Filipinos in Alaska

When Filipinos hear “Alaska,” often the first two things that come to mind are milk and basketball.

That’s according to the Philippines’ recently appointed honorary consul to Alaska, Jenny Gomez Strickler.

It turns out, the Philippines-based Alaska Milk Corporation sells milk in the country and sponsors the Alaska Aces — not Anchorage’s minor league hockey team, but a professional basketball team in the Philippines. Neither the milk nor the basketball team have a meaningful connection to the 49^th state.

That means if Alaska wants to make inroads in trade with the Philippines, the state has a lot of work to do. In 2012, less than 1 percent of Alaska’s exports ended up in the Philippines, according to census data.

But Strickler says connections are being forged that could help build a market for Alaska seafood, and even liquefied natural gas.

The Juneau resident and retired Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development worker spoke to the Juneau World Affairs Council on Wednesday. In her new honorary role for the government of the Philippines, she’s part bureaucrat, and part international trade facilitator.

She’s trying to make the case that “Alaska” should mean “seafood” in the Philippines.

“The Philippines is a fish-eating country,” she said. “Yet its fish is imported from other countries. And its imported salmon is farmed salmon.”

Strickler, Juneau Rep. Cathy Munoz and the governor’s office are trying to put together a seafood festival in Manila next year to show the country what Alaska has to offer.

Strickler shared an anecdote about a missed connection that networking at the festival might fix. A former Juneau resident brought some Alaska seafood to Manila for his friends to try. One of samplers happened to be a hotel owner.

“The business owner enjoyed it so much, he said, ‘If I get this from you, can you guarantee me X amount throughout the year, or a portion of the year?’ He looked him straight in the eye and said, ‘I can’t, cause I’m not a fisherman.’”

She said they’re working on a pitch to get support from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

Strickler also said she was on a recent conference call between Philippines Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. and state officials. The ambassador said he’s putting together a team to visit Alaska and investigate opportunities to import liquefied natural gas.

Finally, Strickler said Aklan State University in the Philippines is interested in sending instructors to the University of Alaska Southeast through an exchange program. They want to learn about saltwater fisheries.

Strickler said she expects that arrangement to come together after the Juneau Assembly adopts a sister city proclamation linking Juneau and Kalibo, the capital city of the Philippine province Aklan.

A Juneau Assembly committee backed the proclamation on Monday.

Jenny Gomez Strickler’s talk with the Juneau World Affairs Council is tentatively scheduled to air on 360 North on October 11th.

About 3.4 million Filipinos live in the U.S.; 25,ooo  in Alaska.  The Ambassador of the Philippines to the United States says it’s continually growing.

More than 3,000 Filipinos live in Juneau, “roughly 10 percent of the Juneau population,” says  Jennifer Ruth Gomez Strickler.  As KTOO reported, Strickler was sworn into office Monday night as the first Honorary Consul of the Republic of the Philippines to Alaska.

Most people know her as Jenny, but once you’re appointed to a government position, complete names are required as well as “all kinds of background checks. And I swear that now the Philippine government knows more about me and my family than anybody else,” she says.

Strickler knows Juneau’s Filipino community well; she served as vice president then president of the incorporated group for a decade.

She will serve a three-year term as Honorary Consul to Alaska.

Raphael Castanos worked on the project for two  years.

“We tried so many years ago but we were not successful,” he says.

Castanos credits Connie McKenzie, a former aide to Congressman Don Young for planting the seed this time around, when she asked why Juneau had no honorary consul.

The Philippine government operates ten consulates across the country.  The San Francisco Consul General has jurisdiction over Alaska  and seven other states as well as Northern California and Northern Nevada.

San Francisco is a long and expensive trip from Alaska for passport or other document services, so years ago the San Francisco Consul began visiting Anchorage.  Now he also visits Fairbanks, Kodiak, and in 2010 started coming to Juneau once a year.

Strickler will handle many of the paperwork issues Juneau Filipinos and visitors may encounter.

“It’s very much like a liaison between the Filipinos here and the San Francisco office,” she says.

Marciano Paynor is San Francisco General Consul.  He says as Juneau’s  honorary consul, “she’ll be able to do visas, do legal documents that need to go to the Philippines, authenticate signatures, and the most important thing that she will be doing is what we call assistance to nationals. So any Filipino or Filipino American can seek help from her.”

But that’s just the paperwork.  Philippine Ambassador to the U.S., Jose Cuisia, is looking forward to economic ties between the state and the Republic.

Strickler joined Juneau Rep. Cathy Munoz and Bethel Rep. Bob Herron last fall on the  first official Alaska legislative mission to the Philippines. The Ambassador calls it a good first step.

“They’re also talking about establishing a sister-city agreement between Kalibo, Aklan.  It’s one of the cities that’s very tourism oriented, similar to Juneau,” he says.

The University of Alaska Southeast and Aklan State University are looking at a faculty exchange in fisheries. Strickler says a  seafood festival between the Philippines and Alaska is at the top of her list.

She is retired from the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, has written grants for the Juneau Filipino Community, “and one of the things that really excite me is I can facilitate projects between state of Alaska and the Philippines,” she says.

Paynor also is looking to her to help establish a Filipino emergency management team in Alaska, in the event of crisis “so that we can immediately respond or help people throughout the state”. she says.

As Honorary Consul to Alaska, Strickler is truly an honorary employee. That is, she’s a  volunteer, though Paynor says she will be able to keep 50 percent of the fees she collects for document services to operate her office in the Juneau Filipino Community Hall.

He flashes a wry smile as he explains.

“Basically it’s a volunteer job.  So we thank her a lot for volunteering for this job.”

“I pledge to administer the consulate of the Republican of the Philippines at Juneau, Alaska…”

The first Honorary Consul of the Republic of the Philippines to Alaska has been sworn into office.

Long-time Juneau resident Jennifer Gomez Strickler took the oath of office at a ceremony Monday night at the Filipino Community Hall in Juneau.

Consul General of the Philippines to San Francisco, Marciano Paynor, administered the oath.  Strickler will work under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco General Consulate.

Philippine Ambassador to the United States, Jose Cuisia, told members of the Filipino community and current and former Juneau officials that more than 25,000 Filipinos live in Alaska.  He said Strickler will help strengthen ties between the state and the country in addition to her work assisting Filipino nationals in Juneau and other parts of the state.

Check back for a full story on what that means.