JEDDAH, 16 April 2006 — Here’s a bit of good news for Filipinos in the southern region of the Kingdom who need the services of the Philippine mission: a consular team will be visiting Jizan from April 26-28.
To be headed by Consul General Pendosina N. Lomondot, the team will process applications for passports, registration of absentee voting and other consular-related services, according to a press statement issued by the consulate in Jeddah.
The consulate urged all Filipino nationals residing and working in Jizan and nearby places to take advantage of the visit to avoid spending precious time and money in going to Jeddah.
It also urged those who are not yet registered as overseas absentee voters to sign up and exercise their right to vote in Philippine national elections.
The team will hold office temporarily at the Al Atheel Hotel in Jizan.
For inquiries, interested parties may contact the following: Jizan Coordinators: Rosie Camacho at CP No. 05027-12243 and Ruth P. Moreno at No. 05022-33204. For consulate Staffs, contact Alex Castillon at 05015-70344, Jun Mandangan at 05087-12773 and Carol Tejero (secretary) 667-0925 or 660-0348, ext. 210.
The Jizan trip will be the fourth out-of-town trip of the consulate this year in line with the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs’ thrust to take the mission to far-flung places where there are big concentrations of Filipino workers.
During the last week of March, Consul General Lomondot led his team to Yanbu, where they were met by hundreds of Filipino workers and dependents seeking either passport-related services, absentee voting registration, assistance on labor issues, issuance of affidavits, OWWA membership and other labor and consular services.
Almost a hundred new passports were issued during the visit. On the first day alone, 52 passports were issued the same day the applicants submitted their applications.
In Jeddah, passport renewal takes a little longer.
Francis Villalobos of General Agency and Contracting said he was impressed by the speed with which his passport application was processed. “It has spared me from the hassle of traveling to Jeddah for this purpose” he said.
Billy Mojica, a communications technician of SaudiTel, spent a little more time waiting for his application as he had to go home to get some requirements, but he was happy nonetheless for getting his passport and getting registered as a voter on a single consular visit.
More than 200 of those who met with the consular team at the Radisson Hotel came to register as absentee voters.
Labor Attaché Bulyok Nilong observed that only four labor cases were raised during the visit, of which only two workers decided to file cases. “The number is lower compared to those in other regions we have visited” said Nilong.
Ronnie Abeto of Pusong Mamon Task Force, a Kingdomwide group of volunteers helping distressed Filipinos, offered the suggestion that the low number of cases could be the result of the efficient coordination between the Yanbu community and the consulate.
“We hope that this consular mission will keep visiting us. This reduces the burden of traveling 720 kilometers back-and-forth to seek services of the consulate in Jeddah,” he said.
Booklets titled Important Information for Migrants Coming to Work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and How to Evade Rape were distributed during the visit. It was noted that the second booklet captured much interest.
Lomondot expressed his gratitude to the organizers, especially the Alpha Phi Omega Western Region Chapter (APOWRC) for their cooperation and support of this visit.
He said that after Jizan, the consulate’s next visit will be in the northern province of Tabuk.
