18 March 2013 – Philippine Consul General to Sydney Anne Jalando-on Louis met with the leaders of the Filipino community in New South Wales at the Consulate General on March 08 to discuss important developments in the Philippines that are relevant to the Filipino migrant community as well as to inform and seek their support for the programs and projects of the Consulate and the Philippine Embassy in Canberra for 2013.

The meeting was attended by around 50 Filipino community leaders and media representatives.

Among the topics discussed by Consul General Louis are the conduct of overseas absentee voting for the national elections in May and the commemoration of Philippine historical events in 2013.

Consul General Louis encouraged the community to contribute to the project of the Philippine Embassy in Canberra to document the history and narratives of Filipinos in Australia. She likewise informed the community of the Consulate’s initiative to develop Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on various consular services and requested the community’s assistance in disseminating information on the FAQs as well as on the Consulate’s ongoing survey of Filipinos in New South Wales.

The Consul General encouraged the Filipino community leaders to continue being the partners of the Philippine government in promoting business, trade and tourism in the Philippines.

Information on important contact numbers of safety and community services in New South Wales and the link to a list of accredited recruitment agencies from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) were disseminated to the leaders.

The meeting also included a presentation by Mr. Jonathan Capal, Regional Manager for Asia, Developing Markets Associates (DMA) on the AusAid-DMA project, SendMoneyAsia, a free web service developed by DMA with funding from AusAid that provides data enabling users, such as Filipinos sending money from Australia to the Philippines, to compare costs like the remittance fees and foreign exchange rates charged for money transfer services to avail of the best services possible.

Consul General Louis thanked the Filipino community leaders and media representatives for their attendance and support and acknowledged their help in addressing the needs of the Filipino community in New South Wales. END