CFO Working on Tracking Manong Descendants

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) is currently working to track down the Philippine-based relatives of early 20th-century migrants, a move aimed at reuniting a century of family history for a landmark international exhibition.

The initiative is part of the CFO’s broader strategic pivot led by Secretary Klink Ang II, who has mandated a shift toward proactive diaspora engagement. Under Ang’s leadership, the agency is moving beyond administrative roles to actively link overseas Filipinos to the motherland through economic, political, and cultural channels.

The CFO’s latest effort supports Dr. James Sobredo, a professor emeritus from California State University, Sacramento, in his research for a forthcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution.

The Smithsonian, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex. Known as "the nation’s attic," it serves as a global authority on historical preservation. The exhibition, titled “How Can You Forget Me: Filipino American Stories,” is scheduled to run from Dec. 23, 2025, to Nov. 28, 2027.

By helping Sobredo locate the living descendants of the "Manongs"-the pioneering Filipino agricultural workers in California from the 1910s to the 1970s, the CFO is ensuring that the narrative of the Filipino diaspora is built on historical accuracy and direct community involvement.

Ang said the collaboration with Sobredo is a tangible example of the CFO’s new proactive stance.

"Our mission is to ensure that no Filipino, no matter how long they have been away or how many generations have passed, feels disconnected from their roots," Ang said during the meeting.

Meanwhile, Did you know that.....

The Philippines is a "biological fortress" where over 5,000 plant species exist absolutely nowhere else on Earth? We rank 5th globally for plant diversity, housing 5% of the world’s flora in a landmass that is less than 0.2% of the planet's surface, making our forests some of the most concentrated botanical treasures in existence.

One of our rarest endemics, Rinorea niccolifera, is a "metal-eating" plant that can absorb 18,000 ppm of nickel into its leaves without being poisoned. This incredible ability, known as hyperaccumulation, is so rare that only about 0.5% of all plant species can do it, making this Filipino shrub a potential key to revolutionary "green mining" technologies