NONRESIDENT Filipinos (NRFs) have emerged as a vital source of the country’s “soft power” and international influence, Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) Secretary Dante Ang II said Tuesday.
Ang pointed this out during the 2026 Filipino Diaspora Summit attended by about 350 NRFs from almost 30 countries. He said the six million NRFs worldwide put the Philippines “in the radar of foreign governments.”
“Their professional achievements, community leadership, and success stories have turned them into unofficial ambassadors of the country, exemplifying the Filipino brand of excellence,” Ang said.
Ang said the CFO was set to launch a program where the agency would partner with NRFs more directly.
“We have been holding public consultations on the feasibility of designating honorary diaspora representatives or HDRs who will serve as nondiplomatic community-based entities, dedicated to the cause of the diaspora engagement for the Philippine national development,” he said.
“To our NRFs, thank you for continuing to carry the Filipino spirit wherever life may take your achievements,” Ang told the summit participants.
“Your success has shifted global spotlight on our country and your partnerships ensures our nation’s story remains one of collective growth and enduring unity,” he said.
There are 10.8 million Filipinos overseas, about 60 percent of whom are NRFs.
NRFs include citizens, permanent residents, marriage migrants, professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, educators, innovators, public servants, and community leaders across the globe.
“For many years conversations about Filipinos abroad often centered on remittances. However, we recognize that our NRFs are more than just economic actors,” Ang said.
The CFO chairman said the NRFs “are also active partners in national development bringing invaluable experience innovation and global innovation to our shores.”
“They share knowledge, create global networks and build businesses, preserve and promote Filipino heritage, and influence, international conversations serving as ambassadors of the Filipino spirit around the world,” he added.
Ang said the CFO is not just an agency that prepares Filipinos for departure. “This agency also fosters lasting partnership with NRFs through diaspora engagement for national development, addressing the pressing needs of our people and helping realize our collective aspirations for a better future.”
Diaspora summit
About 350 nonresident Filipinos, government officials, private sector leaders, and civil society organizations from almost 30 countries converged Tuesday for the 2026 Filipino Diaspora Summit at the Manila Marriott Hotel in Pasay City.
The CFO led the historic gathering with the theme: “Transformation Through Diaspora Engagement: Harnessing Filipino Global Power in Advancing the Philippines’ Cultural, Economic, and Political Goals.
Ang said the summit recognizes the over 6 million nonresident Filipinos worldwide as “strategic partners” in Philippine national development and strengthen sustained engagement toward shared development goals.
Unlike other migrant-serving government agencies, the CFO’s constituency comprises Filipino permanent residents abroad, naturalized foreign citizens, dual citizens, and marriage migrants whose sustained engagement represent enduring assets for Philippine development in cultural, economic, and political spheres.
The summit provides a platform to harness that potential and translate diaspora commitment into concrete partnerships and transformative action.
“Clearly Filipino migrants hold a strong, transformative power in advancing, the cultural economic and political goals of the Philippines,” Ang said in his opening remarks.
“Before my appointment to the CFO, our anniversary celebration was limited to this commission’s employees partners and friends. Last year, we held the CFO 45th anniversary for a milestone celebration, dedicating the event to a day of dialogue, inspiration and festivities with representatives from the academia and civil society,” he said.
“To improve on this initiative, this year celebration, we invited the stakeholders in the migration conversation, the NRF. This is a new term that we’re trying out for nonresident Filipinos,” Ang said.
He said the CFO adopted the global summit concept and built on the work of the previous administrations.
“We channel the ties forged over the decades into new partnerships and connections among Filipinos across the globe that connection is made not only by blood but by a shared history, common values and the collective aspiration to see our nation flourish on the global stage,” Ang said.
The CFO is distinct from the Department of Migrant Workers which primarily addresses the needs of overseas Filipino workers and other temporary migrants.
Established under Batas Pambansa 79, the CFO is dedicated to the welfare and empowerment of expatriates or NRFs.
