The Consulate General of the Philippines in Houston is a

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

of the

Republic of the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which ar ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, representing the country's interests in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It is located at the first floor of 9990 Richmond Avenue in the Westchase neighborhood of west

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

History

The current Philippine Consulate General in Houston was opened on September 24, 2018, 25 years after the first consulate was closed in September 1993. That first consulate was closed ostensibly due to budget issues, as well as the low number of Filipinos in the area at the time. Closing the first consulate was ordered during the administration of President

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

, with holdover consuls heading the post until it was finally closed by her successor,

Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...

. During the existence of the first consulate, Consul General Rodolfo Severino Jr. and other officers called on President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

to resign in the run-up to the

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, were a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

that would lead to his ouster. After that consulate was closed, relations were conducted through an honorary consulate, led most recently by Ethel R. Mercado. However, the city's rapidly-growing Filipino community continued to pressure for its reopening, and in January 2018, Foreign Affairs Secretary

Alan Peter Cayetano Alan Peter Schramm Cayetano ( Tagalog pronunciation: ajɛˈtano born October 28, 1970) is a Filipino lawyer, diplomat, and politician serving as a senator since 2022 and previously from 2007 to 2017. He was the Senate Minority Leader from 2 ...

announced that the Consulate would reopen, alongside the future opening of three other missions. Philippine Ambassador to the United States

Jose Manuel Romualdez Jose Manuel "Babe" del Gallego Romualdez (born November 8, 1947) is a Filipino journalist, publisher and business executive who is the current Ambassador of the Philippines to the United States. He previously served as Special Envoy of Presid ...

, writing in ''

The Philippine Star ''The Philippine Star'' (self-styled ''The Philippine STAR'') is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines and the flagship brand of the Philstar Media Group. First published on July 28, 1986, by veteran journalists Betty Go-Belmonte, ...

'', particularly credited Senator

Loren Legarda Lorna Regina "Loren" Bautista Legarda (born January 28, 1960) is a Filipina politician, environmentalist, cultural worker, and former journalist who is currently serving as a Senator and served as the president pro tempore of the Senate of the ...

with pushing to allocate more funds for the opening of new Philippine diplomatic missions, including in Houston. The Consulate reopened out of a temporary space until finally moving to its permanent location, one floor below in the same building, on March 21, 2019.

Staff and activities

The Philippine Consulate General in Houston is headed by Consul General Gunther Emil M. Sales, who assumed the position on July 30, 2024. Prior to his current post, he served as Assistant Secretary for American Affairs at the

Department of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

in Manila, and before that was posted at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. as minister and consul. There are also eleven other staffers deployed to the Consulate. Currently, the consulate general's jurisdiction covers

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and also exercises jurisdiction over the honorary consulates in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, with former honorary consul Ethel R. Mercado being appointed to head the Dallas consulate. Prior to its reopening the various states were under the jurisdiction of other missions: Texas and New Mexico were under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, which in partnership with local organizations conducted monthly outreach visits in Houston, while Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma were under the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago. Since its reopening, the consulate general has conducted outreach missions in major cities within its jurisdiction, including in

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

, and

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, as well as within Texas.

References

External links

Official website of the Philippine Consulate General in Houston
{{Diplomatic missions in the United States

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Philippines–United States relations

History

Staff and activities

See also

References

External links