Cayetano supports diaspora engagement to strengthen overseas Filipinos’ ties with PH
Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday expressed support for stronger diaspora engagement through programs that would connect overseas Filipinos and their descendants with the Philippines through travel, education, business, and cultural ties.
During the Commission on Filipinos Overseas’ (CFO) 2027 budget briefing on September 22, Cayetano expressed support for a bigger budget for the commission in plenary, provided additional funding is backed by concrete programs for overseas Filipinos and their descendants.
The senator said government efforts should reach beyond migrant workers and include descendants of Filipinos who may have been born and raised abroad but remain connected to the country by heritage.
“I’d like you to have programs in the US, in the UK, in France, getting these young Filipinos to get to know their country by blood, by origin,” he said.
The former Foreign Affairs Secretary noted that many of these young Filipinos have never visited the Philippines.
He also pointed to the potential economic benefits of encouraging more Filipinos and their families abroad to visit the country, particularly through tourism and the jobs it can generate.
“For every tourist that comes in, for every two to three tourists, one Filipino job is created here,” Cayetano said.
He said that with more than 10 million Filipinos overseas, including nearly 8 million who are not OFWs, the CFO needs an “upgrade all around” in its personnel, resources, and programs to strengthen ties with Filipino communities and succeeding generations.
Cayetano said such programs could encourage Filipinos and their descendants abroad not only to visit but also to study, spend summers, establish businesses, or eventually retire in the Philippines.
“There’s so many places in the Philippines that could really be a place for retirement or even for young people to study,” he said.
Filipino Version
Cayetano: Palakasin ang ugnayan ng mga Pinoy sa abroad
Hinimok ni Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano nitong Martes ang Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) na palawakin ang mga programa nito para mas mapalapit sa Pilipinas ang mahigit 10 milyong Pilipino na naninirahan sa ibang bansa, kabilang ang kanilang mga anak at apo.
Sa pagtalakay sa 2027 budget ng CFO nitong September 22, sinabi ni Cayetano na dapat may konkretong programa ang ahensya bago ito humingi ng dagdag na pondo sa plenaryo.
Partikular na nais ng senador na maabot ng CFO ang mga kabataang Pilipino na ipinanganak at lumaki sa ibang bansa upang makilala nila ang Pilipinas at magkaroon ng mas matibay na ugnayan sa kanilang pinagmulan.
“I’d like you to have programs in the US, in the UK, in France, getting these young Filipinos to get to know their country by blood, by origin,” wika niya.
Sinabi ng dating Foreign Affairs Secretary na marami sa mga kabataang ito ang hindi pa nakapupunta sa Pilipinas.
Bukod sa pagpapatibay ng ugnayan sa mga Pilipino sa abroad, sinabi ni Cayetano na maaari ring makatulong sa ekonomiya ang paghikayat sa kanila at kanilang mga pamilya na bumisita sa bansa.
“For every tourist that comes in, for every two to three tourists, one Filipino job is created here,” wika niya.
Ayon sa senador, nasa mahigit 10 milyon ang mga Pilipino sa ibang bansa, kabilang ang halos 8 milyon na hindi overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Dahil dito, iginiit niyang kailangan ng CFO ng “upgrade all around” sa personnel, resources at mga programa nito upang mas mapalawak ang ugnayan sa mga komunidad ng Pilipino at sa mga susunod na henerasyon.
Maaari aniyang hikayatin ang mga Pilipino at kanilang mga inapo sa abroad na bumisita, mag-aral, magbakasyon, magtayo ng negosyo o kalaunan ay magretiro sa Pilipinas.
“There’s so many places in the Philippines that could really be a place for retirement or even for young people to study,” wika niya.
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