28 January 2005 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo commended Dr. Erich Becker, the outgoing Honorary Consul of the Republic of the Philippines for the province of Upper Austria (Oberösterreich), for his valuable assistance in the promotion of Philippine interest in his area of jurisdiction.

Philippine Ambassador to Vienna, Ambassador Victor G. Garcia presented to Mr. Becker the “Certificate of Merit and Appreciation” signed by Secretary Romulo in a simple ceremony held on 26 January 2005 at the Embassy and witnessed by the Embassy personnel.

Together with the Certificate of Merit and Appreciation, Ambassador Garcia also handed over to Dr. Becker the personal letter of appreciation from Secretary Romulo commending Dr. Becker for having effectively rendered consular services to Philippine nationals and the Filipino community within his jurisdiction for the past three years.  Secretary Romulo also lauded the outgoing Honorary Consul for actively promoting Austrian tourism and investments in the Philippines as well as for having generously contributed to charitable activities organized by Filipino beneficiaries.

According to Ambassador Garcia, Dr. Becker was first appointed as Philippine Consul ad honorem on 29 October 2001. He was then the outgoing CEO of Austria’s foremost high technology firm VA Tech AG. “He discharged his functions from his office in the dynamic and highly industrialized Austrian city of Linz, the provincial capital of Upper Austria,” Ambassador Garcia explained.   Linz is home to one of the  largest Filipino communities in Austria.

Honorary Consuls are citizens of the receiving country vested with authority by the Sending State to perform functions on its behalf. Ambassador Garcia pointed out that as an Honorary Consul, Dr. Becker volunteered his time and resources, and without remuneration assisted the Embassy in the delivery of basic consular and information services within the area of jurisdiction as well as in representations relating to trade, investment and tourism promotion.

The Philippine Embassy in Vienna supervises Honorary Consulates General in Salzburg (Austria), Ljublana (Slovenia) and Zagreb (Croatia), and three Honorary Consulates in the Austrian provincial capitals of Linz (Upper Austria), Klagenfurt (Carinthia) and St. Polten (Lower Austria). END
 
 

/jay