US Peace Corps Philippines country director Marguerite Roy welcomes the 281st batch of Peace Corps Volunteers in Manila on 8 July.

Forty-eight new US Peace Corps volunteers arrived in Manila on 8 July to begin their two-year service to support local programs in education, youth development, and environmental protection in communities across the Philippines.

Starting in September, the Peace Corps volunteers will be assigned to fulfill a range of roles requested by host communities in Aklan, Antique, Batangas, Benguet, Bohol, Capiz, Cebu, Iloilo, La Union, Nueva Ecija, Oriental Mindoro, Pampanga, Pangasinan and Tarlac.

These roles include co-teaching English in public elementary and secondary schools, serving as youth development facilitators at the Department of Welfare and Social Development-accredited organizations and residential shelters, and supporting local governments in establishing marine protected areas and implementing coastal resource management plans.

“US Peace Corps Volunteers come from all over the United States and represent the diversity of the American people. They come with a variety of skills and experience to contribute during their service in the Philippines,” U.S. Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said. 

“The Peace Corps’ goal is to promote world peace and friendship, and what better way to do this than to serve with cultural humility and mutual respect to our Filipino friends and partners,” she added.

The 48 new Volunteers represent the 281st batch of US Peace Corps Volunteers deployed to the Philippines, bringing the total number of American volunteers currently serving in the country to 126 and surpassing the number of Volunteers assigned to the Philippines prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.