Ericson Guiao / PIO Pampanga
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA – The Provincial Government agreed to collaborate with the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) to further expand its assistance services to Kapampangan immigrants.
This was gleaned during the agency’s courtesy call yesterday with Atty. Charlie Chua, Provincial Administrator, as part of their information dissemination campaign.
Princess Mayumi Kaye Peralta, emigrant services officer of CFO, introduced their online service called Balinkbayan, a Filipino Overseas One-Stop Online Portal, which offers different services aim to assist overseas Filipino workers, youths, migrants and retirees who want to start a business, invest, volunteer, donate or access other government online services and become CFO’s partners.
According to Peralta, the said services were the results of their survey conducted to overseas Filipinos regarding the services that they want to get or access on the website.
“Gusto nilang magtayo ng business, gusto nilang mag invest, gusto nilang magdonate, gusto nilang magvolunteer pero di nila alam kung saan. Kaya dun sa portal po, at least may information po na available kung sino ang pupuntahan nila, kung ano ang proseso,” said Peralta.
The CFO also has localized websites that connect them to their partner LGUs.
Peralta said that in Pampanga they are already partners with the municipality of Mabalacat and they are set to conduct capacity building tomorrow to officially create Mabalacat City Balinkbayan website.
“Yung partnership po with us through the Balinkbayan is free. So, pwede pong makipartner yung Pampanga,” Peralta added.
The partnership of CFO with the LGUs aims to capacitate the local officials through trainings to help them manage appointed offices like PESO. As a counterpart on the partnership, the LGUs would provide the venue and participants for the trainings.
Moreover, to inform the public about their agency and its services, the CFO conducts annual Community Education Program (CEP) nationwide wherein they hold seminar and symposium in school and different barangays to tackle migration-related matters and provide assistance to potential migrants.
Prospective Filipino emigrants may register on the website of CFO for Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS), Guidance and Counseling Program (GCP), J1 Visa – Exchange Visitor Program (EVP) and Country Familiarization Program (CFS) for Au Pairs.
Present also earlier was Claire Ruzzel Esturas, Gender and Development Specialist from Philippine Commission on Women, the main policymaking and coordinating body on women’s concerns.
She said that PCW joined the CFO in their information dissemination campaign regarding immigration to “ensure that they are considering the differentiated needs and ensure that the programs they provide are gender-responsive.”
