22 January 2015 – Philippine Ambassador to New Zealand Virginia H. Benavidez, accompanied by Vice Consul Glenn Joseph Obach, called on Ashburton Mayor Angus McKay on 12 December 2014 at the Ashburton District Council Building in Ashburton, New Zealand. Also present at the meeting were Ms. Anita Twamley, Industry Partnerships Manager of Experience Mid Canterbury (Tourism) and Ms. Maiden Saba, Chairperson of the Filipino Dairy Workers in New Zealand (FDWNZ).
Ambassador Benavidez was warmly welcomed by Mayor McKay who was pleased to know that an Embassy team was in Ashburton for its mobile consular services program entitled “The Philippine Embassy in New Zealand: Serving with a Smile, Going the Extra Mile and Reaching Beyond Our Grasp,” serving hundreds of Filipinos in the area and other parts of the South Island on December 12 to 15, 2014. Ambassador Benavidez reiterated her appreciation to Mayor McKay for his concern and support for the Filipino workers’ welfare and fair treatment in his district and acknowledgement of the positive work ethics, skills and contributions of Filipino workers especially those in the dairy farms.
Mayor McKay offered his full support to the plan of the Filipino organization, FDWNZ, led by its Chairperson Maiden Saba, to set up a Filipino Community Centre in Ashburton which will be the focal point of Filipinos in the area, serving as a haven and headquarters for Filipino community contacts, activities and programs.
Further discussions focused on developing deeper relations with the Philippines utilizing strengths that Ashburton has to offer, such as its tourist attractions and dairy institutions. Ambassador Benavidez and Mayor McKay both hope to collaborate in projects to strengthen people-to-people ties between the Philippines and New Zealand. Ambassador Benavidez also expressed the Philippine Government’s and the Filipino People’s heartfelt gratitude to the Government and People of New Zealand for the generous and gratifying groundswell of sympathy, support and solidarity after Typhoon Haiyan devastated Central Philippines in 2013.
Ambassador Benavidez thanked Mayor McKay for the warm reception and fruitful meeting, and reiterated appreciation for his and the local people’s high regard for Filipinos in Ashburton and the Canterbury region, and for the Mayor’s Office’s open door for the Filipino community in Ashburton. END