PH Consul General Meets New York Lieutenant Governor

Consul General Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-de Vega (R) and New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul (L) discuss ways to promote the welfare of Fil-Ams during their meeting on 26 October 2017 in Manhattan (photos by NYPCG)

30 October 2017 NEW YORK - Consul General Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-de Vega met today with New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul in Manhattan to promote the interests and welfare of the more than 125,000 Filipino-Americans living in the state of New York.

Consul General de Vega thanked Lieutenant Governor Hochul for the support extended to the Consulate by state authorities led by the Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo and for the projects of the state government which benefit the Fil-Am community. 

They discussed how Filipino-Americans could work with different state agencies and institutions to avail themselves of programs like the Liberty Defense Project, a state-led public-private initiative to assist immigrants, regardless of status, in obtaining access to legal services and processes, especially those facing immigration cases.

The Lieutenant Governor encouraged newly-arrived Filipinos to take advantage of existing programs to make their transition to New York more seamless. She mentioned that Fil-Am businesspeople could tap into the resources of the state's Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise program (M/WBE).  Scholarships are also provided by the state for high school seniors who want to pursue higher education.

Consul General de Vega and Lieutenant Governor Hochul likewise explored means to increase the political and civic engagement and participation of Fil-Ams in New York and agreed to continue to work together to promote their welfare.

Atty. Jose Teodoro "JT" Mallonga of the Filipino-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (FALDEF) and Ms. Laura Garcia, Ph.D., of the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations-New York Chapter (NaFFAA), joined the Consul General in the meeting and discussed possible cooperation between their organizations and the state in areas like voter registration and immigration. END

For more information, visit www.newyorkpcg.dfa.gov.ph/ www.newyorkpcg.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinNY/

From left: Atty. JT Mallonga, Ms. Laura Garcia, Ph.D., Lieutenant Governor Hochul, Consul General Dizon-de Vega, and Consul Arman R. Talbo during their meeting.