Message from the ACS Chief U.S. Embassy, Manila (April 2009)
My tenure as American Citizen Services (ACS) Chief at the U.S. Embassy is quickly
drawing to a close. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the American expatriate
community and to the people of the Philippines for your warm hospitality over these past
four years. At the cornerstone of consular work in the Philippines is the warm friendship
and mutual respect that Filipinos and Americans have for each other. Over 150,000
American citizens have chosen the Philippines as their home and another 350,000 travel
here annually as tourists.
I am proud to have been a part of the dedicated team providing consular services to
this large and diverse American citizen community. The American Citizen Services section
manages one of the largest consular outreach programs in the world. Each month we
travel to cities throughout the Philippines providing consular and benefits services to
over 5000 Americans. Our Angeles and Olongapo outreaches routinely attract 300
customers at each venue! My heartfelt thanks to all those American citizen volunteers,
who have helped publicize and organize these successful events.
This year I had the pleasure of honoring American citizen volunteers at our Consular
Warden Conference held in September 2008. For those of you not familiar with the
concept, “wardens” are U.S. citizens who volunteer their assistance to the American
expatriate community in a foreign country. Over 90 wardens attended our Consular
Warden Conference, which provided essential citizenship, benefits and disaster
preparedness information. Our U.S. wardens left the conference armed with practical
information and tools that they could use to save lives in the event of an emergency or
natural disaster.
In addition to these activities, we continue to assist American citizens with medical,
financial and immigration difficulties. We are also one of the largest passport processing
embassies in the world. Recent technological advances allow for high-speed passport
processing in the U.S., enabling you to receive your passports in two to three weeks time.
The Department of State’s Internet Based Registration System (IBRS) at https:
//travelregistration.state.gov/ibr / now makes registering with the Embassy hassle free.
It is with great sadness that I leave in June to assume my new position with the
Department of State in Washington, D.C.
Michael Garrote, the Chief of the Visa Section at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, will be my
successor.
Consul Linda E. Daetwyler
Chief, American Citizen Services