29 September 2016 – The Philippine Consulate General in New York hosted a town hall for the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SFA) Perfecto R.Yasay, Jr. to address the Filipino community at the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center in Manhattan last September 21.

Consul General Mario De Leon, Jr. opened the program, citing the SFA’s stint in New York as a lawyer, and the Secretary’s recent accomplishments in his official trip to Laos and Washington, DC. Also in attendance were National Economic and Development Authority Director-General Ernesto Pernia, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, and the rest of the Philippine delegation to the United Nations General Assembly.

Secretary Yasay then relayed his remarks to the community, expressing his delight in seeing his old friends and colleagues, and recalling his time in New York and how the community has grown over the years.

The former NY resident compared the Filipino community’s dynamics during his time to how it is today, and expressed his pleasure in the solidarity the Filipino-Americans have shown in increasing the visibility of the Philippines in the US.

He noted the members of the community who have been successfully appointed or elected to positions in the US government. He urged the more than 180 community members in attendance to give back to the motherland and be partners for social change so that they can make a positive impact on regions they came from.

He conveyed the President’s message of thanks to his supporters and encouraged dialogue with the government to better serve their needs and emphasized that the key platform of the Duterte administration is making government services more responsive to the Filipino public.

The open forum that followed tackled questions on the proposed federal system; the economic prospects of the Philippines; the war on corruption, crime and drugs; and how the overseas Filipinos can help in achieving the administration’s goals. END