24 February 2015 – Philippine Consul General Marciano R. de Borja hosted a breakfast meeting on February 18 for two candidates from Guam for the 4th Filipino-American Youth Leadership Program (FYLPro). Guam Senator Dennis G. Rodriguez Jr., a FYLPro alumnus from Guam for the 2013 edition also attended the breakfast meeting that was held at the Main Restaurant of the Guam Reef and Olive Spa Resort in Tumon, Guam.
Although there are four applicants for the 4th FYLPro in 2015, only two of the applicants were able to join the breakfast meeting – Ms. Eileen M. Agahan and Mr. Jason Miyashita.
Ms. Agahan, whose parents are both Filipino, was born and raised on Guam. Her family hails from Cavite. She is now the Executive Director of the Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce; President of the Rotaract Club of the Marianas; and President of the University of Guam Alumni Association.
Meanwhile, Mr. Miyashita is a third-generation Filipino-American, and also born and raised on Guam. His Filipino mother was also born and raised on Guam while his father is of Japanese descent. Mr. Miyashita is the Senior Investment Management Consultant, Vice President of Wealth Management, International Client Advisor, and Financial Advisor of Morgan Stanley Asia Pacific Group Guam. He is also an Instructor of the Asia Pacific Association for Fiduciary Studies, and the Board Director of the Rotary Club of Tumon Bay Guam.
Consul General de Borja briefed the applicants about the FYLPro and how the program was initiated by Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia Jr. as a way to raise awareness among Filipino-American youth about their parents’ or grandparents’ homeland and see the Philippines from a fresh perspective.
Senator Rodriguez, a FYLPro alumnus and incumbent senator of the 33rd Guam Legislature, also shared his experiences when he was a delegate of the Program in 2013. He reassured both candidates that participating in the FYLPro really opened his eyes to a Philippines that very different from the impressions he had obtained from media. Senator Rodriguez also told both candidates that his FYLPro experience helped him gain new ideas that could be replicated on or adapted for Guam. END