Speaking of the vital contributions of the members of the Filipino-American community to their native country, Ambassador del Rosario said that in the last ten years preceeding 2005, remittances from Filipinos in the US increased by 10%. Last year, he added, such remittances increased by 31% compared to the previous year and that 60% of total global remittances come from the US. “The impact of this has been tremendous in terms of strengthening the peso which improves the capability of the Philippines to service its foreign debt and to curb its budget deficit,” the envoy said.

Bidding the Association’s officers a farewell, Ambassador del Rosario further said:

“The Embassy has had initiatives but it would have failed miserably without your support. I’ve had the good fortune of being embraced by you in the warmest way, you’ve supported me, you’ve protected me. I’m sad in leaving the US but everything must come to an end. I look forward to serving our country as a private citizen. I’ll always look back to the five years I’ve spent with you as being an important part of my life, as having made supportive friends, so I hope the friendship will be lifelong. We will continue to be in touch; we will find ways of working together. I want you to think about how you can be represented in the US in a strong way. There’s no reason why you should have a few congressmen in the US Congress and I’m sure anyone of you will be in a position of good leadership.”

In response, Ms. Wakefield expressed the Association’s appreciation for his support, noting Ambassador del Rosario’s presence in all the occasions to which he had been invited by the Association. She added: “We will miss you and your leadership which has inspired us and we will continue our commitments to our (native) country because that’s where our heart is.”