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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DFA exec bares over 13,000 passport appointment slots in January unused

DFA exec bares over 13,000 passport appointment slots in January unused

Published Jan 30, 2022 02:04 pm

More than 13,000 passport appointment slots intended for overseas Filipino workers were left unused in January 2022, an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) bared.

(FILE PHOTO/JANSEN ROMERO/MANILA BULLETIN)

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay disclosed that of the 13,650 passport appointment slots reserved for land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and seafarers, only 4.5 percent or 614 slots were used.

"Nakakahinayang (Regrettable)," Dulay said as he took his dismay on Twitter on Friday, Jan. 28.

The undersecretary explained that they made the over 13,000 appointment slots available "due to the clamor of licensed recruitment agencies and manning agencies" for their land-based and seafarer OFWs.

This came amid the lingering woes of passport applicants who cannot book an appointment with the department online.

The DFA has, however, told the public that it will gradually load appointment slots for passport application on a daily basis starting this year.

"DFA-OCA (Office of the Consular Affairs) will gradually load appointment slots on a daily basis in the upcoming weeks. There is no exact time when the slots will be opened to avoid overloading the system," the DFA then said.

READ MORE: DFA to 'gradually load' passport application appointment slots in 2022

Meanwhile, Dulay also called on applicants to claim their passports as more than 3,500 applicants have yet to claim their passports processed in nine temporary off-site passport services last year.

"We’re looking for 3,537 applicants who have undeliverable passports!" Dulay said.

The unclaimed passports were processed from July 7 to Dec. 29 last year in Metro Manila and Pampanga.

Related Tags

passport DFA UNDERSECRETARY BRIGIDO DULAY APPOINTMENT SLOTS 13022
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