Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano 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, 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 veteran legislator 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.”
“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,” the seasoned lawmaker said.
The former Foreign Affairs Secretary noted that many of these young Filipinos have never visited the Philippines.
The senator 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.”
“For every tourist that comes in, for every two to three tourists, one Filipino job is created here,” he said.
Cayetano noted 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.
He 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,” Cayetano concluded.
