Commission on Filipinos Overseas

1

CHANGE IN ACTION: THE NEW CFO DAVAO OFFICE CFO’s clear manifestation of support to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s instruction for streamlined frontline services that are efficient, responsive and people-friendly

Overview

Coinciding with its 38th year anniversary, the CFO unveiled its new CFO Extension Office in

Davao City on 28 June 2018, in a bid to bring CFO’s emigrant services closer to the people

of Mindanao.

This is also in response to the marching orders of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to

streamline frontline services of government agencies. The President reiterated and

strengthened this directive during his second State of the Nation Address in July 2017 by

directing all government agencies to further streamline their frontline services from womb to

tomb and undertake all necessary measures to make these truly efficient, responsive and

people-friendly.

The establishment of CFO Davao is the first in Mindanao and aims to provide topnotch

frontline services in a comfortable environment and convenient location for CFO clients from

all over Southern Philippines.

“This new CFO office in Davao and Mindanao is in line with President Rodrigo Roa

Duterte’s directive to streamline government processes in a bid to bring its services closer to

Filipinos across the country, especially to the people of Mindanao,” Undersecretary Pimentel-

Naik said during the inauguration ceremony.

Commission on Filipinos Overseas

2

“CFO is committed to making its services more accessible to our people. The opening of this

office is a firm example of that commitment,” the Undersecretary added.

The new CFO Davao is located at the 5/F AMQ Building corner Lakandula Street, Dacudao

Avenue, Agdao, Davao City, where the regional office of the Dept. of Labor and

Employment is also located. The office is open to serve the public from 8am to 5pm,

Mondays to Fridays with no noon breaks. The office provides Pre-departure Orientation

Services (PDOS) for emigrants, as well as guidance and counselling services for

fiancées/spouses and partners of foreign nationals.

Mandate

In accordance with Article 19 of Presidential Decree No. 442, all Filipinos who hold an

immigrant visa1 are required by the Philippine Government to register and attend its country

specific Pre-Departure Orientation Sessions (PDOS)/counselling sessions prior to their

departure for a country where they are to permanently reside.

After successful registration with the CFO, a CFO registration sticker is affixed to the

emigrant’s passport. This document will be inspected by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) at

the airport on the day of their departure.

Mindanao is the second largest island of the country and one of the country’s top sources of

emigrants. From 1988 to 2015, CFO registered a total of 122,188 emigrants from Mindanao.

Of this number, 46,014 or 37.7% came from the Davao region, followed by Northern

Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula, SOCCSKSARGEN, CARAGA and ARMM. In 2016, the

CFO registered 8,937 emigrants from Mindanao.

Filipino spouses and partners of foreign nationals are those Filipinos who were issued fiancée

and spouse visas. They are either partners or married to foreign nationals, Filipinos

naturalized to their host country or Filipino dual citizens. The CFO recorded a total of 27,640

registrants from the different regions of Mindanao from 2005 to 2015. Davao region topped

the source of registrants with 9, 990 or 36.14%, followed by Northern Mindanao, CARAGA,

Zamboanga Peninsula, SOCCSKSARGEN and ARMM. In 2016, the CFO registered 2,998

marriage migrants from Mindanao.

A CFO satellite office in Mindanao, therefore, answers a common concern among clients

from this region.

Prior to the opening of the satellite office, the CFO has received numerous requests from

clients requesting for the establishment of an office in Mindanao to address their needs,

especially that there is an international airport in Davao City. The same proposal has been

emphasized in previous meetings and dialogues between the CFO and local constituents in

the Mindanao area.

In consideration of these factors, and consistent with the national government’s initiatives to

make its frontline services accessible in all parts of the country, the CFO established its

presence in Davao City. The new CFO Davao will render services similar to that offered by

1 includes US J1 visa holders and Au Pair visa holders bound for Europe

Commission on Filipinos Overseas

3

the CFO offices in Manila and in Cebu City, such as orientation seminars for emigrants and

US-bound Exchange Visitor Program participants, Guidance and Counseling Program for

Filipino spouses and partners of foreign nationals, and Country Familiarization Seminar for

Europe-bound Au Pair Program participants.

Mobile Pre-Departure Orientation Seminars

Prior to CFO Davao’s establishment, mobile PDOS were undertaken in areas with large

concentration of emigrants.

CFO orientation officers conduct three simultaneous pre-departure orientation seminars in just one room in Davao City to maximize the

facility being offered by its partner local government units, such as Davao City.

To reach out to emigrants in other parts of the

country, the CFO started in 2014, a quarterly mobile

PDOS in major origin provinces or cities of

emigrants such as Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Naga,

Ilocos Norte and Pangasinan. The conduct of a

mobile PDOS allows every client of the CFO to save

an average of PhP15, 000 per person in travel costs

by being able to access the CFO’s services closer to

where they live and eliminating the need to travel to

the CFO office in Manila.

The reduced travel time spent by clients in the process of registration and attendance in

PDOS provides satisfactory experience and reflects the Administration’s genuine

commitment to give quality public service.

Through the mobile PDOS, emigrants are equipped with coping strategies in their permanent

settlement overseas.

Commission on Filipinos Overseas

4

Number of Mobile PDOS Attendees in Davao City 2017-2018

March 2017 236

June 2017 209

September 2017 151

November 2017 188

March 2018 87

TOTAL

871

Inside the new CFO Davao office

The CFO Davao is located at the top floor of the AMQ Building that also houses the regional

offices of DOLE, MARINA, POEA and the ECC. Occupying several hundred square meters,

the office boasts of an all new modern equipment and facilities. Air-conditioned all

throughout, it has 2 PDOS rooms and 2 GCP rooms with a combined capacity of 280 persons

on a single day.

PDOS rooms are used for country specific sessions such as US, Canada, Australia etc. Each

PDOS room can accommodate a maximum number of 50 attendees each or a total of 100 for

both morning and afternoon sessions. The GCP rooms meanwhile can accommodate 20

attendees each or a maximum of 80 participants for a day.

The CFO Davao occupies the 5th floor of the AMQ Building which is located at Lakandula St., Dacudao Avenue, Agdao, Davao City

Commission on Filipinos Overseas

5

Commission on Filipinos Overseas

6

Commission on Filipinos Overseas

7

Commission on Filipinos Overseas

8

Commission on Filipinos Overseas

9

Commission on Filipinos Overseas

10

Commission on Filipinos Overseas

11

***