PCGNY.net | News Release

NY CONSULATE JOINS BIGGEST PHILIPPINE FIESTA IN NEW JERSEY

PHILIPPINE CONSULATE - NEWS RELEASE
23 August 2006

Consul General Cecilia Rebong with New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and Philippine Fiesta owner and organizer, Mrs. Mila Mendez.

Ambassador Willy Gaa and Consul General Cecilia Rebong with (from left) Deputy Consul General Melita Sta. Maria-Thomeczek, Mr. Bill Rebong, Jersey City Deputy Mayor Ador Equipado, Philippine movie actress Ms. Judy Ann Santos, and Secaucus New Jersey Mayor Dennis Elwell at the opening of Philippine Fiesta.

NEW YORK -- Philippine Consul General to New York, Cecilia Rebong, reported to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo that a contingent from the said post joined the Philippine Fiesta at Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, on August 19 and 20. In her report, Consul General Rebong said that the Consulate General in New York joined the fiesta celebrations to conduct overseas absentee voting registration and disseminate information about other consular services. She noted that the consular team headed by Consul Edgar Badajos was able to register eleven (11) overseas absentee voters, raising NY PCG’s total tally to 768. She added that the team entertained numerous queries about dual citizenship.

Consul General Rebong also reported that Ambassador Willy Gaa and she were at Meadowlands on August 19 for the opening of the Philippine Fiesta. They were joined by the mayor of Secaucus, leaders of the Fil-Am community from New Jersey, and two Filipino movie stars, namely, Ms. Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo. Later in the afternoon, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine arrived to greet fiesta visitors and exhibitors. The Consul General observed in her report that “the presence of New Jersey’s top elected officials at the Philippine Fiesta and the huge turnout of visitors are only among the telltale signs of the growing economic and political muscle of the Fil-Am community in New Jersey.”

Philippine Fiesta is the biggest celebration of the traditional Filipino fiesta in the East Coast every August of each year. Now on its eight year, Philippine Fiesta attracts an estimated 20,000 visitors who are treated to two days of musical and cultural extravaganza, trade seminars and workshops, and colorful display of mostly Filipino products and services by hundreds of vendors/exhibitors. Philippine Fiesta is owned and organized by the dynamic spouses, Fernando and Mila Mendez of New Jersey.

Consul Edgar Badajos explains dual citizenship and overseas absentee voting to two Philippine Fiesta visitors.

Consular Assistant Jose Morales assists a registrant for overseas absentee voting.