Camarines Sur representative and National Unity Party (NUP) president LRay Villafuerte has suggested that our diplomats work doggedly not only on attending to the concerns of our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) but also on checking into the most suitable and effective professional and commercial practices in their host countries that can be adapted to the Philippine setting.
Villafuerte, who is majority leader of the bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA), made this suggestion during the recent hearing by the CA committee on foreign affairs on the posting of Department of Affairs (DFA) assistant secretary Kira Christianne Danganan-Azucena as our Ambassador to New Zealand.
Last year, Villafuerte proposed to Philippine embassies to study up on well-run state programs in their respective host-countries that can serve as feasible models for priority initiatives that the government is set to carry out under the Marcos administration.
Villafuerte noted at the committee hearing that whenever an ambassador is appointed, most of the issues that he or she has to deal with in the host country involve the concerns of OFWs.
“But basically I would like to suggest and request the ambassador that once you are deployed in New Zealand, always find out the best practices of that country and find out whether these can be adapted or practiced here (Philippines),” he said.
The CA en banc later on confirmed Danganan-Azucena’s appointment as ambassador to New Zeland with concurrent jurisdiction over the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
Villafuerte pointed out at the committee hearing that two of the fields where New Zealand has excelled in and whose best practices can possibly be explored and applied in the Philippines are dairy production and adventure tourism.
The former governor said that a top export product of New Zealand, for example, is concentrated cream milk, which the Philippines imports.
“You (Danganan-Azucena) should help the Philippines by finding out (New Zealand’s) best practices on cream milk and see whether their best practices on this sector can be tapped locally to promote our dairy industry,” Villafuerte said. “So sana Ambassador you can use your position to further promote economic cultural and agricultural ties between New Zealand and the Philippines,” and see which of their best practices can be put to good use or applied in our country.”
Villafuerte said New Zealand is also known in the world for its adventure tourism.
“I went to New Zealand for 10 days and experienced their adventure tourism there,” he said. “Hopefully we can replicate that in my province (Camarines Sur) and elsewhere in the Philippines. So sana you can also get their best practices in this sector and work with our tourism department and LGUs (local government units) on how we can further promote adventure tourism.”
“So aside from giving top priority to OFW issues, sina-suggest ko sa ating ambassador na sana mag focus din naman tayo on more positive issues like the best practices in that country,” he added.
On his watch as three-term governor prior to his election to the House of Representatives, Villafuerte saw the rise of Camarines Sur at one point as the country’s top tourist destination, following his aggressive promotion of the province as a haven for extreme sports and ecotourism.
Last year, Villafuerte proposed to Philippine embassies to study up on well-run state programs in their respective host-countries that can serve as feasible models for priority initiatives that the government is set to carry out on the Marcos watch.
In the committee hearing prior to the recent confirmation of several presidential appointees, Villafuerte suggested to the country’s appointed ambassadors to Brazil and Belgium to find out more about projects in these countries that the Marcos administration has counterparts to, and then to inform Malacañang and the Congress on how the government can possibly replicate the success of these overseas endeavors.
For Brazil, Villafuerte told Ambassador Joseph Gerard Bacani Angeles to study the zero-hunger program that was launched in that South American country in 2003, and to see what features in this Brazilian initiative could likely be adopted in the implementation of President Marcos’ food security and poverty reduction agenda.
Villafuerte said: “I think you (Angeles) should familiarize yourself with the former zero-hunger program of Brazil that had drastically reduced malnutrition and hunger in Brazil, and I think it can be a model, which Filipinos can copy. Maybe you should send people from DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) and other agencies to look into that because I think it’s really a good model to study. Maganda pong programa iyan.”
The CA majority leader said the Ambassador could also make use of Manila’s mutual cooperation agreement with Brasilia in 2009 on agriculture, bio-energy and sports to attract Brazilian investments and technology transfer to the Philippines on biofuel, biotechnology and agriculture.
On his watch as three-term governor prior to his election to the House of Representatives, Villafuerte saw the rise of Camarines Sur at one point as the country’s top tourist destination, following his aggressive promotion of the province as a haven for extreme sports and ecotourism.
As for Belgium, Villafuerte proposed to Ambassador Jaime Victor Badillo Ledda to brush up on the system of e-governance in that West European country, and find out what features might be carried out locally, given that lawmakers, including him, are pushing the E-Government bill, in support of the President’s priority program on digital transformation.
At the first meeting this year of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac), President Marcos and leaders of both chambers of the 19th Congress drew up a list of 10 bills for priority congressional action, including the one establishing E-Government.
Villafuerte is an author of one of the pending House bills on E-Government and E-Governance.
He said that in CamSur, for example, people need to travel for hours and spend over P1,000 to go to Naga City to have their government documents processed. “And based on my research, Belgium has one of the world’s top e-governance best practices,” and where 51% of Belgians have online transactions with their government.
During last year’s hearing on Angeles’ appointment, Villafuerte said: “I think you should familiarize yourself with the former zero-hunger program of Brazil that had drastically reduced malnutrition and hunger in Brazil, and I think it can be a model which Filipinos can copy. Maybe you should send people from DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) and other agencies to look into that because I think it’s really a good model to study. Maganda pong programa iyan.”
Villafuerte said the Ambassador could also make use of Manila’s mutual cooperation agreement with Brasilia in 2009 on agriculture, bio-energy and sports to attract Brazilian investments and technology transfer to the Philippines on biofuel, biotechnology and agriculture.
He noted that this cooperation pact has apparently not been tapped in the past, after Angeles revealed that there has been no Brazilian investments “substantive enough” in these fields since this agreement was forged in 2009.
“I think we should further promote that (agreement), given that Brazil is very mature in the ethanol and biofuel business. I think, Ambassador, you should be sending Filipinos there to study,” he said.
Regarding cooperation in sports, Villafuerte said the ambassador can harness the 2009 accord into initiating exchange or training programs on, say, football, of which Brazil is a world leader and which Filipinos can excel in.
