SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela—Mayor Joseph Tan has requested the Department of Foreign Affairs to open a satellite office here to make passport processing easier for the public and residents of the north.
Tan made the appeal after the DFA’s consular office in Tuguegarao City did not push through with its planned Jan. 25 opening of its satellite office in a mall here.
Earlier, DFA regional director Florencio Franco announced that its consular office in Tuguegarao City would temporarily shut down starting Jan. 17, only to open a satellite office in Santiago.
But Cagayanos, led by the city government, opposed the move along with public and private sector leaders.
The DFA’s planned transfer was stopped when the Regional Trial Court in Tuguegarao issued a temporary restraining order preventing it.
Aside from decongesting the DFA Tuguegarao office, Tan said the Santiago satellite office will effectively bring the department’s services closer to the public, particularly those in southern Cagayan Valley and the nearby provinces in Region 3 and Cordillera.
“Once the DFA satellite office is operational in Santiago City, residents from this province, including Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya and Ifugao, will no longer [have to] travel to Tuguegarao City to apply for and renew their passports,” Tan said.
The mayor has elevated his appeal to the Cagayan Valley Regional Development Council, saying he is hopeful his proposal “will be approved for the good of residents from the region’s southern part.”
Tan said there already is office space allotted for DFA’s satellite at a mall’s third floor here, ready for occupancy.
Santiago residents said the DFA office here would be a better and more comfortable for passport applicants who will stay inside an air-conditioned mall, rather than the consular office in Tuguegarao where one has to queue on wooden benches outside the building there.