Consulate Opens Office in Ventura

The Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles has opened a satellite office in the Ventura County Government Center that will offer services, including renewal of passports and issuance of visas.

The office, which will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the fourth Friday of each month, is only the second branch office of the consulate, which covers a territory stretching from Fresno to San Diego and includes Nevada and parts of Arizona, Consul General Leovigildo Anolin said.

The consulate staffs an office one day a week in San Diego and sporadically staffs an office in Delano.

Opening of the Ventura office was seen as a boon to the county’s Filipino population--at least 10,000 Philippine nationals and Filipino-Americans are centered in Oxnard. Anolin also expressed hope that the branch would draw patrons from Santa Barbara and other neighboring communities.

“We have thousands of Filipinos in that area and for them to continue coming to Los Angeles . . . would be inconvenient,” he said.

The opening ended several months of lobbying on the part of Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi; County Supervisor John Flynn, whose district includes Oxnard, and the Filipino-American Consul, a local organization.