08 March 2014 – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) continues to expand its consular services with the formal inauguration DFA NCR-Northeast in the iconic Ali Mall at the Araneta Center on March 06. It is the fifth DFA Consular Office in Metro Manila.
Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario led the inauguration of DFA NCR-Northeast together with Mr. Jorge L. Araneta, Araneta Center Inc. President and CEO, Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista, Congressman Jorge B. Banal (Quezon City-3rd District), Congressman Francisco A. Calalay, Jr. (Quezon City, 1st District), , DFA Undersecretary Rafael E. Seguis, Office of Consular Affairs Assistant Secretary Wilfredo C. Santos, DFA Special Assistant Marciano R. de Borja, other officials of Quezon City, private enterprise, and the other heads of other government offices present in Ali Mall as well as the 40 candidates of Bb. Pilipinas 2014 witnessed the event.
In his message, Secretary Del Rosario said: “As far as the DFA is concerned, in addition to decongesting our main consular facility in Paranaque, we set up for ourselves three objectives that we would like to accomplish by doing this in partnering with the Araneta Center and with other mall partners. One is we would actually like to bring our services as close to our people as possible. Second, we'd like to choose locations that are attractive, convenient and accessible. Thirdly, we'd like to be able to pursue a public-partner partnership, which we are doing here, that is cost effective and that will save the government a significant amount of money.”
Referring to the partnership DFA has with the various mall developers, Secretary Del Rosario added that these partnerships “… are demonstrative of what a successful public-private partnership should look like … it is good for the mall developer, it is good for us, and it is good for our customers.”
Ali Mall was built in 1976 in honor of heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali who fought Joe Frazer in the “Thrilla in Manila” heavyweight championship at the Araneta Coliseum in 1975. Ali Mall was the first mall of its kind in the Philippines.
The DFA Consular Office in Ali Mall has a floor area of 731.8 square meters and has the capacity to process a maximum of 1,000 applications a day. It is open to the public from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Mondays to Saturdays. It accepts new passport applications, passport renewal and replacement of lost passports via appointment. Walk-in applicants are also accepted in the afternoon.
DFA’s newest consular office will cater to applicants in Quezon City and adjacent cities of San Juan, Marikina, Pasig and towns in Rizal province.
Passport application appointment to DFA NCR-Northeast can be made by logging on www.passport.com.ph or by calling the Passport Hotline at 737-1000. Setting up an appointment online or through telephone is free of charge.