Passport on Wheels serves 1,000 applicants

BACOLOD CITY – About 1,000 applicants will be served during the two-day Passport on Wheels program of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) starting Monday. The DFA will accommodate 500 pre-screened applicants only per day, from 8 a.m. to 5 p. m., at the MassKara Hall on the third floor of City Government Center. Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Sunday thanked DFA for bringing Passport on Wheels to Bacolod. He said residents have been having a hard time booking an online appointment to apply for or renew their passports due to the backlog in the processing of applications. “The Passport on Wheels is a way of extending help to our constituents who need to travel abroad especially those who will do so for work or business,” the mayor said. “We continue to endeavor to deliver better, efficient, fast service to our people.” The “Passport on Wheels” is among the initiatives of Bacolod’s 80th charter anniversary celebration. DFA launched Passport on Whees” last January 15. Last week, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano announced the opening of 100,000 appointment slots for passport application and renewal to clear the backlog. Cayetano said the DFA has increased its capacity from 10,500 daily passport appointments in 2017 to 19,000 this year. From January to May 2017, DFA issued 1.58 million passports. For the same period in 2018, it issued 1.85 million, a 16.74 percent increase. Applicants can now pay for their passport application or passport renewal through the DFA ePayment Portal, which enables applicants to pay the processing fees through selected payment centers nationwide. The ePayment portal will initially apply for applications submitted at the DFA Aseana Consular Office starting June, and would be rolled out in Metro Manila in July and nationwide by August. (PNA)