´s role as a bridge between two cultures and two generations has been carried out effectively and is a model worthy of emulation in other countries with ethnic minorities. Kaisa and its cultural arm, the Kaisa Heritage Center, are at the forefront of the advocacy to establish for the ethnic Chinese "their rightful place in the Philippine sun."This unique organization plays a significant role in pushing forward minority rights in the Philippines and promoting a better understanding of the changes that have happened in the ethnic Chinese community through time.
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