18 September 2003
The Philippines gears up for big gathering of overseas Filipinos in Manila
Source: Manila Bulletin
The country is bracing for this year’s biggest gathering of overseas Filipinos in Manila.
The Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation (PCVC), together with the Washington-based National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA), are organizing the “2nd Global Filipino Networking Convention” slated at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on Dec. 15-18.
With the theme “A Homecoming, A Renewal: The Blossoming of Opportunities”, the convention expects the attendance of some 2,000 overseas or global Filipinos from Asia, Canada, Europe and the Americas.
“The ‘Global Filipino’ is one who has roots in the Philippines and who resides overseas temporarily or permanently, and who is willing to participate in activities that would continually assert his position in the global marketplace for his benefit and that of his country,” PCVC deputy executive director Rosvi Gaetos explained.
The convention aims to promote networking as a powerful tool to unify and empower the Filipinos overseas to become a positive force for nation-building. Called the “new heroes of the Philippines”, these 7.6 million overseas Filipinos contribute $6.8 billion to the local economy annually.
In August 2002, the NaFFAA, a private, non-profit, non-partisan and tax-exempt organization established in 1997 to promote the welfare of all Filipinos and Filipino-Americans in the United States, successfully organized the First Global Filipino Networking Convention, which made history when it filled the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California with close to 4,000 participants, making it the biggest gathering of a single ethnic group in the USA.
“This year’s event is designed to generate specific resolutions such as the creation of the International Federation of Filipino Associations; the establishment of Centers of Activities in each country that will be a microcosm of the best of the Philippines which will highlight Philippine heritage in communities abroad; and the organization of Filipino Overseas Corps wherein the younger generation of Filipinos born and raised abroad will be encouraged to visit the hometown of their parents to enable them to understand their roots and not be part of a lost generation,” Gaetos added.
These solutions will be presented to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the keynote speaker and guest of honor at the opening of the plenary session on Dec. 16.
The 4-day event will kick-off with a “Walk for a Cause” community parade from the Quirino Grandstand to the PICC, to be followed by an ecumenical thanksgiving mass at the Folk Arts Theater.
A special social program is likewise being prepared for balikbayans, to include a welcome reception at the Coconut Palace, a Simbang Gabi in Intramuros, and a formal gala dinner on the last day.
Tours, reunions and sports tournaments are being organized as post-congress activities.
More information can be obtained from the PCVC (c/o Jerome Diaz at tel. no. 525-9318, or e-mail: cit@ditpcvc.gov.ph).
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