23 May 2023, DARWIN – The Philippine Embassy in Canberra processed 103 passport applications, administered the oath of allegiance to 12 Filipinos who reacquired their Filipino citizenship through Republic Act No. 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003, and registered 80 Filipinos as overseas voters during the mobile consular mission in Darwin on 16-18 May 2023.

The Embassy team was composed of Vice Consul Angela Kristel Laurente, Ms. Leonora de Ramos and Mr. Rodrigo Gavino. With the support of Honorary Consul General Januario John Rivas AM, the mobile consular mission provided consular services to the growing Filipino community in the Northern Territory that they would otherwise have to secure in Philippine Foreign Service Posts in Canberra, Sydney or Melbourne.

Assistant Defense and Armed Forces Attachè Col. Paul Anthony Aviquivil supported the mission and provided updates to the Filipino community on the progress of peacebuilding efforts in the country.

The mobile consular mission in Darwin was the Embassy’s first mission in Australia for 2023. According to the 2021 Australian Census, there are over 7,000 Filipinos and Australians of Filipino descent in the Northern Territory. -END-