An American who lives in the Philippines with his Filipina wife, Lani, Robert uses his personal time and very limited financial resources to run an operation that helps reunite Amerasian (American-Asian) children with their American fathers.  He also maintains a web site, "Amerasians - The Forsaken Ones," a beacon in cyberspace that is intended to bring the plight of these abandoned children to the attention of Americans and the world at large.

To get an idea how daunting this task is for Robert, consider the fact that at the close of the Viet Nam War there were more than 125,000 Amerasian children left behind by their American fathers. Many of these children were fathered by our servicemen and civilian contractors in Viet Nam itself, but still others were born in neighboring countries like Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Korea, Okinawa, Japan...and, of course, the Philippine Islands.

But the Viet Nam era was not responsible for all or even most of these births.  America had maintained bases in the Philippine since its colonization in 1899.  And it was not until 1992, practically 20 years after the Viet Nam war was concluded, that the bases were closed.  Though the American servicemen and tactical support personnel are long gone, thousands of Amerasian children have remained behind, feeling abandoned and helpless.  The odds of any of these children finding their fathers seems remote, and the possibility that they will attain their birthright, American citizenship, seems an impossibility. 

And yet, Robert gives these children hope.  He and his wife meet with the Filipina mothers as well as the children themselves, and the couple gathers whatever information they can about the child's father.  Sometimes the details are skimpy, merely the name of a sailor and a ship, for example.  At other times the fathers have actually signed affidavits acknowledging their paternal responsibilities before disappearing, never coming back for their child or its mother as they had promised to do.

Not all American fathers are necessarily guilty of abandonment, however.  Some don't even know that they have children in the Philippines, and are eager, when located, to acknowledge their responsibilities.  Sometimes the fathers know of their children, but spend years without contacting them, only to one day wake up and suddenly realize the error of their ways.  Thus it is not only Amerasian children seeking their fathers that Robert helps; he also helps the fathers who are looking for the offspring they left behind.

Robert works primarily in Olongapo, where he resides - he doesn't have the financial resources required to expand his operations beyond that area.  He doesn't even have an office, using instead his home or the home of those in need to conduct his interviews. He tells me that there are three steps involved in the process:

First: Interview the person requesting the search and verify as much as possible that person's integrity. 

Second: Glean information that is useful in the search process, and post all of the necessary data and documents. 

Third: Initiate the search.

Interviews with Filipino mothers usually take 2 to 3 hours. Robert has tried to enlist the aid of various local foundations but found, to his dismay, that all of them were secretly profit motivated.  For that reason he and his wife work alone.  Searches for the American fathers include the interviews just described, followed by investigations, many internet-based. In those cases where the father's Social Security Number is known, Robert can utilize a 3rd party service to aid him in his search, though this is commercial and must be paid for by the person initiating the action. 

Here is what all this means to you:

1) If you're an American and you know or suspect that you have a child in the Philippines, especially in the Olongapo area, you can contact Robert and enlist his aid.  Perhaps the child or its mother is looking for you, also.  Be sure to check out his website and view the current and pending searches.

2) If you would like to donate a little money to Robert's cause, you would be doing a great service, not to him, but to the children he is trying to help.  Find out how on his website.

3) At the very least, go to Robert's website and view his pending and current investigations and see if you can offer any help in the form of information.  Perhaps you know the individual in question, or you live in the same city he was last known to reside at, etc.  Robert is operating out of the Philippines, and long-distance investigations are not easily accomplished without some kind of assistance from this side of the ocean.

4) E-mail Robert and commend him for what he's trying to do.

We all need to do what we can.  These are the children of Americans as well as Filipinas, and as Americans we need to see that they are treated with a decency and sense of kindness that their fathers have not yet afforded them.

Visit Robert's site to learn more.  While Robert's primary site is located on a server in the Philippines, there is also a mirror of his site here at ASAWA.  Both are, of course, identical in content, but those of you residing in the US may have faster downloads from my server, while any visitors from the Philippines or Far East will probably find Robert's local server to be faster.  Keep in mind that Robert maintains full editorial control over the content of his site.  While I can relay messages to Robert for you, you can take out the middleman and email him directly using the email links he has put on each of his pages. 

Here are the links to Robert's site:

Philippines-based server          U.S.-based server

Also, another really wonderful resource, this one dealing specifically with the Ameriasian condition in Okiniawa, is The Children of Peace Network, a site designed by Maria Shimabuku and and Maria Tomiyama (both of whom are Amerasian). Though I thought I had a fair grasp of the Amerasian situation overseas, and though I spent some time in Okinawa while in the Marines, I was surprised at exactly how uninformed I really was.  This site is very educational! It  illustrates how the Amerasians in one country or region (Okinawa) actually  face very different trials and obstacles than those of another nation (the Philippines, for example).  Please click over and read what these good people have to say!