The Foreign Affairs department plans to increase by 11,000 the daily processing of passport applications this year to serve the increasing number of applicants triggered by the 10-year validity of the travel documents, DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano told lawmakers Tuesday.
At a joint inquiry of the House committees on good government and on foreign affairs on complaints on the slow processing of passports, Cayetano said his department would find a way to increase to 30,030 from today’s 19,030 daily the processing of passports.
“When we took over, the demand shot up. So in 2016 alone to 2017, [the demand for passports surged to] 600,000. The people’s support to the 10-year passport program was overwhelming,” said Cayetano.
Cayetano said that the APO Production Unit Inc., the state-owned contractor behind the production of passports, has been responsible for the 28,000 daily production of passports and only 14,000 were being processed by the consular offices.
He said the DFA will open eight new regional consular offices (RCOs) in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte; Santiago City, Isabela; Malolos City or Meycauayan, Bulacan; Calamba City or San Pablo City, Laguna;bDasmariñas City, Cavite; Antipolo City, Rizal; Tagum City, Davao del Norte; and Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental and six Passport on Wheels vehicles to increase the number of passport applicants processing.
“With the new offices, we can do up to 30,000 to 31,000 a day,” said Cayetano.
Cayetano also spoke on the online passport appointment system.
He said the DFA would do its best to shorten the waiting period for online appointments to just month and later on one week.
He also told the joint panel hearing that the country’s passport was awarded in Singapore because of its security features during an exhibition there.