PRESS RELEASE NO. 20-2022

07 April 2022 – Consul General Emil Fernandez paid a courtesy call yesterday on the Hon. Rick Blangiardi, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu. Among the issues discussed during their meeting were the COVID-19 pandemic, invigorating trade relations, the upcoming elections in the Philippines and Hawaii, Honolulu’s sister-city agreements with several municipalities in the Philippines, and the contributions of Filipinos in the state, which the Mayor described as immense and longstanding.

Mayor Blangiardi assumed office on 2 January 2021, with priorities that include the COVID-19 pandemic and its health and economic impacts, affordable housing and homelessness, public safety, rail, elder care, and modernizing public services. Prior to being elected, he led a career as a successful media executive and had extensive involvement with several non-profit organizations, educational institutions and youth development programs.

The Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu was established in January 1947, when Hawaii was still then a trust territory.  The Consulate moved to its current site along Pali Highway in 1948, and the property subsequently purchased in 1961.  (END)