In the news

Read about the delegates’ experience during the program. Join us at the Summit and we’ll continue the discussion.

Feb. 6, 2014 – GMA News Online: Fil-Am youth leaders share PHL immersion experience in NY town hall meeting

One question via Twitter inquired about “factionalism” in the second-gen community in the US, to which Rachelle replied, “Yes we acknowledge that there is disunity in the community, but we are doing something about it.”

 

July 31, 2013 – Rappler.com: Highways and slums: What I learned about the Philippines by: Rachelle Ocampo

NEW YORK—“I didn’t know that there were highways in the Philippines and where are all the slums?”

I was in shock when my friend made that comment as I flipped through my pictures on my phone during my trip to the Philippines in early July.

I began to explain that despite how the country is portrayed, the Philippines is more developed than he thought.

I wondered where he got the notion that there were no highways and that it was all slums.

Was it the media’s fault or was he just misinformed? Perhaps it was personal experience.

 

July 8, 2013 – Inquirer.net: Fil-Am youths in town for immersion program

“I don’t see the bad things, it’s hard to see that, even if there is poverty, there is so much beauty that overshadows that,” Guevarra, who founded the Filipino American Council of South Texas Youth Group and was formerly the president of the Philippine Student Association of Texas A&M University, said.

July 19, 2013: Go Negosyo encourages Fil-Am Youth Ambassadors

The success of this program was likewise beneficial to the Filipino-American community in the United States and Philippines. It is important that their voices be heard in US policy making. For one, this can also help Philippines promote the arts, culture and tourism of the country in the United States.

 

July 9, 2013: Fil-Ams see beauty amid PH poverty

“What I remember from the very beginning is the Filipino spirit that my parents always had and which I applied because I wanted to learn more about my identity and really understand the Philippines’ culture of social justice. It really made me want to really understand where I came from and where I want to go,” said Santos, who worked with underserved students in Manhattan’s East Harlem.

July 8, 2013 – Pinoy Weekly: FilAm youths in PH for immersion program

“The FYLPro aims to tap these outstanding Filipino-Americans, whose civic involvement and advocacy of causes could contribute to advancing important issues in the Fil-Am community and the further development of the Philippines,” DFA said in a statement.