SECRETARY JEREMIAH Belgica, Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) director general, said they will help the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in addressing delays in passport appointments.
This, after Belgica personally went to the DFA Office of the Consular Affairs (DFA-OCA) at ASEANA Business Park in Parañaque City to renew his passport and inspect the processes in the office.
He said the main problem with the processes at DFA-OCA is their appointment system since he was able to process his passport renewal quickly.
Upon arrival, Belgica was met by a long queue of clients outside the office. The people in line were a mix of those who had appointments and those who decided to visit the office because they could not book appointments using the DFA-OCA website.
A Cavite resident, who said he could not book an appointment for the renewal of his passport, told Belgica that he had been in line for at least three hours at DFA-OCA.
The DFA said all the slots for passport appointments are taken as of that moment. They have been experiencing issues with freeing up slots for passport appointments as early as January 2021.
It attributed the delays in processing of passport appointments to its lack of manpower.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, DFA-OCA is operating at 30-percent working capacity and can only process 6,000 applications. Before the pandemic, the office could process up to 13,000 applications.
The DFA said it will increase the number of applications that they can process per day by 5,000 in July 2021.
“I think the problem talaga is yung kanilang (really is their) appointment system dahil (because) you can only accommodate so much,” Belgica said in a news release on Monday.
“Pero we're hopeful kasi by July 7, they would already be expanding 'yung kanilang number of applications a day by 5,000, malaking bagay ‘yon… hopefully, mabalik natin ‘yung capacity na 13,000 or hopefully more pa (But we’re hopeful because by July 7, they would already be expanding their number of applications a day by 5,000, that’s a big help.. hopefully the 13,000 capacity or more will be restored),” he added.
Belgica recommended the placing of a Citizen’s Charter at a more visible place outside the office for the convenience of those falling in line.
He also asked DFA-OCA to allocate a proper space for those falling in line at the office as to not block the sidewalks.
Those who need to process their documents can send an email to DFA-OCA. Their contact details are indicated on their website at https://consular.dfa.gov.ph/contact-us. The office will then evaluate what action they can take.
Certain individuals are also eligible to access the "Courtesy Lane" at the office. These are senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), pregnant women, minors aged seven years old and below, solo parents, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and exceptional and emergency cases.
Those applying for the Courtesy Lane must go through the Passport Appointment System at passport.gov.ph. Other requirements can be found at https://consular.dfa.gov.ph/services/passport/passport-cl.
Recently, ARTA and DFA held a meeting to discuss how the latter can streamline its processes and improve its services to the public.
Among the ways forward that Belgica proposed is the signing of a Joint Memorandum Circular with key agencies to eliminate redundant processes in passport appointments.
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