EOW to Hail, Al-khobar and Sana'a in February
PRESS RELEASE No. APV- 06 - 2009
08 February 2009
Another pioneering success was chalked up by the Embassy when it brought its outreach service to the Filipino community in Hail over the weekend.
Welfare Officer Alex Vallespin, who also conducted an information campaign on OWWA programs and services in various hospitals and clinics, prepared the groundwork in coordination with Mr. Christian Dizon, a community volunteer, for the holding of the first “Embassy on Wheels” or EOW in Hail at the Jabalein Hotel on 5-6 February 2009.
The small consular team led by Consul Romulo Victor M. Israel Jr., together with Attaches Eduardo Santos, Jamil Lim, Dennis Punzalan and Messrs. Acas Bayabao Jr. and Dimaporo Mustary, was able to process one hundred sixty (160) applications for Machine Readable Passport (MRP) aside from other consular services.
The Embassy is now looking ahead to the next EOW that will be held once again in Al-Khobar this month with the following schedule:
Date Time Applications
Thursday, Feb. 26 : 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM : 400
Friday, Feb. 27 : 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM : 200
As in previous EOWs, new applicants that cannot be accommodated for encoding on Thursday, Feb. 26, will be accepted the following day.
Those that will come beyond the allocated total number can still have their applications verified and paid, but the encoding will have to be done in Riyadh later, which means they will have to come back for the next EOW to sign and affix their thumb marks on the Computer Generated Forms (CGFs) that must be sent to Manila for the printing of their MRPs.
They can also opt to bring their application forms to the Embassy for the required encoding if they cannot wait for the next EOW in March.
Likewise, a separate line will be set up for some more than 600 applicants who did not have their applications encoded during the previous EOWs.
The Embassy is also planning to take the MRP processing for the first time to the Filipino community in Yemen within this month. Rather than wheels, however, the Embassy team will have to take on wings, so to speak, in order to bring its essential services over for the benefit of Filipino expatriates in the neighboring Arab country. END
