change in action: the new cfo davao office · 2019-05-14 · davao region topped the source of...
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Commission on Filipinos Overseas
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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.
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“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
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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.
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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
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