CFO eyes more attaché offices

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas aims to establish additional attaché offices across the country and internationally to build stronger ties with the global Filipino community, Secretary Romulo Arugay said Tuesday.

According to Arugay, the CFO plans to open new satellite offices in the cities of Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao, in addition to a new office in Tokyo, Japan, which is nearing completion.

“The process is going on. We are just awaiting the final approval of the Department of Foreign Affairs,” Arugay told DAILY TRIBUNE’s Usapang OFW show on Tuesday.

“In addition, we are also waiting for the approval of the host country, which is Japan. We are now at the tail-end of the process,” he said when was asked for an update on their first attaché office in the East Asian country.

Arugay said the expansion of their offices in Baguio and Davao was needed to cater to the demand of the migrating population from those areas.

“We saw the need to have satellite offices in those areas because we have seen an increase in the number of people migrating from Davao, one of our major clients in Mindanao,” he said.

“Meanwhile, we decided to open an office in Baguio because 31 percent of migration is coming from the north, especially Regions 1 and 2,” he added.

The CFO chief said there is a satellite office in Cebu City to serve the migrating population in Central Visayas.

The CFO, an agency under the Office of the President, is tasked with promoting and upholding the interests of Filipino emigrants and permanent residents abroad and to preserve and strengthen ties with Filipino communities overseas.

As one of the several migrant-serving agencies, it has been providing pre-departure services to Filipino emigrants, marriage migrants, US Exchange Visitor Program participants, and au pairs.