Philippine Embassy Ireland

I found this video clip shared on facebook so my apologies for the poor quality. Plus I can't seem to get the right link for it so I ended up recording it directly from Facebook (Thanks for sharing Romelou ).

Before I start critizing or siding between John Ferris and Ambassador Abadilla I may need to point out that I have not been to the Philippine Embassy in Dublin. The last time I needed the help of our consulate was through John Ferris back in 2009.

I have nothing against John Ferris he did an exemplary job as our consulate. It was quite a task handling the concerns of thousands of Filipinos here in Ireland almost single handedly over the past few years. One time I called him from his mobile inquiring about spousal permits and he was very helpful. He told to hold because he was driving and he needed to pull-over to talk. Over the phone he gave me the information I need then sent me an email with all the necessary forms. It was straight forward service no fuzz, no hassles, friendly too.

My only concern was the time when we needed to have our passport renewed back in 2009. When I drooped by the Philippine Consulate in Parnell Square in Dublin, At first I was not sure If was in the right building. There was no signs upfront and the moment you enter you you see a partly dilapidated room with chairs cramped together and a table upfront where John sits. We needed to squeeze our way in with our fellow kababayans waiting their turn to talk to John. Each time you get a form from the desk you get charged 1 to 2 euros by his wife(or I assumed it is John's wife). Another thing that dismayed me was some people are cutting the line. We have been waiting our turn for almost an hour then somebody came in late talked to John's wife had a few laughs and all of a sudden they were next in the queue. If it only it happened once I would have let it pas but it happened 3 times for God sake. I was starting feel like that I am not in Dublin but in the LTO office of Cainta Rizal (which was recently closed due to bad public service). The moment we got our turn John explained the passport process and got our photos taken. Then he handed it to his to his assistant that threw our passport on a brown box half full with green Filipino passports mixed together (I really thought I was never gonna see my passport again). It took almost 4 months before he got our passports back from the post.
It was only then I learned that most Filipinos from Cork renew their passport directly from the Philippine Embassy in the UK and it usually just takes two months from the processing to the delivery and cost less too.


I have not been to the New Philippine Embassy in Dublin but I heard from my friends who went there that the office was far better than what we use to have. I have not met Ambassador Abadilla personally yet but I do hear good things. Having a luxury car for our diplomat representing our country is necessary. We don't want our diplomats attending formal events here in Ireland driving a 98 Nissan Micra wont we. As an Ambassador our country he needs to represent our people with pride and prestige. I also believe that a countries Embassy is a part of sovereignty, a piece of our country in a foreign land so having a decent office and our ambassador driving a luxury car will be in our best interest.

Every now and then I hear rumors from friends who has been to the Embassy of unprofessional practices. Most of them say "masugnit yung mga staff". There was one time I called the Embassy Inquiring about exit visa before we went to NYC. I spoke to him in Tagalog but he insisted we spoke in English so I did. Every time I ask him a question all he said was "No we do not take care of that". I was not asking him to stamp my visa for me I was just asking validity. The staff might need a bit knowledge on Visa and immigration processes because they need to be our first point of contact. You can't just simply say "I don't know" and "we don't do that". Some of my friends also voiced out that SPA's other services are way to over charged. My other concern is that you have to pay additional 10 euros for the so-called RUSH job. So if you want your document processed on the same same day you pay additional 10 Euros. If you don't your document will be of lesser important and will go to the bottom of the pile. These practices are common in the Philippines but are now slowly being stamped-out because it is unprofessional and a source of corruption. The Embassy is here to cater for the needs of the Filipinos in Ireland not the other way around.