With the success of the recently concluded Commission on Filipinos Overseas’ Online Ugnayan with overseas Filipinos in the US West Coast, the activity’s next leg is the State of Hawaii on 21 November 2020, Saturday, 4:00-5:30 pm (Hawaii time)/ 22 November 2020, Sunday, 10:00-11:30 am (Manila time). This activity is organized in cooperation with the Philippine Consulate General of Honolulu.

The online Ugnayan is a follow-up to the visit of CFO Secretary Francisco P. Acosta last October 2019 where he and other CFO officers met with officials from the Hawaii state government, immigration authorities, Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu, Filipino community leaders, non-government organizations; academe, media, and youth.

CFO records show that USA has consistently been the top destination country of Filipino emigrants since 1981. As of December 2018, a total of 1,474,077 Filipino emigrants bound for the US (60.54%), registered with CFO. Of this number, 142,291 were Hawaii-bound, and majority were petitioned on a family-based migration.

The CFO organized the Ugnayan Series as part of its mandate and commitment to strengthen ties and relations of the Philippines with the Filipino communities overseas. It also aims to monitor migrants’ welfare and discuss means of cooperation for diaspora engagement. In view of the pandemic and in compliance to the health protocols of the Philippine government, the CFO shifted to the online platform via Zoom and Facebook Live.

The Online Ugnayan sa Hawaii with the theme #WeRiseAsOne hopes to facilitate discussions and consultations on issues relevant to Filipinos in Hawaii such as updates on COVID-19 response of Filipino communities in Hawaii, Philippine travel restrictions for returning Filipinos and foreigners, US 2020 Census, US immigration services and CFO programs for overseas Filipinos. Ms. Annalisa Burgos of KITV 4 Island News Hawaii will be the event’s moderator.

Interested overseas Filipinos in Hawaii may register for free at https://tinyurl.com/CFOOnlineUgnayansaHawaii.

Updates on the event will be posted on the websites of the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu (https://honolulupcg.dfa.gov.ph/) and the CFO (www.cfo.gov.ph) as well as their Facebook pages / (https://www.facebook.com/PHinHonolulu/)(www.facebook.com/commissiononfilipinosoverseas)