A day before the opening of the 40th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations which the Philippines will chair, about 100 Filipinos working in the different areas of Italy gathered at the Philippine Embassy in Rome yesterday to hear the latest news about their homeland.
Joining me in the panel of government resource speakers were Senator Cynthia Villar, chair of the Committee on Agriculture of the Senate and Cong. Jose Panganiban (ANAK Party List), chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture.
Philippine Ambassador to Italy, Ding Nolasco, and the whole Embassy staff attended to the questions raised by the OFWs during the open forum.
Among the issues raised by the OFWs were how to invest their hard-earned money in agriculture and what crops were best recommended for them to plant in their farms back home.
There was so much enthusiasm and eagerness on the part of the OFWs to know more about their country today and they were happy to hear that in spite of efforts to paint a negative picture about the Philippines, especially in Europe, President Rody Duterte enjoys an overwhelming public support for his campaign against drugs, terrorism and corruption in government.
Some of the OFWs who attended yesterday’s FilCom Day came from as far as Florence and had to rush back home after the activity to go back to their work.
In view of the interest expressed by the OFWs in investing in agriculture in the Philippines, I informed them that the Department of Agriculture, in coordination with the Department of Trade and Investments (DTI) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), will schedule an investments orientation and workshop in Italy before the end of the year. | via DA Sec Manny Piñol