PRESS RELEASE NO. 104-2023

26 September 2023, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA – Consul General Emil Fernandez (left) welcomed Mr. Anfernee P. Ruanto, Senior Program Officer, Commission on Higher Education (CHED), who took time to visit the Philippine Consulate while in Honolulu for the Governance and Society cohort of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Professional Fellows Program (YSEALI PFP).

Mr. Ruanto is one of 15 participants from the Philippines to the YSEALI PFP, among a total of 50 participants from Southeast Asia. He is currently undertaking a fellowship at the Hawai'i Department of Education under the program. The other Philippine participants are spread out across other states in the US.

The YSEALI PFP is a fully-funded global exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It is designed to empower emerging leaders from Southeast Asia, affording them the privilege of spending six weeks in the US to engage professionally through fellowship experiences with non-profit, public, or private sector organizations.

Mr. Ruanto shared that he intends to apply the skills and knowledge acquired during this intensive six-week fellowship in his work at CHED.