MANILA, Philippines — After Batanes, the country’s northernmost province, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has dispatched its mobile e-passport processing, or consular outreach teams to Ifugao in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Norte and Catanduanes in the Bicol region.
In a statement, the DFA said the agency has “intensified further its efforts in bringing efficient passport services to our countrymen,” citing its recent consular outreach in Lagawe and its neighboring towns of Kiangan, Lamut, Banaue, and Hingyon, as well as Laoag City and Virac.
In these areas, teams from the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs processed a total of 1,828 e-passports.
The agency’s consular outreach program has become “part of the department’s commitment to making its services more accessible to the public by reaching out to a greater number of Filipinos in the provinces,” said DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez.
Early this month, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said they were mulling the possibility of conducting the program in remote parts of the country, like the island-province of Tawi-Tawi.
“We do not yet have a consular outreach program in Tawi-Tawi. But our regional offices in Zamboanga City and Cotabato City have been asked to operate on Saturdays to serve the region,” including Tawi-Tawi and its neighboring provinces of Sulu and Basilan,” Del Rosario told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
On Jan. 30, a seven-member OCA team flew to Basco for the agency’s first-ever mobile passport processing program in the island-province.
At the provincial capital, the team processed more than 300 passport applications.
Earlier, the OCA dispatched similar teams to Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, and Calamba City, where they processed over 500 and 197 passport applications, respectively.
Next month, OCA staff are scheduled to receive passport applications in San Jose del Monte City, Sta. Maria, Bustos, Bocaue, and Malolos City, all in Bulacan; Rodriguez, Taytay and Tanay, all in Rizal; and Guimba town, Nueva Ecija.
The DFA’s mobile passport services are “organized by the foreign office upon the request of local government units,” according to Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Jaime Victor Ledda.
“The DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs or the nearest DFA regional office coordinates the schedule, logistics and other arrangements with LGUs,” said Ledda.
The agency currently operates 21 passport processing centers nationwide, according to the OCA head.
Aside from the two at the DFA main office and the OCA extension office at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration headquarters in Mandaluyong City, passports are also processed at DFA regional offices in Baguio City; Tuguegarao City; San Fernando City, La Union; San Fernando and Clark, Pampanga; Lucena City; Batangas City; Legaspi City; Puerto Princesa City; Cebu City; Iloilo City; Bacolod City; Tacloban City; Cagayan de Oro City; Butuan City; Davao City; General Santos City; Cotabato City; and Zamboanga City.
During the past two years, the DFA issued about five million passports, generating over P6 billion in revenues for the government.
This year, the foreign office expects to process some 2.8 million passports, about 200,000 more than the travel documents it issued in 2011.
Last month, the DFA announced there would be a freeze on passport processing fees this year.
Regular passport processing, which is pegged at P950, can be claimed after 14 working days. On the other hand, “express,” or expedited processing in just seven days costs P1,200.
The DFA used to charge P500 and P750, respectively, for the issuance of passports. The fees were raised in 2009 following the introduction of e-passports.
In its 2011 accomplishment report, the agency noted that for regular processing, the releasing time for passports has been shortened from one month to two weeks.
Meanwhile, the appointment waiting time for passports has been reduced from 75 days to just seven days.