11 October 2005 - Consul General Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Consulate extended consular outreach services to Milpitas and Monterey on 8 and 9 October 2005. The Team was led by Consul Wilfredo C. Santos and Vice-Consul Raphael C. Hermoso.

The "Consulate on Wheels" Team in both cities issued passports and visas and provided  legal and notarial services. They  also processed applications for dual citizenship and disseminate information on Overseas Absentee Voting.

For the Monterey Outreach Program, consular services were held at the Gloria Jean Tate Park corner Abby Way and Cardoza Ave., Marina CA 93933, while the venue for the Milpitas consular outreach was at the Milpitas Community Center at 457 East Calaveras Blvd., Milpitas CA.

Both activities coincided with the "Consulate on Wings" initiative of the consulate, which is an outreach program headed by Consul General Sanchez, to Anchorage Alaska on 6-9 October 2005.   Aside from the usual consular services and meetings with national, state and local officials in Alaska, the consulate team also conducted a symposium on topics ranging from present Philippine tourism program, trade and investment opportunities dual citizenship and OAV.

"The holding of consular outreach programs is part of our efforts to reach out to the greater Filipino community in Northern California as well as those in other states in the U.S. under our jurisdiction,” said Consul General Sanchez.

"The visit of our personnel to Milpitas and Monterey this weekend was a great opportunity for us to bring our services directly to our constituents," she added. END