The Philippine mission in Riyadh sent its first Embassy on Wheels (EOW) this year to Buraidah in Qassim last Friday and Saturday and rendered consular services to 483 Filipinos in the region.

“The EOW team rendered services for passport renewals, notarial, birth reports and endorsement letters for police clearance,” said Dionisio B. Tabuco Jr., a Filipino community leader.

New passports were also released to applicants last October, he said.

Tabuco, president of the1,000-member “Samahan ng mga Manggagawang Pilipino sa Gassim” (Association of Filipino Workers in Qassim), said that consular services extended to Filipinos by the EOW team ran smoothly.

He said that because of the procedure implemented by the Philippine Embassy and the EOW team, headed by Vice Consul Redentor Genotiva of the Philippine Embassy’s Assistance to Nationals Section (ANS), rendered services quickly and efficiently.

“OFWs availing of consular services for the first time were served and guided by volunteers from the Filipino community,” added Arnold Pineda, also a Filipino community leader.

He expressed his thanks to other Filipino community leaders, the Zulfi Guardians and the Transfast Worldwide Money Transfer for helping make the two-day consular service a success. Transfast provided free snacks to Filipinos availing of consular services.

On behalf of the embassy, Genotiva thanked the Filipino community leaders for their help and cooperation with the EOW team. There is an estimated 70,000 Filipinos in the region.