PETITION: To Urge The Philippine Embassy In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

To Provide Accessible and Affordable Consular Services Across Canada

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED MIGRANT AND IMMIGRANT FILIPINOS IN CANADA, do hereby call the attention of the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to the following:

WHEREAS, one of the main problems of Filipino immigrants and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Canada is the lack of access to consular services. Consular services are only offered at the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa and the consulate offices in Toronto and Vancouver. While the Philippine Embassy opens every first Saturday each month (9am-noon), it fails to deliver on regular basis the necessary consular services to other areas with high Filipino population such as Winnipeg, Montreal, Calgary, among others;

WHEREAS, given the limited office hours and the absence of consulate offices in other provinces, Filipinos have difficulty availing of much-needed consular services. Most kababayans have to take a few days off from work to travel to Ottawa, Toronto or Vancouver or wait for the Consul General to visit their cities in order to renew their passports, NBI clearance, and such;

WHEREAS, not only these consular services are poor and inaccessible, they are also unreasonably expensive. While the current fee to renew a Philippine ePassport in Canada is $69, it only costs $23 to avail of the same service in the Philippines. Exorbitant fees are also collected for other services such as passport replacement, NBI clearance, among others;

Whereas, we demand that the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa

1. Open the embassy and consular offices every Saturdays and/or Sundays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., without cutting present service hours;
   
2. Provide adequate and accessible consular services to cities where there is a large number of Filipinos, such as Winnipeg, Montreal and Calgary;
   
3. Lower consular service fees to match Canadian dollar value of fees charged in the Philippines;
   
4. Eliminate exorbitant and unnecessary fees such as RCMP fingerprint authentication; and
   
5. Reallocate budget from military spending and debt servicing to social services, including services to OFWs.
   

THEREFORE, we urge the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa to provide accessible and affordable consular services to all Filipinos across Canada.