PH EMBASSY IN CAMBODIA REACHES OUT TO FILIPINOS IN SIEM REAP AND POIPET
A team from the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia travelled over 400 kilometers overland to undertake an Assistance to Nationals (ATN) and Consular Outreach Mission to the provinces of Siem Reap and Banteay Meanchey on 12-14 May 2018.
During the Missions, the Embassy team organized separate get-together activities among Filipinos in the area, which included representatives from various key employment sectors, particularly teachers, missionaries, casino workers, and musicians. A total of 50 Filipinos came in the Siem Reap meeting, while 22 came to the Poipet meeting.
Briefings for the Filipino community were conducted by Consul General Myca Fischer on the latest immigration and labor regulations of Cambodia, and by Colonel Josel Zuñiga, Philippine Defense and Armed Forces Attaché, on the Embassy's updated contingency plan. An open forum followed.
The Embassy team likewise extended consular services to the Filipinos.
Members of the Filipino community in Siem Reap and Poipet expressed appreciation for the Embassy's efforts to bring Philippine government services closer to where they are as this minimized the need for them to be absent from work.
A Filipina, who has been working as a school director in Siem Reap for over 12 years, observed the continuing improvement of the Embassy's services to the Filipino community in Cambodia. While accomplishing the client feedback form, she quipped "mas may tataas pa ba sa 'Excellent?'" (Is there a higher grade than excellent?)
Located some 320 kilometers from Phnom Penh, Siem Reap has the 2nd highest concentration of Filipinos in Cambodia, majority of whom work in hotels, restaurants, international schools, and NGOs. There are an estimated 445 Filipinos in Siem Reap Province as of 31 December 2017, not counting the scores of Filipino tourists who visit the famous Angkor temples on a daily basis.
In Poipet, the ATN Mission team visited the Holiday Palace Resort and Casino, which employs 76 Filipinos, the biggest employer of Filipinos in Banteay Meanchey. The Team visited and interviewed some of the Filipinos at their work places.
Poipet is located 408 kilometers from Phnom Penh, near the Thai border. There are 207 Filipinos in Banteay Meanchey who are registered with the Embassy as of 31 December 2017. Majority of the Filipinos in Banteay Meanchey work in casino hotels, while a handful work as teachers and missionaries.
