SENATOR Grace Poe has called on the Department of Foreign Affairs to provide immediate solutions to passport processing delays, stressing the waiting for about two months for passport application is unacceptable.
Poe said the delays have been affecting thousands of applicants for passports. Around 15,000 Filipinos apply for a passport every day.
The senator said her office received various complaints from passport applicants, ranging from long waiting time and failure to receive confirmation code thru e-mail as to the date of the electronic passport appointment.
“This has been one of the problems of the DFA for years now, resulting in missed opportunities for Pinoys wanting to visit their families abroad, those seeking immediate medical treatment and especially aspiring overseas Filipino workers who have to wait for several days just to get this most basic document required of every Filipino in this age of globalization,” said Poe.
“We call on the DFA to immediately look into several complaints of system inefficiencies related to the ePassport system,” she added.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said he wanted to stop long queues for passport applicants at DFA processing centers.
Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay had said the first marching order he received from President Duterte was to improve services for OFWs, including “cutting red tape” in the issuance of travel documents, passports and other documents needed for the free passage and travel of people.
Passport applicants need to call the DFA hotline or visit the DFA’s online application system website and book a preferred date and selected time for personal appearance and submission of pertinent documents at the DFA Manila in Aseana, Macapagal Avenue, participating regional consular offices and satellite offices.
The DFA shifted its passport printing from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to the APO Production Unit, a state-run printing facility.