VT’s Farewell Interview with Consul General Gina Jamoralin

By: Veronica Leighton

 

By the time that you are reading this special November 2020 issue of Via Times, our beloved Consul General Gina Jamoralin has quietly left her Chicago post to go back to Manila and report momentarily to the Department of Foreign Affairs. She might probably receive her new foreign mission post from the department, and that’s understandable as a career foreign diplomat.

We are so glad to catch up with her to answer some quick questions we posed before she left, though she was hurried. We also worked our way to feature her on our cover with a mini-write-up for this issue. Just too bad, she would have left Chicago by the time this issue is out, but there’s always a digital online copy to send her. Here we go:

1. How do you describe the Filipinos/Filipino Americans of Chicago that you have served?

As Philippine Consul General in Chicago, I serve all the Filipinos and Filipino-Americans in the Midwest consisting of twelve (12) states under the consular jurisdiction of the Philippine Consulate. We have almost 400,000 Filipinos and Americans of Filipino descent in the Midwest(as of 2010 population estimates). Illinois and particularly Chicago is one of my jurisdiction and where the Philippine Consulate is located. I very much enjoyed my engagement with the Filipino communities in Chicago since I assumed my post in February 2018. Due to geographical proximity, more Filipino-American community organizations in Chicago are present in most of the Philippine consulate activities and . They are a group of dedicated, hardworking and selfless leaders of the community.

2. Any suggestions as to what areas we can improve ourselves as a community in a foreign land like Chicago.

Most Filipinos living in Illinois or Chicago find Chicago their home or center of their social life or business or place of work. They naturally care about Chicago, its governance and its policies. I believe there is still room for the Filipino community to get more involved in the political sphere. Who knows? Maybe a Filipino-American gets elected in the City Council, Illinois State Legislature or in the City Hall itself in not too distant future.

3. Any suggestions as to how expats Pinoy can help the Philippines?

In fact, they have been doing that for a long time now through medical missions, humanitarian aid during disasters and scholarships for poor and deserving students in the Philippines. And the Filipinos’ bayanihan spirit shone bright once again during the corona virus pandemic where a lot of FilAm groups not only in Chicago but also other states in the Midwest donated material assistance in the form of PPP donations, food and money to affected communities in the United States and the Philippines during the pandemic. This was evident in the social media campaign initiated by the Philippine Consulate in partnership with the Filipino community which was named “ Taskforce Midwest Bayanihan”. About forty-three (43) Filipino- American organizations, accredited associations, restaurants and other entities across eight Midwest states joined the campaign, with more than PhP 10 million ( $200,000) raised in donations (in kind). The campaign helped thousands of medical frontliners and at-risk communities in the Philippines and the United States.

4. Special fond farewell message from you.

I wish to thank sincerely all the Filipinos and Filipino-Americans in Chicago and Filipino-American communities in the twelve states that we have served ( Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin) for your friendship, understanding and partnership with the Philippine Consulate in Chicago in helping us bring our services closer to the people. Through their help, the Philippine Consulate is able to fulfill its mission of public service and outreach to many kababayans through the Consulate office in Chicago, consular outreach missions in other Midwest states , Fil-Am community events and projects including virtual Zoom events under the new “normal”.