MANILA, Philippines — Former Manila Times chairman and chief executive officer Dante Ang II took his oath as the new secretary of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), an agency tasked to promote and uphold the interests, rights, and welfare of overseas Filipinos.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin administered the oath to Ang in Malacañang on Friday.
Former Manila Times chairman and CEO Dante Ang II takes his oath as the new secretary of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) before Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin in Malacanang on Oct. 25, 2024. With Ang were his wife and children. PHOTO COURTESY OF MALACANANG
Ang, whose appointment paper was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on October 16, replaced former CFO chairman Romulo Arugay.
Prior to his appointment, Ang was an acting member of the Board of Directors of Clark International Airport Corp., a non-chartered government-owned and -controlled corporation.
Ang, a recipient of the Most Outstanding Publication Chief Executive Officer of the Year award in 2024, was also chairman of the National Book Development Board, an attached agency of the Department of Education.
Ang started his career as a reporter in the United States. A journalist from the onset of college, he was twice named editor of the university newspaper [The East Texan] and one time as editor of the college magazine [The Special].
Graduating in 1990, Ang first gained work experience as a reporter for the Tulsa Tribune in Oklahoma, where he covered state and local politics until 1992.
Ang then became vice president for Marketing of the Bell Publishing Corp., where he was responsible for opening distribution outlets in Rome for Diwalian, a monthly magazine for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
He returned to the Philippines in 1993, and in the years that ensued, gained varied related media experience in Kabayan, as a public relations consultant for several high-profile politicians for a time, and a Foreign Service stint as an information officer at the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto.
In 2001, Ang’s family acquired the nation’s first and oldest English language broadsheet, The Manila Times.
Ang, who also teaches Journalism at The Manila Times College and the Pamantasan Ng Lungsod ng Maynila, holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from De La Salle University.
He received the Texas A&M University-Commerce’s Distinguished Alumnus Award along with Peggy Leeman Ramirez, Major General John Speigel, Chester McKinney [posthumously], Bill Nicholson, Mark Von Schwartz, and Charles Wilson.
Ang II was once a nominee of the party-list group Ahon Pinoy in the 2010 elections, which sought to protect the rights of OFWs.
Established on June 16, 1980, under Batas Pambansa 79, the CFO is an agency under the Office of the President tasked to promote and uphold the interests, rights and welfare of overseas Filipinos.
The office is distinct from the Department of Migrant Workers and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, with a broader lens of the Filipino diaspora beyond the needs of OFWs.
The CFO provides pre-departure orientation seminars to Filipino emigrants, marriage migrants, United States Exchange Visitor Program participants, and au pairs.
It provides opportunities for younger generations of overseas Filipinos to learn about Philippine history and culture.
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