| Consulate General of the Philippines, Houston Konsulado Panlahat ng Pilipinas sa Houston  | |
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| Location | Houston,Texas |
| Address | 9990 Richmond Avenue, Suite 100N |
| Coordinates | 29°43′48.0″N95°32′55.1″W / 29.730000°N 95.548639°W /29.730000; -95.548639 |
| Consul General | Gunther Emil M. Sales |
| Website | houstonpcg |
TheConsulate General of the Philippines in Houston is adiplomatic mission of theRepublic of the Philippines in theUnited States, representing the country's interests inTexas. It is located at the first floor of 9990 Richmond Avenue in theWestchase neighborhood of westHouston.
The current Philippine Consulate General in Houston was opened on September 24, 2018, 25 years after the first consulate was closed in September 1993.[1] That first consulate was closed ostensibly due to budget issues,[2] as well as the low number of Filipinos in the area at the time.[3] Closing the first consulate was ordered during the administration of PresidentCorazon Aquino, with holdover consuls heading the post until it was finally closed by her successor,Fidel V. Ramos.[4]
During the existence of the first consulate, Consul GeneralRodolfo Severino Jr. and other officers called on PresidentFerdinand Marcos to resign in the run-up to thePeople Power Revolution that would lead to his ouster.[5] After that consulate was closed, relations were conducted through an honorary consulate, led most recently by Ethel R. Mercado.[4] However, the city's rapidly-growing Filipino community continued to pressure for its reopening,[3] and in January 2018, Foreign Affairs SecretaryAlan Peter Cayetano announced that the Consulate would reopen, alongside the future opening of three other missions.[6] Philippine Ambassador to the United StatesJose Manuel Romualdez, writing inThe Philippine Star, particularly credited SenatorLoren Legarda with pushing to allocate more funds for the opening of new Philippine diplomatic missions, including in Houston.[7]
The Consulate reopened out of a temporary space until finally moving to its permanent location, one floor below in the same building,[1] on March 21, 2019.[8]
The Philippine Consulate General in Houston is headed by Consul General Gunther Emil M. Sales, who assumed the position on July 30, 2024.[9] Prior to his current post, he served as Assistant Secretary for American Affairs at theDepartment of Foreign Affairs in Manila,[9] and before that was posted at thePhilippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. as minister and consul.[10] There are also eleven other staffers deployed to the Consulate.[11]
Currently, the consulate general's jurisdiction coversTexas,Arkansas,Louisiana,Mississippi,New Mexico, andOklahoma, and also exercises jurisdiction over the honorary consulates inDallas andNew Orleans, with former honorary consul Ethel R. Mercado being appointed to head the Dallas consulate.[12] Prior to its reopening the various states were under the jurisdiction of other missions: Texas and New Mexico were under the jurisdiction of thePhilippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, which in partnership with local organizations conducted monthly outreach visits in Houston,[4] while Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma were under thePhilippine Consulate General in Chicago. Since its reopening, the consulate general has conducted outreach missions in major cities within its jurisdiction, including inLittle Rock,[13]Albuquerque,[14]Jackson,[15] andOklahoma City,[16] as well as within Texas.[17]
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1 The Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei is the representative office of the Philippines in Taiwan, which functions as an informal diplomatic mission. | |
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