The Philippine Consulate General

Philippine Consulate General

7th Floor, 160 Eglinton Ave. East
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 3B5
Tel.: (416) 922.7181
Fax.: (416) 922.2638
Email: consularmatters@philcongen-toronto.com

Direction from the Consulate General to:

the nearest Bus Station:
Eglinton Ave. East at Redpath Ave.
(Bus no. 34A, 34C, 34S, 51, 54A)
Click for direction.
the nearest Train Station:
Eglinton Subway Station (Train No. 1)
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the nearest Post office:
250 A Eglinton Ave E, Toronto, ON M4P 1K0
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Trade Office

Suite 903, 80 Richmond Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2A4
Tel.: (416) 855.1775
Fax.: (647) 729.5028
Email: toronto@dti.gov.ph

Web : https://www.dti.gov.ph/overseas/toronto/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DTI-Toronto-127477961223211/

Migrant Workers Office (MWO)

2nd Floor, 160 Eglinton Ave. East
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 3B5
Tel.: (416) 975.8252
Hotline.: (647) 992-7656

Email- official: mwo_toronto@dmw.gov.ph

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MWOToronto

Social Security System (SSS)

2nd Floor, 160 Eglinton Ave. East
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 3B5
Tel.: (416) 485.2999; (416)485.2888
Telefax.: (416) 485.2881
Email: toronto@sss.gov.ph

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ssstoronto/

Pag-IBIG Fund

Email: vo_northamerica@pagibigfund.gov.ph

PR-2021-35

14 July 2021, Toronto, Ontario – The Philippine Consulate General in Toronto is pleased to convey its congratulations to Filipino Canadian Dr. Patrick Alcedo’s short documentary film “They Call Me Dax” for winning the Best Short Documentary at the Cannes Indies Cinema Awards.

“They Call Me Dax” is a documentary on a 15-year-old student in the Philippines who is trying to survive as a ballet dancer. The film is now an official nominee in another online festival, Phoenix Shorts in Toronto wherein the jury selects the winners of each category through private screenings. To date, Dr. Alcedo has directed, written, and produced nine (9) films. “They Call Me Dax” along with his two (2) other new documentary films -- the full-length film “A Will to Dream” and the short film “Am I Being Selfish” -- were all funded by Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Grant and the Canada Council for the Arts. “A Will to Dream” is an official entry in the Chicago Indie Film Awards.

ALCEDO — **The Film and the Filmmaker** The short documentary titled “They Call Me Dax” won the Best Short Documetary at the Cannes Indies Cinema Awards. Filipino Canadian filmmaker, Dr. Patrick Alcedo (right), has written and directed other award-winning films as A Piece of Paradise, Dancing Manilenyos, Ati-Atihan Lives, among others.

Cannes International Indies Cinema Festival is an independent online film festival dedicated to celebrating and awarding indie films of all genres. It supports independent filmmakers and screenwriters of all genres who are inspired by the language of cinema and seek breakthroughs in their career in order to make it to important film festivals such as Cannes. It is inspired by the importance of Cannes Film Festival hence naming their festival after the most important cinematic place in the history of cinema and film festivals. It believes that in this new era of filmmaking, film festivals need to be more creative in order to create programs which support indie artists and film projects. The festival selects and awards films for various categories of each edition.

During this year’s celebration of the 123rd Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence, the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto featured its Quincentennial Awardees during the virtual program on 12 June 2021, which included Dr. Alcedo. The formal presentation of the award was held on 9 July 2021. He was given the award in recognition of his invaluable and continued support to the Filipino community and the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto. Dr. Alcedo was the Artistic Director in the Consulate General’s “INDAK” Dance and Musical Concert on 23 June 2018 and his film “A Piece of Paradise” had a Special Screening at the Consulate General on 8 March 2019 in celebration of National Women’s Month and International Women’s Day. His other film “Dancing Manilenyos” was featured during the Consulate General’s Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa activity in August 2020.

alcedo2 — *Dr. Patrick Alcedo (left) was presented with the Quincentennial Award by Consul General Orontes V. Castro (right) at the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto on 09 July 2021.*

Dr. Alcedo was born and raised in Andagao, Aklan in the Philippines to a family of dancers and musicians and a graduate of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. Dr. Alcedo is the director, writer, and producer of six documentary films. His feature-length film, A Piece of Paradise, received support from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in the 2017 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, bagged both the “Centennial Best Canadian Film Award” and the “National Bank First Feature Film Award”—the first film in the festival’s 20-year history to have garnered such back-to-back win.

Officially selected at 2 international film festivals, including the Ethnografilm in Paris, France, his other film, Dancing Manilenyos, a 20-minute documentary about the plight of underprivileged ballet dancers in Manila, won an Impact Doc Award, a Spotlight Documentary Film Award, and a Hollywood International Independent Documentary Award. Dancing Manilenyos was also selected to be screened at the Raleigh Studios in Hollywood.

PR-2021-34

Toronto, 13 July 2021 – On 09 July 2021, Philippine Consul General Orontes V. Castro inducted the newly-installed Officers and Board of Directors for the term 2021-2022 of the Association of Filipino Canadian Engineers (AFCE) during the organization’s Annual General Membership Assembly via Zoom.

Consul General Castro congratulated the new set of Officers and Board of Directors of AFCE and welcomed the new members (recently-licensed Filipino-Canadian Engineers for 2020-2021) to the organization. He lauded AFCE as an active and reliable partner of the Consulate General in implementing worldwide programs and activities for Filipinos in Toronto, especially in mentoring newly-arrived Filipinos to adapt and settle in Canada. He also mentioned that AFCE is one of the Consulate General’s valuable partner in working for the accreditation of Filipino professionals, as well as in the recognition of their qualifications and credentials in Canada. He mentioned that AFCE, by the very nature of the profession, makes differences. He added that at its core, the profession is about building values. He advised the general membership to continue making a difference in the world and be builders not only of edifices but also of human values. He thanked AFCE for inviting him as Inducting Officer and looks forward to meeting the new officers and directors soon, as Ontario enters Stage 3 and reopens on 16 July 2021.

The highlight of the online event was the Induction of the newly-installed Officers and Board of Directors, as well as the newly licensed engineers. The new officers sworn-in by Consul General Castro were Mr. Lervin Adap, P.Eng (President), Mr. Dave Estrella, P.Eng, (Vice-President), Ms. Mary Pauline Cahucom (Secretary), Ms. Elizah Joi Lopez (Treasurer), among others.

AFCE, a non-profit organization founded in 2003, aims to bridge connections and bring together engineering professionals with Filipino lineage and living in Canada, towards a common goal of helping one another to improve their skills and qualifications, as well as guide and mentor aspiring engineers so they can achieve their career goals. AFCE was re-launched on 27 January 2019. – END

PR-2021-29

Toronto, 2 July 2021 – On 25 June 2021, Philippine Consul General Orontes V. Castro inducted the newly-installed Officers and Board of Directors for the term 2021-2022 of the Filipino Construction Professionals in Ontario (FilConPro) during the organization’s Annual General Membership Assembly via Zoom.

During the Annual General Membership Assembly, the current
FilConPro President, Mr. Gerry Santullo, thanked all the officers and members for their support for the past year of his leadership. He also apprised the general membership in attendance on the different projects and outreach programs of the organization, even with the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Consul General Castro lauded the organization as an active and reliable partner of the Consulate General in implementing programs and activities for Filipinos in Toronto, especially in mentoring newly-arrived Filipinos to adapt and settle in Canada. He also mentioned that FilConPro is one of the Consulate General’s valuable partner in working for the accreditation of Filipino professionals, as well as in the recognition of their qualifications and credentials in Canada. Consul General Castro presented the Quincentennial Award of FilConPro during the event. The award is in recognition of its invaluable effort and activities to foster unity among the Filipino Community and continued support to the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto.

Mr. Santullo thanked Consul General Castro for the Quincentennial Award which was officially announced during the live streaming of the Consulate General’s Virtual Celebration of the 123rd Anniversary of Philippine Independence on 12 June 2021.

The highlight of the online event was the Induction of the newly-installed Officers and Board of Directors, as well as the new members of the organization. The top 3 new officers sworn-in by Consul General Castro were Mr. Isidro Buquiron, PEng (Incoming President), Mr. Arvin Aguba, PEng, (Incoming Vice-President for Internal Affairs), and Mr. Dave Estrella, PEng (Incoming Vice President for External Affairs). - END

Screenshots of the Filipino Construction Professionals (FilConPro) Annual General Membership Assembly and Induction of Officers and Board of Directors for 2021-2022 held on 25 June 2021 via Zoom.

09 July 2021, Toronto, Ontario – The Philippine Consulate General in Toronto presented today the Consul General’s Quincentennial Awards to nine (9) individual awardees and four (4) Settlement Organizations, in a simple ceremony at the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto. Health measures and protocols were observed during the awarding ceremony.

The awardees were:
Individual Awardees:

Mr. Ron Michael Adea – Filipino Canadian pianist
Dr. Patrick Alcedo – Associate Professor & Graduate Program Director, Department of Dance, York University
Ms. Renee Fajardo – Mezzo Soprano, College of Music, University of Toronto
Mr. Jose Dominick Guballa – University of Toronto Ph.D. Student in Earth Science
Mr. Rodolfo Lastimosa, Jr. – Elected Member, Council of the College of Nurses of Ontario
Dr. Mark Mabanglo – Department of Biochemistry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Sir Ignacio “Mogi” Mogado – Artist/Sculptor of the life-size statue of Dr. Jose P. Rizal at Luneta Gardens in Markham, Ontario
Mr. Clyde Pacis – CEO, Max’s Restaurant and President, The Paper Crane & Co.
Atty. Ryan Tuazon – Regional Director, Anderson College of Health, Business & Technology

Settlement Organizations Awardees:

Agincourt Community Services – represented by Ms. Jamillah T. Mananghaya-Poernama, Senior Manager
Catholic Community Services of York Region – represented by Ms. Liezl Mirabona-Chavez, Settlement Counsellor
Kababayan Multicultural Centre – represented by Ms. Flordeliz Dandal, Executive Director
North York Community House – represented by Ms. Ellan Tan, Community Settlement Worker

The settlement organizations and individual awardees were recognized for their invaluable effort and activities and continued support to the Filipino Community and the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto. The official announcement of the Awardees was made on 12 June 2021 during the live streaming of the Consulate General’s Virtual Programme celebrating the 123rd Anniversary of Philippine Independence, the Filipino Heritage Month, and the Quincentennial Commemoration of the Philippines 2021. The Awardees at the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto on 09 July 2021

awarding — (Front row, from left to right): Ms. Liezel Chavez, Mr. Ron Michael Adea, Ms. Flordeliz Dandal, Labor Attaché Rachel Zozobrado-Nagayo, Consul General Orontes V. Castro, Ms. Renee Fajardo, Mr. Clyde Pacis, and Ms. Jamillah Mananghaya-Poernama.
(Backrow, from left to right): Mr. Jose Dominick Guballa, Mr. Rodolfo Lastimosa, Jr., Ms. Ella Tan, Vice Consul Edward Chan, Dr. Patrick Alcedo, Consul Mary Grace Villamayor, Sir Ignacio “Mogi” Mogado, Atty. Ryan Tuazon, and Dr. Mark Mabanglo.

PR-2021-31

5 July 2021, Toronto, Canada. – The Philippine Consulate General in Toronto conducted a Consular Outreach Mission at the Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre (KCCC) in Mississauga on Saturday, 3 July 2021.

Consul General Orontes V. Castro led the team composed of Vice Consul Edward Chan and the other staff of the Consulate General. He expressed his appreciation to KCCC for organizing the Consular Outreach and coordinating it with the Consulate General. There were applicants who re-acquired Philippine citizenship and availed of passport and other consular services, including those who registered as Overseas Absentee Voters.

KCCC President Resty del Rosario welcomed the Consulate General’s team as well as the participants. He also thanked Consul General Castro and his team for conducting the Consular Outreach Mission, which was well received by the participants. Since 2018, KCCC has organized Information Sessions on the different consular services of the Philippine Consulate General. Last year it organized the Consulate General’s Registration for Overseas Voting and Reacquisition of Philippine Citizenship. KCCC is a valuable partner of the Philippine Consulate General in various projects and activities, including webinars and other cultural projects.
At the event, Consul General presented the Consulate General’s Quincentennial Award of KCCC to Mr. del Rosario. The award is in recognition of KCCC’s invaluable effort and activities to foster unity among the Filipino Community and continued support to the Philippine Consulate General.

The KCCC was initially founded in 1983 as the Kalayaan Filipino Cultural Organization (KFCO) for the purpose of celebrating Philippine Independence Day. Since then, the Kalayaan Centre has evolved to become a pillar for promoting Filipino heritage and culture and a community hub for programs and services for the benefit of Filipino-Canadians mostly residing in the Peel region. - END

Screenshots of the Dual Oath-taking Ceremonies held at the Consulate General in Toronto’s Consular Outreach Mission in Mississauga’s Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre on Saturday, 3 July 2021.