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.
This pivot aims to strengthen the diaspora’s ties to the Philippines across three key areas – cultural, political and economic.
Preserving the stories of early migrants is meant to instill pride in second and third-generation Filipino-Americans, validate their historical contributions to their host countries and the motherland and build a foundation of trust that encourages overseas Filipinos to reinvest in Philippine communities.
Sobredo, an acclaimed documentary photographer and photojournalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Filipinas Magazine, has spent decades studying Filipino global migration. His research highlights the overlooked agricultural pioneers who built the backbone of California’s economy while maintaining a deep, often pained, longing for the families they left behind.
The meeting between Ang and Sobredo also explored the possibility of bringing this photo-documentary exhibition to the Philippines and featuring the professor on the CFO Migration Talks platform.
By documenting these “roots,” the CFO is not just looking at the past; it is securing the future of the Filipino global identity, ensuring that the stories of the 1910s remain a living part of the Philippines’ 2026 narrative.
The CFO, a government agency under the Office of the President, promotes the interests, rights, and welfare of Filipinos living abroad, strengthening their bond with the Philippines through policies and development programs for emigrants and immigrants. CFO looks for families of early Filipino migrants for major Smithsonian exhibition
