Berlin – The Philippine Embassy in Berlin conducted its second consular mobile outreach service at the Kath. Pfarrheim St. Jacobs in Schifferstadt, Rhineland-Palatinate on 28 March 2015. The consular team was assisted by the Filipino Community in Schifferstadt near Mannheim and Ludwigshafen.
Bordering the states of North Rhine–Westphalia to the north, Hessen to the east, Baden-Württemberg to the southeast, and Saarland to the southwest, Rhineland Palatinate was an ideal location for servicing Filipinos residing in the major Federal States in the western part of Germany.
A team from the Philippine Embassy in Berlin conducted the one-day outreach, composed of Consul Adrian Cruz, Mr. Ruben Atienza, Mrs. Rowena Adaya Hernandez, Ms. Marie Reyes and Mr. Armand Mahinay. The consular team facilitated 121 passport appications, 17 notarials, 8 certfications, 2 visas and 5 overseas voting registrations.
Ambassador Melita S. Sta. Maria-Thomeczek expressed her appreciation to the Filipino Community in Schifferstadt for their invaluable contribution.
Ms. Rohnna Yee-Fath from the Filipino Catholic Community of Schifferstadt finalized arrangements with the Philippine Embassy almost a year before the scheduled outreach. “With ample time to prepare, the Filipino community from Rhineland Palatinate made sure that there will be a sufficient number of volunteers that can be relied upon to ensure that the registration of applicants was smooth and orderly,” she said.
Since 2013, the Philippine Embassy has been conducting regular outreach missions to different parts of Germany with the help of its Philippine Honorary Consulates and the different Filipino community associations. The next outreach will take place on 11 April 2015 at the Schweinfurt/Stadthalle with address at Friedrich-Ebert Str 20, 97421 Schweinfurt, Bavaria.