BUSAN, 29 March 2015 – The Philippine Embassy in South Korea conducted a two-day consular outreach mission in Korea’s second biggest city, 325 kilometers south of Seoul, on 27-28 March 2015, the first such mission for 2015.

Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Raul S. Hernandez led the nine-member mobile consular team, which was assisted by volunteers from the Filipino Migrant Workers’ Association in Pusan (FIMIWAP) led by Myrna Barredo, at the Busan Catholic Migrant Workers’ Center in the traditionally central Jung-gu district. While in Busan, Ambassador Hernandez also met with some businessmen to promote economic diplomacy in the area. The team, which included First Secretary and Consul General Iric C. Arribas and Overseas Welfare Attaché Manuela Peña, served 277 Filipinos for various consular services, such as passport renewal, report of births, dual citizenship application, police clearance and the issuance of affidavits and Overseas Employment Certificates (OEC). The most popular service availed of by the Filipino residents of Busan was applications for new passports, which accounted for 80 percent of the total services rendered. The team also processed the registration of 183 new overseas voters over two days. Friday’s tally of 116 new voters broke the single-day record of 77 set on 21 December 2014 for the most number of new overseas voters in Seoul since registration started in May 2014. At a dinner hosted by Mario Ramirez, manager of Metrobank Remittance Center Busan, and attended by the Embassy consular team and the local volunteers on Friday, Ambassador Hernandez thanked FIMIWAP president and long-time resident Myrna Barredo and other Filipino community leaders for helping organize the mission. Situated in the south-eastern portion of the Korean peninsula, Busan is South Korea's second largest city and the number one trading port. There are approximately 1,976 registered Filipinos residing in Busan, a figure that does not include temporary visitors on tourist visas and undocumented Filipinos. –END–