Tag: news

Do I need a CFO if I have a J1 visa? (Philippines to USA)

YES! YES! YES!

YES, you need to have a CFO!

A CFO sticker from them!

If you answer yes to the questions below, then YOU MUST have that CFO sticker/paper with you:

Do you have a J1 visa?

Is it your first time to go to the US with a J1 visa?

Again, if your answer is yes to those two questions, then regardless of your category YOU MUST APPLY at the CFO office to get one.

I am a government employee and returning after 5 months from an exchange program, do I need a CFO?

YES! YES! YES! Regardless if you are working in the government or private office in the Philippines or even if you are unemployed, you will need a CFO before your departure.

In some cases it takes a week or two to get an appointment with CFO or for your sticker/paper from CFO to arrive to you, so make sure to plan ahead of time on getting yours.

And, if you are so close to the date of your departure before realizing that you needed one, go straight away to the CFO office in Quezon City because calling them is a bit of a challenge but getting one from their office will usually take less than a day if you have complete documents. They are only open Mondays thru Thursdays, 7am-5pm.

The CFO has an assistance desk at NAIA Terminal 1 that is open from 5am until midnight Mon-Fri except regular holidays, but you will have to call them 2-3 business days before your flight.

Thoughts about the ‘Magtanim ay ‘di biro’ documentary

The recent documentary Magtanim ay ‘di biro by Kara David was about the sad reality for our farmers.

Farmers who stay under the sun for hours and doing physical work to give food to our country.

It was hard and painful to watch that to those who went through that struggle and still in that struggle and to me who tries to show how wonderful it is to become a farmer or at least get involved in agriculture. It makes you feel hopeless for the farming sector of our country or even the country as a whole.

In every part of the world, we have agriculture to sustain the quantity and quality of food the people need. Farmers in different places have their own struggles in growing crops alone and in the Philippines, the bad road and supply chain adds up to what they already had to deal with during the growing season.

Imagine a farmer without crop insurance and uncertain market for their produce will risk a whopping P40000 ($900) to earn at the end of the season of P6000 ($120) or worst nothing! In any business, it will drag you to bankruptcy and debt. The young generation will not want to become a farmer to experience what their farmer parents did.

A heartbreaking reality that we can all help in our own little ways by trying to find them a direct market to eliminate the cost for middlemen or if you are close to that farm, find another way to sell them like using our social media platforms.

I guess we cannot solely rely to our leaders anymore in helping our farmers. If you know an avenue to empower our farmers, let us do it!