Philippine Consul Joaquin Ricardo Aragon, fourth from left, poses for a photo with Filipino community volunteers during the consular outreach mission to Saipan at Sun Palace Hotel in Susupe on Saturday.
THE Philippine Consulate General on Guam’s consular outreach mission to Saipan is always successful and trouble-free because of Filipino community volunteers, said Consul Joaquin Ricardo Aragon.
“In the absence of a consulate here on Saipan, the Filipino community members have stepped up. They are very supportive and helpful,” Aragon added.
“Because everyone knows everybody on island, the outreach becomes a community event,” the consul said.
The six-person Philippine consular outreach team from Guam processed passport applications, conducted civil registry, provided notarial services, and accepted dual citizenship applications.
“Many passport applicants availed themselves of the online registration and secure appointments, which allowed for a manageable flow of processing,” he said.
Walk-ins were also accommodated, but those who registered online were served first.
“Aside from passport renewals, we also have quite a number of inquiries about other consular services such as reporting of births. Filipino nationals can register their children’s birth in order to get a certified Philippine Statistics Authority document. We also receive reports of marriages of Filipinos who want their marriage duly recorded and registered,” Aragon said.
“Authentication services, notarial, documentation certified authenticated — those are among the other services that we provide during our consular outreach. We then process and transmit the documents and information to our home office in Manila,” he added.
On Sunday, the consular mission conducted an oath-taking ceremony for 20 individuals who wanted to re-acquire Philippine citizenship.
The consular outreach mission, which was held from Sept. 22 to 24 at the Sun Palace Hotel in Susupe, served more than 200 people.
According to Aragon, the new consul general to Guam, Rosario Lemque, was not able to join the outreach mission to Saipan because she had to, among other thing, conduct a post-arrival orientation seminar for newly arrived H-2B workers on Guam.
The new consul general will join the next outreach mission to Saipan, Aragon added.
Philippine Consul Joaquin Ricardo Aragon, left, talks with Philippine passport applicants on Saturday.
