2 May 2006, San Francisco—The Philippine Consulates General in San Francisco and Los Angeles held on 24 April 2006 a regional coordination meeting as part of the two Posts’ joint initiative to work closely together in pursuing the Philippines’ interests in this part of the United States.

The coordination meeting was held at the Philippine Center in San Francisco and attended by the two Heads of Post in California -- Consul General Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez of San Francisco and Consul General Willy C. Gaa of Los Angeles, and their respective officers as well as officials and representatives of the Department of Tourism and the Department of Trade and Industry.

“I welcome this gathering between our two Posts which have territorial jurisdiction over the northern and southern parts of California, now the world’s fifth largest economy,” said Consul General Sanchez.

“This meeting has allowed us to discuss our various activities and initiatives while giving us the opportunity to strengthen our working relationship and implement a common strategy for the entire US Western region, which is home to about 2 million Filipinos,” she added.

The meeting tackled a number of issues, including the respective work plans of the two Consulates General for 2006 and 2007. The discussions centered also on a number of programs for the current year, like the forthcoming Philippine property development road show in the United States, various advocacy campaigns of the government, tourism promotion projects, and consular services.

Consul General Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez said that “the coordination meeting with our counterparts in Los Angeles PCG was successful since we were able to reach a common ground on the important issues that were discussed.”

“Both Posts agreed to strengthen their cooperation in promoting the Philippine’s interests in the areas of trade and investment, tourism, political and cultural matters, as well as consular services. Over-all, the discussions were constructive and laid the groundwork for further collaboration between our two Posts,” she said.

At the conclusion of the meeting, both Posts agreed to hold their next coordination meeting in Los Angeles. (Please refer to the separate photo release on this subject matter.) END