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26 November 2023, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador- The Philippine Embassy in Ottawa conducted its sixth consular outreach for the year in St. John’s, Newfoundland on 25-26 November 2023. The Embassy’s 7-person team rendered a total of 150 consular services which included applications for passport, civil registration, legalization, overseas voting registration, and dual citizenship.

Thirteen individuals took their oath under the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003, or more commonly known as the Dual Citizenship Law (R.A. 9225), and fifty Filipinos registered for overseas voting.

Representatives from the Migrant Workers Office (MWO)-Toronto also joined the outreach to provide labor-related services.

The Philippine Embassy in Ottawa holds consular jurisdiction over Newfoundland and Labrador, which is home to more than 2,000 Filipinos who study or work in the province. Aside from kababayans in St. John’s, Filipinos from neighboring towns and cities, such as Gander and Marystown, also availed of the Embassy’s outreach services during said weekend.

The Embassy team led by Vice Consul Mary Jaselle Menteer, together with MWO, also took the opportunity to meet Filipino community leaders and organizations, including the Filipino Association of Newfoundland & Labrador Inc., Newfoundland & Labrador Filipino Canadian Organization Inc., Couples for Christ, Small Business Owners & Filipino LGBTQ Group, and FilCan The Burin Peninsula, to discuss priorities and concerns of the Filipino community in the province.

The team also visited a Filipino-owned restaurant, Sinaing, a participant and supporter of the Filipino Restaurant Month in Canada (FRMC). The FRMC, held every April, is a joint project of the Philippine Foreign Service Posts in Canada, the Philippine Department of Tourism – San Francisco (PDOT-SF), and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in New York and Silicon Valley, which aims to promote and mainstream Filipino cuisine in Canada. 

The consular outreach mission is part of the Embassy’s ongoing efforts to bring consular services closer to Filipinos outside of Ottawa.