For Director for World Congress Engagement and International Affairs Alf Yaptinchay, international relations was never meant to be something that only a select few members experienced.
From the beginning of his term, he wanted to make International Affairs more accessible, more sustainable, and more deeply felt across JCI Manila.
His vision was simple: more brothers should have the opportunity to experience the unique kind of brotherhood that happens when JCI Manila members travel together, meet their counterparts abroad, and build friendships beyond Philippine shores.
That vision quickly grew into something much larger.
Throughout the year, Dir. Alf and his team worked to strengthen relationships with JCI Manila’s international sister chapters while simultaneously supporting the preparations for the 2026 JCI World Congress in Clark. Public records from JCI Manila’s Asian Pearl documented the scale of that early international push: 30,780 kilometers across five countries and eight sister chapters during the first part of the year.
The numbers tell one story.
The relationships tell another.
For Dir. Alf, International Affairs was never supposed to be simply about traveling. It was about turning travel into relationships, relationships into partnerships, and partnerships into opportunities for JCI Manila members and the communities they serve.
That philosophy also led to the creation of Leading OFWs Beyond, an initiative designed to use International Affairs as a platform for practical service to Overseas Filipino Workers and their families.
Rather than treating an Onto project as a one-time activity, Yaptinchay envisioned it as a sustainable platform for OFW financial literacy, while creating opportunities for collaboration with sister chapters and attracting both local and international sponsors.
The concept quickly gained traction.
A Leading OFWs Beyond session held with the Palawan Group of Companies brought together more than 200 OFWs and their families at the Department of Migrant Workers office in Makati. The program covered practical concerns including managing remittances, avoiding financial scams, and building more secure household finances.
For Dir. Alf, that was the point.
International Affairs could be more than passports and sister chapter visits.
It could become a platform where international relationships create real, measurable impact at home.
But balancing that vision came with its own challenges.
One of Dir. Alf’s biggest difficulties throughout the year was getting more brothers involved in International Affairs while simultaneously supporting the World Congress Organizing Committee’s efforts to promote World Congress Clark.
There are only so many members with experience in international relations, he noted, while the responsibilities of the directorate continued to expand.
His year became a balancing act between visiting and collaborating with international sister chapters, maintaining those relationships, and helping prepare the Philippines to welcome the global JCI community to Clark.
That experience taught him to trust two things: the brotherhood and the JCI system.
The work could not be carried by one director or one small group. It required members to step forward, trust one another, and understand that international relations belongs to the entire chapter.
And perhaps nowhere was that philosophy more visible than in Golden Heart Beyond.
Dir. Alf considers bringing the legacy project back into International Affairs his proudest achievement of the year.
The project supports children with cerebral palsy and CP Warriors, and in 2026, JCI Manila brought together an extraordinary coalition of international and local partners, including JCI Nagoya, JCI Hong Kong, JCI Kota Kinabalu, JCI Orchid Singapore, Rotary Club of Makati F. Zobel, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Philippine Red Cross, UP BGC, Treston College, and other organizations.
Together, the partners were able to reach approximately 200 beneficiaries through a project valued at ₱2.5 million, according to Dir. Alf.
Treston International College publicly confirmed its participation in Golden Heart Beyond on May 30, 2026, describing the initiative as supporting families of children with cerebral palsy through motivational talks and therapy training. Treston also highlighted the role of its student volunteers and its partnership with JCI Manila.
For Yaptinchay, Golden Heart Beyond represented exactly what International Affairs should be.
Different chapters.
Different countries.
Different organizations.
One shared purpose.
It demonstrated that international relationships can become much more than ceremonial sisterhood. They can become the foundation for projects that mobilize resources, expertise, volunteers, and compassion across borders.
That philosophy has also been evident in Yaptinchay’s diplomatic and international engagement work. Earlier this year, he joined JCI Manila delegations in international and diplomatic meetings, including a courtesy visit to the Indian Embassy, where he discussed aligning diplomatic participation with JCI Manila’s international engagement strategy and explored potential collaborations with JCI India.
But Yaptinchay is quick to point away from himself when asked about the people who made the year possible.
He credits his commissioners Michael Fangre, Serge Sebastian, Vince Gustilo, and Carlos Pascual, together with the entire International Affairs team.
He remembers the brothers who stayed up late, drove sister chapter members around Manila, helped coordinate visits, and consistently showed the kind of hospitality that has become part of JCI Manila’s international reputation.
His message to them is unmistakably personal:
Thank you for being there for JCI Manila in our Lead Beyond Year. It was real, felt, and shared.
For Yaptinchay, that is the heart of International Affairs.
Not the miles.
Not the passports.
Not even the photographs from foreign cities.
It is the people.
As his term approaches its end, his advice to the next generation of JCI Manila leaders is perhaps the simplest and most important message he can leave behind:
Join International Affairs.
He believes every member, whether new or experienced, should have the opportunity to travel abroad with JCI Manila and experience firsthand what international JCI is really about.
Because there is something different about building friendships on foreign soil.
The conversations last longer.
The experiences become shared stories.
The brotherhood becomes deeper.
And the world suddenly becomes smaller.
JCI Manila, Yaptinchay believes, does not end at the Philippine border.
It goes beyond.
His year as Director for World Congress Engagement and International Affairs is ultimately a story about making that “beyond” accessible to more people. It is about transforming international travel into international friendship, sister chapters into partners, and global connections into meaningful local impact.
And with World Congress 2026 approaching in Clark, the work is far from finished.
The world is coming to the Philippines.
But thanks to the relationships built throughout the year, JCI Manila is not simply preparing to welcome the world.
It is already part of it.
SEO by SEO-Hacker. Optimized and maintained by Sigil
© 2026 Asian Pearl. JCI Manila Official Publication. All Rights Reserved.