11 March 2015 - A consular team from the Philippine Embassy in Berlin, composed of Mr. Joven Catbagan, Ms. Lianna Judith Sale, Ms. Mylah Rubio, Mr. Armand Mahinay, Ms. Lourdes Marie Reyes and Mr. Marvin Sindanum, conducted a mobile outreach service at the Pfarrsaal, Sankt Michael Kirche, Cologne on February 21. The team was led by Philippine Ambassador to Germany Melita S. Sta. Maria-Thomeczek, who took the opportunity to meet with the Filipino community in the area.

The Cologne outreach was the first of nine consular outreach missions to be conducted by the Philippine Embassy in 2015. 

North Rhine Westphalia boasts one of the biggest concentration of Filipino residents in the whole of Germany. Using a pre-registration system, the consular team was able to accommodate all consular applicants. The team facilitated 125 passport applications, 46 notarization and authentication of documents, and 55 registrations under the overseas voting system. 

The Philippine Embassy has been conducting regular outreach missions in different parts of Germany since 2013 as part of efforts to bring its consular services closer to Filipino permanent residents. The next outreach will take place in Schifferstadt, Rhineland Palatinate on March 28. END