When we were starting FIND, that was when I first felt that perhaps, I was ready to come home after college. Fast forward a year later, I found myself promoting and marketing the Philippines as part of my job as Assistant to the Consul General in NY. In addition to assisting community groups to lobby for Philippine causes and helping entice American businesses to consider the Philippines, I got involved in administering the Lakbay Aral, Balik Scientist, Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC), BOI roadshows, and many other programs. I had my dream job of talking to people such as yourselves to consider helping the Philippines in more substantive ways.

One presidential visit, I met a Defense Secretary who asked me what my aspiration in life was and I said, “I want to come home to help the Philippines.” He advised that I should gain more experience first so that when I come back, I can give so much more. That was in 1995.

Instead of pursuing diplomacy, I decided to attend business school at Fordham University. I was doing research at the National Archives in Virginia the summer before business school and I asked my girlfriend (now my wife), “What do you see me doing in my career?” She said that “I see you representing a Filipino company in the global market.” In my current position, I am only one of two Filipinos out of 500 employees. To my colleagues and global clients, I represent our race, I represent the Philippines.

The second time I seriously thought of moving back was in 2003. I spent almost two months in the Philippines interviewing with different Philippine conglomerates and their subsidiaries. I received an offer for my dream job but we could not meet on the commercial expectations. Multiple job offers including the Executive Directorship of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce (PHILAMCHAM) came in the U.S. but I decided to go mainstream and work for one of the most trusted names in project management in the world, International Institute for Learning, Inc. (IIL).

A few months later, however, the company where I wanted to make my mark, came back to me with a different job offer – one that was commercially acceptable for me but had to turn it down once again. A few months before, my mom was bombed in Iraq. She was the lucky one though – she was declared dead by mistake; while 23 of her colleagues perished. That, with my wife’s pending residency at the University of Rochester, I had to stay in New York.

At the NaFFAA (National Federation of Filipino American Associations) convention in Hawaii in 2006, former CFO Executive Director Jose Molano sees me and with a huge smile and a strong handshake, said hello and congratulated me for being named as one of the Presidential Awardees in two months. Though I was ecstatic, I did not know if I can go since I had used up my vacation days and as important, I had a scheduled two-week trip to Europe to meet with clients in London, Helsinki, Zurich, and Brussels.

Butch Meily, Manny Pangilinan’s right-hand at the time, who incidentally, are both returnees from New York and Hong Kong, respectively, was attending an event given by my company a few weeks later. I shared with him the news and that I won’t be receiving the award at Malacanang. He urged me to go and the next day, I told my CEO that I am to be given this award but I was not going to Manila to receive it. My CEO asked me if I ever considered working in the Philippines – and I said, “No, the economic opportunities are here in the U.S.” My CEO said that I should go for a business trip in December and it just so happens I was receiving an award from the Philippine President. I informed my clients who were happy to rearrange our scheduled meetings.

In December 2006, on my second night in Manila, I called my CEO’s brother and told him, “Steve, we are moving back.” As soon as I got back to New York, I reported to my CEO of our intentions to move after my wife’s residency. A month before we were supposed to move in 2007, after starting to sell our personal effects, I backed out and continued my job with IIL.

We bought our dream home in North Carolina on the 11^th hole of an Arnold Palmer golf course and moved there with our first child, Alex. I worked from home in Raleigh, played recreational competitive tennis three times a week, made new friends in our adopted state, had Sophia, and other milestones … but on that day in January 2010, it made so much sense to move.

Over the next few months, my wife applied to the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in their Masters in Management (MM) program and started prepping the home for sale. We stood to lose $130,000 due to the worsening market but we felt that if we were to move, it’s not for a trial. We had to commit 100% to the idea.

There are only a few things one can do to campaign for the Philippine Presidential elections in 2010 from Raleigh so my activities focused on electronic means. When the election results were sure to be one that we would want five months after our decision to move, I told my CEO that this time around, we are definitely moving – she told me that “I wouldn’t want you working for anyone else.” Within a few days, our dream home was up for sale.

Friends who learned of our move had one of two reactions – why or why only now? They know that I had been advocating for years for the return of our compatriots. To be certain, there were so many returnees before us. We had returnees in the 1890s, the 1920s, and since the 1980s, there have been much more. Surely, we know about the return of the likes of Senator Raul Manglapus, Senator Heherson Alvarez, Secretary Mely Nicolas, and many others. In the 1990s, we had the likes of the Gordon volunteers – current Chair of MWSS Dondi Alikpala, founder of Chikka Dennis Mendiola, Trixie Bantug, etc.

There are other captains of industry who have moved back – Secretary Vince Perez, Dan Lachica of the Lopez Group, Art Tan of Integrated Microelectronics, Fred Ayala of LiveIt, Carol Dominguez of John Clements, Jack Arambulo of Oracle, etc.

Upon our move back, we have been meeting and learning of other returnees who are in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s. The likes of Amiel Herrera at Ayala Corp; Paul Rivera who started a BPO that grew in two years to 400 seats; my own brother Eric, a Senior Manager at Jones Lang LaSalle; Yvette Fernandez as Editor in Chief of Town and Country Magazine; Dr. Richard Abendan and Nathan Lozada from Raleigh; two Microsoft executives Alvin Gendrano and Marivi Abueg; and there are so much more. I hear of a lot of entrepreneurs who are in their 30s who have come back – one of the most authentic Mexican restaurants I’ve tried is owned by folks from San Diego. It is located in a Petron station which apparently, is owned by returnees from San Francisco.

But it is not just Filipinos who see the opportunity in the Philippines. One of the largest migrant groups are Koreans who have made their way to the Philippines, first, to learn English, but later decided to stay here. Indians who attend AIM eventually put up businesses not just in India but in Manila as well. American, European, Australian expats get assigned here – but a lot of them, after their contracts expire, decide to stay. The Philippines is a much more global society than the one I left when I was 16 years old. If I and so many others can make the move, why can’t you?

Does the Philippines need all of us back even if overseas Filipinos wish to do so? Certainly not – there are millions of families depending on OFW remittances. However, for migrants who do have a choice like we did, you can move back while having your security blanket – your EU, US, or other passports! Besides, I am a very strong believer that each of us can help the Philippines in a capacity more suited to you outside the Philippines – such as representing the best in the Filipino.

We need advocates for our veterans, defenders of our claim to the Spratlys, professionals to influence businesses to invest in the Philippines, funders of our non-profits, voters to elect our brothers and sisters, artists to represent us in the world stage…

But for those of you thinking of moving back, you will have your own reasons. After all, the Philippines needs all of us – Filipinos overseas can play a big role and that is to transfer your knowledge, skills, and experience gained overseas back to the Philippines. For my family, we have had a burning desire to help the country of our birth. We can and have excelled in our careers overseas and know that our careers can also flourish here.

But it doesn’t stop there. You can be part of the economic surge of Asia Pacific. You can use the Philippines as a backdoor to both India and China with over a 2 billion person marketplace. It also means that our children, your children, have to be prepared for excelling in the new world order. What better place to do that where they can live in their ancestral home while learning Mandarin in an international or local school right here?

Ultimately, that decision is yours and yours alone to make. I simply appeal to your good senses if you continue to desire to help the Philippines. After all, whatever it is you decide to do and however way you get involved in Dubai, Hong Kong, Brussels, Rome, London, New York, San Francisco, or Manila, will ultimately help our people to become the very best Filipino they can be.

View Part 1 of VJ Manuel's inspirational speech here.