𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝑷𝑨𝑭𝑰𝑶𝑶 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒆 𝑫𝒓. 𝑱𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝒀. 𝑮𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒐-𝑨𝒃𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑪𝑭𝑶 𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑪𝑭𝑶’𝒔 𝑳𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒌𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒂 𝑲𝒂𝒑𝒘𝒂 𝑷𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒐 (𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑲𝑨𝑷𝑰𝑳) 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑴 𝑰𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔

February 7, 2025 – Dr. Jane Y. Gerardo-Abaya, a 2024 Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas (PAFIOO) Pamana ng Pilipino Awardee, accompanied by her husband, Dr. Efren Abaya, paid a courtesy visit to the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) Secretary Dante “Klink” Ang II.

Building on her advocacy to demystify nuclear science and ignite interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) among Filipino youth, Dr. Gerardo-Abaya, originally from Kalibo, Aklan now residing in Vienna, Austria, enthusiastically shared her plans with the CFO to advance STEM education in the Philippines.

As the current President of the Philippine-Austrian Cultural and Educational Society (PACES), she particularly expressed great interest in the CFO’s Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino (LINKAPIL) Program and discussed with Secretary Ang II their intentions of equipping students and educators with quality knowledge materials and ICT equipment from Austria to enhance education and drive scientific and technological advancements.

In addition, Dr. Gerardo-Abaya is determined to continue her student lecture initiatives and encourage other overseas Filipino professionals in her network to share their expertise with local educators and students.

Moreover, Dr. Gerardo-Abaya also stressed the importance of cultivating a robust network of PAFIOO awardees, emphasizing the need to sustain engagement even after the awards. She conveyed , “Receiving the PAFIOO medallion is an honor, but it should not stop there. We, as awardees, have the opportunity—and the responsibility—to use our expertise and networks to create concrete and lasting projects that benefit both Filipinos overseas and those in our homeland.”

In response, Secretary Ang II fully supported the idea and reassured that the CFO would explore innovative ways to gather and actively involve PAFIOO awardees in these endeavors.

With concrete plans underway, Dr. Gerardo-Abaya’s advocacy is set to make a lasting impact, bringing knowledge, resources, and opportunities to those who need them most. The CFO remains committed to supporting her initiatives and leveraging the remarkable overseas Filipino talent and contributions for national development.

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𝐴 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝐷𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐴𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 (𝐼𝐴𝐸𝐴) 𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎, 𝐷𝑟. 𝐽𝑎𝑛𝑒 𝑌. 𝐺𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑜-𝐴𝑏𝑎𝑦𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 2024 𝑃𝐴𝐹𝐼𝑂𝑂 𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎 𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑜 𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐻.𝐸. 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐹𝑒𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅. 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠, 𝐽𝑟. 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑐𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒, 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑢𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑒𝑠.

𝐽𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝐹𝑂 𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝐴𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑦. 𝑀𝑎. 𝐴𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝑆. 𝐵𝑜𝑟𝑗𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦.