DFA OPENS NEW PASSPORT OFFICES
IN ILOCOS NORTE AND ISABELA
01 May 2018 - As part of its efforts to bring passport and other consular services closer to the Filipinos wherever they are in the country, the Department of Foreign Affairs will soon open not one but two consular offices in Northern Luzon.
The DFA said it will open a consular office in Ilocos Norte on May 8 and another in Isabela on May 15. The new offices shall be located in Robinsons Place in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte and Robinsons Place in Santiago, Isabela.
Both will be operating Monday to Saturday. This comes on the heels of the recent reopening of DFA Consular Office Tacloban in Robinsons Mall North Abucay on April 21. Robinsons is hosting DFA consular offices free of charge.
“DFA is committed to make its passport and other consular services more accessible to our people. The opening of these two consular offices is a firm example of that commitment,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said.
“The new locations promise more convenient and comfortable passport application, especially for clients within the area and the nearby provinces who will now experience the improvements that we are making in the passport application system,” the Secretary said.
According to Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Frank Cimafranca, DFA paspsort production increased by nearly 20 percent last year. The increase was a big jump from the 1.89 percent increase in 2016 and the .054 percent increase in 2015.
Assistant Secretary Cimafranca said that with the high demand for passports, President Duterte signed Executive Order No. 45 allowing the DFA to open additional consular offices.
He said that with the budget given to it by Congress this year, the DFA will open six more consular offices in different regions in the coming months.
DFA has been implementing measures to cope with the strong demand for passports, especially after the roll out of passports valid for 10 years.
These measures include daily deployment of four Passport on Wheels vans; rendition of Saturday work in DFA Aseana; increasing daily capacity of consular offices; and expanding the courtesy lanes to sectors who need them most. END