Traveling ‘consulate’ brings services to Eureka and Milpitas, California

By: 10 years ago

Vice Consul Rachel Oronce swears in the new dual citizens from Humboldt County. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

EUREKA, California — It was “business unusual” last weekend as the Consulate-on-Wheels (COW) made its first ever foray here, a city in Humboldt County, home to about 500 Filipinos, according to the US Census.

Over 50 types of services were rendered to Filipino residents who turned out in force. The outreach was organized in coordination with Pacifico Collamat, who initiated the request for a visit from the Consulate-on-Wheels.

Consul Reichel Quiñones, who led the team, congratulated the Humboldt Filipino-American Society, thanking Collamat “who took the initiative to let us know that there were kababayans in Humboldt County who would appreciate a visit from the Consulate-on-Wheels,” she said.

“The Consulate is more than happy to work with the communities under its jurisdiction to make its services more accessible to its clients.”

The next day saw the team reporting to Silicon Valley for its regular monthly outreach to Milpitas, which is organized in close coordination with Seafood City. Over 200 Filipinos availed themselves of the COW’s services, which included voter registration for overseas Filipinos.

“We urge our kababayans to take part in selecting the future leaders of the Philippines by registering and exercising their right to vote as overseas Filipinos,” Consul General Henry S. Bensurto said. “The registration period for overseas voters will continue until October 2015, and to make sure that everyone who wants to vote will have a chance, the Consulate will be offering voter registration at all of its consular outreaches until the registration period ends.”

For inquiries on voting as an overseas Filipino, or to check your voter registration status, email vote@philippinessanfrancisco.org!

For more information on upcoming Consulate-on-Wheels outreaches, or to search for a COW coming to your area, visit https://www.philippinessanfrancisco.org/philippines-sf/consular-outreach-sf/ or follow the Consulate’s Facebook page on https://www.facebook.com/PCGSF.