PODCAST
LISTEN: San Francisco’s “ConGen,” Henry Bensurto Jr. on our Inquirer.net podcast. — PART ONE
SAN FRANCISCO — Henry S. Bensurto Jr. is the official voice of the Philippines for San Francisco and most of the West. He says that of the 1.5 million Filipinos in his jurisdiction, about 450,000-500,000 were in the Bay Area.
In the first part of a frank conversation, Bensurto talks about the importance of dual citizens, and how the last Philippine election saw an uptick bringing the number of voters to 44,000.
But the more important number is the $24 billion in remittances that get sent back to the Philippines each year. That’s where the influence is. Nearly half of that $24 billion—roughly 44 percent—come from U.S. Filipinos, Bensurto said.
It means Filipinos abroad deserve their say in what happens in the Philippines, in Malacanang and in Congress.
He also talks about the importance of the upcoming Philippine Independence Day celebration, with a gala concert at San Francisco’s Marines Memorial Theatre, Fri. the 16th ; and an open event on June 18th at noon at San Francisco’s Union Square.
Listen to Part One of the conversation with “Con Gen” Henry Bensurto, Jr.Emil Guillermo is the host and producer of the Inquirer.net podcast.
https://traffic.libsyn.com/inquirer/Ep2HenryBensurtoSFConGenPart1show.mp3
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