15 June 2015 - The Philippine Consulate General in Agana sent a five-man team to Saipan last May 24 to 28 to conduct mobile consular mission for the Filipinos residing in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
Philippine Consul Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian led the team composed of Mr. Francisco Magno for passport services, Mr. Emmanuel Garcia for overseas voters registration, Ms. Annabelle Oviedo-Lavarez for authentication and notarial services and Collecting Officer Emerita Marquez.
This is the third consular mission to be conducted in Saipan for this year and the first since the assumption to office of the newly appointed Philippine Honorary Consul to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Mr. Glicerio “Eli” Arago who took his oath of office on May 08.
During the five-day consular mission, the consular team processed a total of 764 consular services consisting of 520 e-Passport application/renewal including seven lost passport replacements, 20 passport extensions, one travel document, 134 certifications, authentications and notarials, 12 reports of birth, five 5 reports of marriage, one 1 visa application and 71 labor contract verifications.
The team was also able to register a total of 312 new overseas voters in preparation for the May 2016 national elections and release 706 new Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Voter IDs out of the more than 3,000 IDs sent recently by COMELEC to the Consulate General for registered overseas voters in the CNMI from 2009 to 2012.
Aside from attending to the consular services, Consul Auxilian also met with Mr. Romeo “Bong” Malasarte, President of the United Filipino Organizations (UFO) and discussed some issues and concerns of the Filipino community in Saipan including their plans and programs for the 117th Independence Day celebration and support for the Nepal earthquake victims, among others.
On May 27, the members of the consular team were also invited to the reception hosted by the Filipino community in Saipan on the occasion of the assumption to office of Mr. Glicerio “Eli” Arago as Philippine Honorary Consul to the CNMI. Held at the Fiesta Hotel owned by the Tan Holdings Company, the event was attended by CNMI Representative to the US House of Representatives Gregorio “Kilili” C. Sablan, CNMI Senate President Victor B. Hocog, Speaker Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero of the 19th CNMI House of Representatives and other CNMI government officials, Consul Hitoshi Kikuchi of Japan Consular Office in Saipan, representatives from the private/business, church/religious sector and the different Filipino organizations in Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. Consul Auxilian was requested to deliver the welcome remarks.
In his welcome remarks, Consul Auxilian mentioned that the appointment and assumption to office of Mr. Eli Arago as Honorary Consul is indeed a welcome development, albeit belated, not just for the Filipinos but also for the general public in the CNMI that need the services of the Philippine Consulate. He also thanked Honorary Consul Arago and all the volunteers from the United Filipino Organizations (UFO) for the all-out support and assistance extended to the consular team during the conduct of the mobile consular services. END