The first word in the CFO Dictionary is Service. The last is values.

With these guideposts, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas will serve millions of Filipino expatriates and their families throughout the world.

Our service includes bringing the Philippines closer to overseas Filipinos and involving them in the affairs of their homeland through a myriad of activities that reach out to Filipino immigrants and that bring out their best in the fields of volunteerism, civic work, philanthropy, art and culture, and people-to-people partnership.

We will carry out our mission with the enduring values of the Filipino race: excellence, dedication, hard work and the spirit of cooperation that exemplifies the spirit of the bayanihan.

I urge my co-workers in the Commission on Filipinos Overseas to help me fulfill President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's pledge to bring Filipinos wherever they may be - closer together, to inspire our immigrants and expatriates to testify to Filipino values in their host countries, and to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood between them and their home country.