January 18, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) is now accepting nominations for the biennial Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas.
PAFIOO recognizes Filipinos living permanently abroad who have contributed to Philippine development or promoted the interests of the Filipino diaspora.
Permanent migrants can be nominated in any of three categories: Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino Award, which is given to honor significant contributions to a specific sector or local community in the Philippines; Banaag Award, conferred on an individual or organization who has advanced the cause of the Filipino diaspora, and Pamana ng Pilipino Award, which recognizes a Filipino who has made a distinction in his or her professional work.
In addition, the Kaanib ng Bayan award is handed to a foreign individual or organization that has made exceptional contributions to Philippine development.
Nominations, which are coursed through a Philippine embassy or a consulate-general office, are accepted until May 29.
The Philippine embassy in Canada is only accepting nominations until March 30, Vienna until March 31, Vientiane until May 6 and Vancouver until May 8.
The CFO has been organizing PAFIOO since 1991. Among the awardees in 2024 are geology and hydrology expert Jane Gerardo-Abaya of Austria, painter Larry Carumba of Saudi Arabia and screenwriter Roberto Eusebio Lavides of Canada.
Dante Ang II, CFO chairman, has been making the rounds to promote PAFIOO and, simultaneously, reintroduce his agency, which is under the Office of the President.
“Despite the fact that the CFO is already 45 years old, not many people know about it,” Ang said on Friday, during a sit-down talk with The STAR president and chief executive officer Miguel Belmonte and several editorial board members.
The CFO was created through Batas Pambansa 79, passed in June 1980, to assist Filipinos overseas, or emigrants residing abroad or awaiting naturalization, recognition or admission overseas.
Out of the 10,804,958 Filipinos abroad as of late 2024, 54 percent are permanent residents, 35 percent are temporary migrants or commonly known as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and 11 percent are undocumented.
Despite catering to a larger portion of the Filipino diaspora, the CFO only has a budget of P263 million for 2026. In contrast, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has a budget of P11 billion.
Ang explained that the CFO is separate from the DMW because permanent migrants have different needs than OFWs.
“The interest of OFWs is different; what they need is information, skilling and assistance for nationals. What our constituents need is information on how to invest, how to support local organizations, how to introduce cultural heritage to their children or the next generation,” he said.
In conflict-ridden nations like Venezuela and Iran, for instance, the CFO is watching over four Filipinos permanently living in the Latin American country and 224 spouses of Iranians.
The CFO has already inked partnerships with the Department of Science and Technology to connect PAFIOO scientist awardees to the Balik Scientist Program, the Social Security System to enable voluntary contribution for Filipinos overseas, the Philippine Stock Exchange to promote capital investments and the Philippine Retirement Authority to make the Philippines an attractive retirement facility.
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