Philippine Embassy in Berlin Holds Outreach for Filipinos in Baden-Württemberg

May 27, 2015

Berlin – The Philippine Embassy in Berlin conducted its fourth consular mobile outreach service at the Dekra Office, Handwerkstr. 15 in Stuttgart, Germany on 08 May 2015.

Filipinos traveled from Baden Württemberg to have their consular documents processed

A team from the Philippine Embassy in Berlin conducted the one-day outreach, composed of Consul Gabriel R. Bautista, Mr. Jovencio Catbagan, Ms. Lianna Judith Sale, Mrs. Maria Cecilia Estrella and Ms. Lourdes Marie Reyes. With the assistance of Ms. Cecile Joy Atienza-Krause of the Honorary Consulate General in Stuttgart, the consular team facilitated 116 passport appications, 14 notarials , 2 passport extensions 30 registrations under the overseas absentee voting system.

Consular Mobile Team to Stuttgart with Ms. Cecile Krause of the Honorary Consulate General in Stuttgart.

The mobile outreach is part of the Philippine Embassy’s efforts in bringing its consular services closer to Filipinos residing in different parts of Germany. The next consular outreach services will take place in Bochum on 23 May 2015. (***END)

Philippine Embassy in Berlin Holds Outreach for Filipinos in Southwestern Germany

April 1, 2015

Filcom area coordinators, joined by their German spouses,help distribute forms and share information on specific consular transactions

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.

Members of the Filipino Catholic Community of Schifferstadt pose with the Philippine Embassy consular team

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.

Filcom area coordinators were busy in the kitchen the night before the outeach, preparing food to be made available for consular applicants

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.

JUANA DECIDES: Filipinas in Berlin Celebrate Women’s Month by Sharing Stories of Leadership and Decision-Making

March 28, 2015

Berlin. In celebration of women’s month, the Philippine Embassy gathered together leading Filipinas in Berlin: Filcom leaders, businesswomen, artists, and students for an afternoon of bonding and sharing of experiences. The lunch at Pinoy restaurant was also labeled as ‘JUANA Decides’, in the spirit of the theme set by the Philippine Commission on Women: “Juana, Desisyon Mo ay Mahalaga sa Kinabukasan ng Bawat Isa, Ikaw Na!”

Pretty in Pink. Filipina community leaders and female officials of the Philippine Embassy in Berlin share inspiring stories of leadership and decision-making over lunch hosted by Ambassador Melita S. Sta. Maria-Thomeczek at the Filipino restaurant, Pinoy.

Ambassador Melita S. Sta. Maria-Thomeczek delivered the welcome remarks, emphasizing the importance of empowered Filipinas in Germany. As she had earlier conveyed to the women groups in Cologne, the Ambassador reiterated the Embassy’s partnership with the community in the promotion of overseas Filipinos interests and welfare. Cultural attaché Mylah Combo-Rubio announced the forthcoming launch of ‘Crafternoons’, another Embassy initiative for the showcasing and sharing of talents amongst the community members.

After the sumptuous Filipino lunch, five exceptional women were invited to recount their stories of struggle, survival, and success in Germany. This was moderated by Consul Azela Arumpac. Considered a pillar in the Filipino community, Ms. Lourdes Müller, who arrived in Berlin in the late 1960s, talked about her experiences in Cold War Berlin of building a Filipino community in the context of the church community. On the other hand, Ms. Veronica Boensch, coordinator of the Parish Pastoral Council, shared the reasons behind her decision to organize Filipinas in Berlin through collective cultural activities, especially by teaching Philippine folk dances to adults and young people alike. Rosalinda Nolasco-Jecht, who owns the Pinoy Restaurant, spoke of the challenges in setting up a restaurant business and gave advice for Filipinas who want to pursue the entrepreneurial path. Humboldt University student Jedd Pagsanjan, on the other hand, candidly recounted the challenges she faced when she decided to be a working student in Berlin and how, with the Filipino community behind her, she managed to survive despite the odds. Lola Abrera, a Filipina student at the Free University of Berlin, also talked about how and why she decided to launch the Virtual Balikbayan Box, a platform for overseas Filipinas to share their digital stories, a virtual Balikbayan box, in creative ways. Similar to the sharing session ‘Juana Decides’, the project aims to be a virtual venue for Filipina migrants to tell their stories from their own viewpoint.

Ambassador Thomeczek summarized the discussion and concluded by reading the President’s Message to commemorate the women’s month. In her closing remarks, Consul General Donna Rodriguez heartily thanked the ladies for their active participation in the sharing session.

Of the estimated 20,338 overseas Filipinos in Germany, more than 80% or 16,760 are female (German Federal Statistics Office). An estimated 34% of all overseas Filipinos in Germany are housewives. Some of the challenges relating specifically to women are those that arise from marriage, especially adjustment to the foreign environment. As such, female community leaders, like the panelists during the sharing session, and a strong female network, play a big role in providing support and creating the conditions for Filipinas to adapt and flourish in their new environment. (***END)

All-Women Delegation from Sauerland Visits the Philippine Embassy in Berlin

March 24, 2015

Berlin. A 40-member all-female delegation from Sauerland celebrated women’s month at the Philippine Embassy in Berlin. As part of the Philippine Embassy’s efforts to cultivate good relations with members of the German Parliament (Bundestag) and link up with Filipino communities in Germany, Ambassador Melita S. Sta. Maria-Thomeczek welcomed the delegation to the Philippine Embassy whose visit was facilitated by the office of Bundestag Member Dirk Wiese (Social Democratic Party). Around twenty of the delegates had Filipino roots and shared stories of courage and solidarity in relation to the relief efforts in their respective communities in the Sauerland region in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.

The delegation from Sauerland at the Philippine Embassy in Berlin

Ambassador Thomeczek briefed the group on the current thrusts of the Philippine Embassy in promoting the welfare of overseas Filipinos. She informed the delegates of the presence of Philippine honorary consulates providing consular and other services in the different regions of Germany. The Ambassador also took the opportunity to invite the German delegates to visit the Philippines. Consuls Adrian Elmer Cruz, Gabriel Bautista, and Azela Arumpac complemented the Ambassador’s remarks with a short presentation on the initiatives of the Embassy on the political, economic, and consular fronts.

In response, Ms. Imgard Sander, coordinator for the office of MP Wiese, thanked the Ambassador for the warm welcome and expressed appreciation for the open lines of communication with the Embassy, noting the importance of such ties when doing international relief work in the wake of natural disasters like the Typhoon Haiyan. Many of the delegates with Filipino roots approached the Ambassador to share their personal stories in relation to the relief efforts in their own communities.

The Sauerland is one of the largest tourist regions in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The largest concentration of Filipinos in Germany, estimated at around 3,838, is in North Rhine-Westphalia. A Philippine Honorary Consulate located in Essen and headed by Honorary Consul Heinz-Peter Heidrich has jurisdiction over this region. ***END

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The Philippine Embassy in Berlin

Philippine Embassy in Berlin Holds Outreach for Filipinos in Baden-Württemberg

Philippine Embassy in Berlin Holds Outreach for Filipinos in Southwestern Germany

JUANA DECIDES: Filipinas in Berlin Celebrate Women’s Month by Sharing Stories of Leadership and Decision-Making

All-Women Delegation from Sauerland Visits the Philippine Embassy in Berlin

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