21 May 2014 - The Philippine Consulate General in Milan held on May 18 its mobile consular outreach in Turin. This was the first mobile consular outreach for the year in Turin, which hosts more than 6,000 Filipinos. The Consulate personnel processed 246 applications for passports, notarials and other consular documents.
The mobile consular outreach was held in the Centro Filipino di Torino at the Filipino Chaplaincy where Filipinos converge for their social gatherings. The Torino Filipino Chaplaincy, led by Father John Benna, SDB, is also home to around 10 religious and civic groups that regularly work together to ensure that the Filipino migrant community in Turin and surrounding areas in the Piedmont region uphold Filipino traditions and values.
During a brief meeting between Consul General Marichu Mauro and Fr. Benna, the latter assured the Consulate that the Filipino community remains cohesive and that they would welcome another mobile consular outreach in the latter part of the year. Fr. Benna served for several decades in various Don Bosco parishes all over the Philippines.
Philippine Honorary Consul in Torino Maria Grazia Cavallo Borello was also present during the consular mobile service. She met with some Filipino community leaders present in the activity.
Consul General Mauro likewise attended the 18th anniversary of the Associazione Culturale Filippina del Piemonte (ACFIL). In her speech, the Consul General congratulated the association for their successful activities and reminded the Filipino community of further improvements to the services of Post as well as encouraged them to participate in the ongoing overseas voters registration.
The Consulate registered 56 new voters in Turin by the end of the day with six requests for change of address, bringing the total number of newly registered and revalidated voters to 255 since the start of registration. END