Mission Statement

The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney aims to advance Philippine interests through the promotion of bilateral relations in the areas of trade, investment, tourism and culture.

It also aims to provide efficient and effective consular services as well as to assist and protect Filipino nationals in its areas of jurisdiction.

The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney has Consular jurisdiction over:

New South Wales, Australia

New Caledonia (autonomous area under France)


History of the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney

The Philippines and Australia established diplomatic ties on 22 May 1946, and in 1947 the Philippine Government established its foreign mission in Sydney. On 15 April 1948 Consul General Manuel A Alzate and eight personnel arrived in Sydney to establish a consular office at the property purchased by the Philippine Government at 11 Onslow Avenue, Elizabeth Bay. In 1949, the consular representation was elevated to the status of Legation and in January 1956, elevated again to an Embassy, with Roberto Regala becoming the first Philippine Ambassador to Australia.
 
In March 1961, the Philippine Embassy moved to Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Its Consular Section was reconstituted into the Philippine Consulate General. In December 1963, the Consulate relocated to the Interocean House, 261 George Street, Sydney and the property on 11 Onslow Avenue was designated as the permanent Official Residence of the Philippine Consul General in Sydney.

The old Philippine Center Building circa 1980

The Philippine Center Building circa 2009
 
Since its early years, the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney has been advancing Philippine-Australian relations, particularly the areas of economic, trade, industrial, cultural and scientific cooperation. Among its first important accomplishments were its roles in the signing of the Philippine-Australian Trade Agreement on 16 June 1965, the establishment and inauguration of flights of Philippine Airlines to Australia on 7 October 1965, the participation of Australia as a donor country to the Asian Development Bank when it established its headquarters in Manila in 1965, and the exchange of students and experts between Australia and the Philippines under the Colombo Plan. The Consulate also had a commercial attaché who looked after the promotion of Philippine trade.
 
In February 1975, the Philippine Government purchased the six-storey Dunlop Rubber Australia building at 27-33 Wentworth Avenue in Sydney, which became the location of the Philippine Consulate General and other Philippine Government offices in Sydney (the Special Representative of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Special Representative of the Ministry of Tourism). The building was renamed the Philippine Center Building.
 
However, a severe storm in February 1981 caused extensive water damage to the entire building and forced the Consulate, Trade, and Tourism offices to relocate to various locations in Sydney. The building remained vacant for more than 14 years until 1995, when a Philippine Center Building Committee was constituted to look into the redevelopment of the property.  In 1998, the Philippine Government and the Southern Pacific Properties Limited signed a build-operate-lease-transfer agreement, wherein the latter would lease the property for a 50-year period, construct a building, and provide the Philippine Government with office spaces.  The old building was demolished and the present 24-storey edifice built in its place. The Philippine Consulate General moved into its current location in the Philippine Center on 14 March 2001.
 
The Philippine Consulate General provides consular services to Philippine citizens, Australians, and other nationals. It is a focal point of the Philippine Government in the state of New South Wales. It enjoys a strong partnership with the large Filipino-Australian community in New South Wales, which started to become visible in the 1970s and numbered 86,700 in 2006. The Consulate works with the many Filipino-Australian associations to promote the general welfare and interests of the community.
 
In 2006, the Consulate and Filipino Australian community in the MacArthur region petitioned the city council of Campbelltown to develop a 2.6-hectare reserve named Rizal Park into a permanent park, which resulted in the construction of park improvements in 2008. Also in 2006, the Consulate, the Philippine Community Council (PCC) of New South Wales, and the Sydney Australian Filipino Seniors Inc (SAFSI) launched a state-wide petition for a Philippine-Australian Social Security Agreement to benefit Filipino-Australian pensioners and senior citizens. The proposal was elevated to the attention of Federal Members of Parliament, was discussed in the high-level Philippines-Australia Ministerial Meeting (PAMM) in October 2008, and is now being studied by the Federal Parliament of Australia.
 
The Consuls General appointed to Sydney were: Renato Urquiola (1962-1965); Manuel Cumagon (1965-1969); Ireneo Cornista (1969-1975); Etta Cabrera Enriquez (1977-1980); Nicasio Valderrama (1980-1986); Oscar Valenzuela (1986-1988); Juan Ona (1990-1993); Antonio Manguiat (1994-1995); Ariel Abadilla (1995-1999); Libran Cabactulan (2000-2002), Maria Zenaida Angara-Collinson (2002-2004); Maria Theresa Parreño Lazaro (2005-2008); and Eva Galinato Betita (2009-2010).
 
The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney has accredited jurisdiction over French New Caledonia.