Press Release

CONSUL GENERAL EXPLORES COLLABORATION PROSPECTS WITH WICHITA MAYOR

On 01 March 2025, Consul General Melanie Rita B. Diano met with Mayor Lily Wu of Wichita, Kansas during the Consulate’s outreach mission in the city. It was the first official visit of Consul General Diano to Kansas since her assumption at the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago with jurisdiction over the twelve US Midwest states, including Kansas.

Consul General Diano and Mayor Wu touched on topics of mutual interest, including economic prospects. Wichita, the largest city in Kansas, is home to 396,000 people and is considered as the “Air Capital of the World” for hosting big aviation brands - Textron Aviation with Beechcraft/Cessna Aircraft Company, Airbus, Bombardier and Spirit AeroSystems.

Consul General Diano welcoming Mayor Wu to the Consulate’s outreach mission (Chicago PCG photo)

Consul General Diano and Mayor Wu also discussed the city’s biomedical research innovation project – the Wichita Biomedical Campus, which is a joint project of Wichita State University, WSU Tech and the University of Kansas. The 471,000squarefoot health sciences facility, set to open in 2027, will support interprofessional health care research and pioneer health care digitalization.

Consul General Diano thanked Mayor Wu for taking care of more than 1,000 Filipinos and Filipino-Americans who consider Wichita as their home. The mayor assured the Consul General that her city, a family-oriented one, will always be a safe place to live in for all, including Filipinos. END

Consul General Diano and Mayor Wu posing with the Consulate’s outreach team (Chicago PCG photo)

Consul General Diano and Mayor Wu posing with the Filipino Community outreach volunteers (Chicago PCG photo)