Secretary Cayetano Calls on Fil-Ams to Unite on Key Issues

Secretary Cayetano and Consul General Dizon-De Vega (Center) pose for a group photo with members of the Filipino Community (photos by Boyet Loverita)

05 October 2017 NEW YORK – An overflowing audience took part in a Townhall Meeting with Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano at the Philippine Center in New York on September 29.

Over 230 Filipinos joined the activity which took place for nearly three hours to discuss issues of concern among the Filipino overseas community in the US Northeast.  Some participants came from as far as Philadelphia, Connecticut, and New England States to listen to updates on Philippine developments and matters affecting Filipinos and Filipino-Americans.

Among the subjects covered in a frank and candid exchange between Secretary Cayetano and Filipino community members included changes in the delivery of frontline, consular and  assistance-to-nationals services to Filipinos overseas,  the need for more Filipinos overseas to be active in politics in their adopted countries, the ongoing government campaign against drugs, developments in the fight against terrorist elements in Marawi, new Philippine passport processing and delivery developments, the existing Balikbayan box requirements of the Bureau of Customs, streamlining requirements and procedures for Overseas Absentee Voting and Citizenship Re-Acquisition, Economic developments in the country, job and business opportunities in the Philippines, the state of the Philippine healthcare system, resources for the ageing population, and the Philippine Government’s commitment to address human and labor trafficking.

Secretary Cayetano likewise provided updates on the campaign against drugs, advising the Community members to also examine the situation on the ground and the realities of the drug problem facing the Philippines.

He likewise exhorted Filipinos overseas to unite on key issues affecting their fellow nationals overseas. While he said everyone is free to subscribe to certain beliefs of political preferences, Filipinos should do their best to work for policies and laws which will benefit the overseas Filipino Community in the US as a whole.

Secretary Cayetano was joined at the Townhall event by Consul General Theresa Dizon-De Vega, Assistant Secretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Reynaldo A. Catapang, and other officials. END

For more information, visit www.newyorkpcg.dfa.gov.ph / www.newyorkpcg.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinNY/

Secretary Cayetano with Consul General Dizon-De Vega respond to questions from the audience

Secretary Cayetano addresses the Community members at the Townhall