OFW’s daughter becomes first Pinay elected in UK

A Filipina politician won in the recently concluded elections in the United Kingdom, a report on GMA News TV's "Balitanghali" said Tuesday.

Cynthia Alcantara-Barker, a native of San Pablo City in Laguna province, was elected town councilor of Elstree and Borehamwood, the report said.

Elstree and Borehamwood, considered as England's version of Hollywood, is a civil parish with more than a hundred years of filmmaking history.

Barker, the first FIlipino to win in a UK election, ran under the Conservative party, which won 331 seats in the parliament and secured the re-election of Prime Minister David Cameron.


She told the Filipino Expat that she wished to bring Filipinos greater recognition through her post and to involve the closely-knit community in public works and projects.

"I hope that by running for the Conservative party, I will inspire other Filipinos to get involved in politics. If I am successful in this, I hope that Filipinos will be encouraged and take an active part in the community and the whole of the country," Barker said.

Meanwhile, Barker told The Times Series that she was "humbled" to have been elected and is looking forward to working with her constituents.

Barker's mother was an OFW who went to the UK in the 70's to support her five children. Barker, who considers her mother her hero, later joined her there.

"She was a school teacher who had to leave her family, including five young children. She made the same sacrifice that most OFWs make, sent all her money home while she worked long hours to ensure that the family was well-fed and educated. We now have four generations of family in the UK," Barker told the Filipino Expat. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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