Filipino teachers abroad are transforming education in the Philippines through hands-on volunteer work in some of the country’s most underserved classrooms.
This was the focus of the recent episode of The Chairman’s Report on Friday, hosted by Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) Secretary Dante “Klink” Ang II, which featured Rizalina Labanda, a retired New York-based educator and longtime literacy advocate.
Labanda, now Vice President for Teaching and Research at the Association of Fil-Am Teachers of America (AFTA), helps lead the long-running Balikturo program—AFTA’s flagship initiative that brings overseas Filipino educators back to the Philippines to share global teaching practices. AFTA received the 2018 Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino Award from the CFO under the Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas (PAFIOO).
“Balikturo is a missionary, should I say, work of AFTA… Coming back to the Philippines, to our homeland, and reaching out to the communities,” Labanda explained.
“So we have teachers from New York, not only New York, but neighboring states that are AFTA members. When they come home to the Philippines to reunite with family, with friends, they spare time to do Balikturo,” she added.
Now in its 31st year, Balikturo has been conducted in partnership with local divisions of the Department of Education (DepEd) and reaches public school teachers in provinces. In July alone, AFTA’s Balikturo session trained 560 educators coming from around 100 schools in early literacy, math, science, and emerging topics like artificial intelligence.
“Most of the teachers coming from the States are math teachers, science… we also have the science of reading, which I represent for the elementary. We come and then do those teachings, try to reach out to our counterparts in the Philippines. And we learn from each other, it’s not just one way,” Labanda said.
Importantly, the program is volunteer-run and self-funded. “It’s a wonderful feeling to be of service, to give back to our community. There’s no retirement actually. It’s really giving back to the community,” Labanda concluded.
CFO Secretary Ang underscored the importance of such programs to the government’s broader education and diaspora engagement agenda.
“These teachers are planting seeds of transformation. Their work is quiet, consistent, and deeply impactful,” Ang said.
Beyond Balikturo, AFTA runs several long-standing initiatives such as Adopt a School, Adopt a Scholar, and the Paaralan sa Konsulado program in New York. The latter teaches Filipino language, values, and culture to children of immigrants growing up abroad.
“You will be amazed when they are taught how to do the mano po… All those values that we have. And prayers also. That’s part of our culture,” Labanda said.
AFTA has also partnered with local publishers such as Lampara Books, and Filipino community donors to support these education missions.
About the Commission on Filipinos Overseas
The CFO, established under Batas Pambansa Blg. 79, is dedicated to the welfare and empowerment of Filipinos permanently residing abroad. It is distinct from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), which primarily addresses the needs of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and other temporary migrants.
CFO works to strengthen the social, economic, and cultural ties of global Filipinos with their home country. Its primary constituents include Filipino permanent migrants, dual citizens, spouses and partners of foreign nationals, individuals in exchange visitor programs, au pair participants, and children of foreign nationals with Filipino roots.
For more information about the LINKAPIL program of the CFO, please visit: facebook.com/linkapil
Media and Communications Team
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