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Leaders also discuss overseas Filipino workers, government customer service initiatives
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(Manila, RP) The Vice President of the Philippines wants to establish closer ties with Guam that will lead to a new tourist market on Guam — education tourism. During a meeting today with Guam’s Governor, the two leaders also shared their aggressive initiatives to facilitate the building of affordable homes for lower income families.
Guam Governor Eddie Baza Calvo and Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay met this evening at the Vice President’s official residence in Manila. “The Vice President is very interested in how we can build an education tourism market on Guam that will also benefit college-bound Filipino students,” Governor Calvo recounted of his meeting with Vice President Binay. “I told him this is exactly the sort of thing we’re trying to build in collaboration with the University of Guam.” The Governor earlier this year spoke with stateside university officials who expressed interest in partnering with UOG to attract more Asian students to enroll in the system via UOG. Guam is an ideal host because it is the closest United States community to Asia. Governor Calvo spoke of this concept, education tourism, during his campaign. The plank also is found in Blueprint 2020, his platform with Lt. Governor Ray Tenorio. Governor Calvo and Lt. Governor Tenorio want to leverage Guam’s higher education resources and market them to Japan, China, the Philippines, Korea and other Asian communities. This would add a new tourist market to the island, one which stays on Guam for a much-longer period than a vacationing tourist. The Vice President’s conversation with the Governor today about his desire to establish closer relations with Guam, and perhaps higher-education exchanges, encouraged the Governor to push the education tourism and UOG partnership idea with the Vice President. Binay was impressed. Affordable Housing Vice President Binay is in charge of the Aquino Administration’s affordable housing initiative. The Vice President told the Governor there is a housing gap of 3.9 million homes for Filipinos. The Governor told the Vice President about his initiative with Guam Senator Tina Muna Barnes to build 6,000 affordable homes over the next few years. “I liked his energy and his passion to help families achieve the dream of homeownership,” Governor Calvo said of Vice President Binay. “Guam and the Philippines share a common problem. Many of our people are falling closer into poverty while the dream of homeownership is slipping further away.” A major component of the Governor’s trade missions in Japan, China, and now the Philippines, is attracting developers from those countries to capitalize the building of affordable homes on Guam. There has been major interest in this arena thus far. The Governor invited Vice President Binay to visit Guam, and the Vice President said he would love to. The two leaders also spoke about overseas Filipino workers and the efforts of both the governments of the Philippines and Guam to improve customer service in the government. Governor Calvo is on the final leg of trade missions to Asian countries. He is in Manila this week and is scheduled to meet with scores of business executives interested in investing in the island and creating job opportunities for Guamanians. More information will be provided as it becomes available. |