11 October 2017 – Consul General Julius D. Torres of the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary led a Consulate team on an outreach mission to Edmonton, Alberta from 7-8 October 2017, providing passport and consular services to more than 400 Filipinos in the city and surrounding areas.

 

(Left) Filipinos await their turn for their passports to be processed at the consular outreach in Edmonton on 7-8 October 2017. (Right) The Consulate provided services to more than 400 Filipinos in Edmonton and surrounding areas during its consular outreach.

The outreach mission, held at the Edmonton Inn and Conference Centre, was organized in cooperation with the Duterte Volunteers of Alberta headed by Mr. Benjamin Lindo.

 

During the two-day outreach, the Consulate was able to process 396 passport renewals, 37 notarial services, four civil registrations and eight applications for dual citizenship.

 

The eight applicants for dual citizenship were able to join 23 others who had submitted their Dual Citizenship applications prior to the outreach in taking the Oath of Allegiance.

 

Volunteers from the Duterte Volunteers assisted the Consulate team in the outreach mission by finding the appropriate venue for the outreach and publicizing the outreach mission through their community organizations and social circles.  They also acted as ushers during the outreach mission and ensured the orderly flow of people at the venue.

 

While in Edmonton, Consul General Torres attended a Filipino Entrepreneurs’ Night organized by the Duterte Volunteers and local Filipino business-owners to kickstart the revival of the Filipino-Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Edmonton.  In his remarks, the Consul General commended the organizers for their initiative and hoped that existing and would-be Filipino business owners and entrepreneurs take advantage of the reactivated Chamber to establish contacts, expand their networks and promote other Filipino businesses in the city, noting the parallel efforts spearheaded by the Philippine Festival Council of Alberta (PFCA) to revive the Filipino Chamber of Commerce in Calgary.