27 August 2014 – It was “business unusual” as the Consulate-on-Wheels (COW) made its maiden voyage to Eureka, California, a city in Humboldt County, on August 22 which is home to about 500 Filipinos, according to the 2010 US Census. The outreach was organized in direct coordination with Mr. Pacifico Collamat, who initiated contact with the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco to request a visit from the Consulate-on-Wheels.
Over 50 services were rendered during the Consulate General’s first-ever Eureka outreach, which saw Humboldt County’s Filipino residents turning out to take full advantage of the COW’s range of services.
Consul Reichel Quiñones, who led the team, congratulated the Humboldt Filipino-American Society for successfully coordinating their first consular outreach. “We particularly want to express our appreciation for the efforts of Mr. Pacifico Collamat, who took the initiative to let us know that there were kababayans in Humboldt County who would appreciate a visit from the Consulate-on-Wheels,” she said. “The Consulate is more than happy to work with the communities under its jurisdiction to make its services more accessible to its clients.”
The next day saw the team reporting to Silicon Valley for its regular monthly outreach to Milpitas, which is organized in close coordination with Seafood City. Over 200 Filipinos availed themselves of the COW’s services, which included voters registration for overseas Filipinos.
“We urge our kababayans to take part in selecting the future leaders of the Philippines by registering and exercising their right to vote as overseas Filipinos,” Consul General Henry S. Bensurto said. “The registration period for overseas voters will continue until October 2015, and to make sure that everyone who wants to vote will have a chance, the Consulate will be offering voter registration at all of its consular outreaches until the registration period ends.”
Inquiries on voting as an overseas Filipino, or to checking voter registration status may be send via e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!
Consulate-on-Wheels schedules all over northern California are available for viewing at http://www.philippinessanfrancisco.org/philippines-sf/consular-outreach-sf/ and at the Consulate General’s Facebook page on http://www.facebook.com/PCGSF. END